We all know by now that misspellings and overused phrases will cause your CV to be rejected faster than you can say “dedicated team member.”
But what are the less obvious CV mistakes that are annoying employers and preventing your name from being included on the short list for interviews?
Check out these 7 less common CV errors if you’re looking to make your next big career move because they can be keeping you from getting hired.
file naming errors
Recruiters and employers will see your CV filename frequently, so it should be presentable.
When you save your CV with a file name like “John’s first CV draft 21,” you don’t present yourself as a professional, trustworthy applicant.
Although it might not always be a deal breaker, this presents a very unprofessional image and makes recruiters question your professionalism, which could result in your removal from the shortlist if there is a lot of competition.
not looking into employers
Failure to investigate potential companies before writing a CV is one of the most detrimental errors that job seekers make.
Employers won’t hire you if your CV doesn’t highlight the essential skills needed for the positions, plain and simple.
Browse through some relevant job postings and make note of the most crucial candidate needs before creating your CV.
When it comes time to write your CV, you will be fully aware of the abilities and knowledge to highlight.
Stuffing the key words
Since it has become general knowledge that CV scanning software is used, candidates have been trying to “game the system” by stuffing their CVs full of pertinent buzzwords. This strategy aims to deceive the computer systems into believing that the applicant’s resume is exceptionally well suited to the open position.
However, this approach will backfire as soon as your CV is reviewed by a human, as it appears unnatural and hiring managers will immediately figure out what’s going on.
Write your CV first and foremost to impress people, then you can tweak it later to make sure you’ve included key words only once. Avoid stuffing key words into places where they aren’t necessary.
format that cannot be changed
Your chances of getting a job interview can be severely harmed if you send your resume in an uneditable format.
Before sending your CV to recruiting managers, recruiters frequently must make short modifications, such as changing the content into a format requested by the organization or eliminating contact information.
Recruiters will need to get in touch with you to request an editable version of your resume if it can’t be changed right away. As a result, the process will go much more slowly and other candidates’ resumes will get to the decision-maker before yours.
wild, unfounded assertions
“The top marketer in Nigeria”?
“World’s top salesman,” perhaps?
These kinds of statements might get you a spot on The Apprentice, but in the real world they just come out as a little arrogant and embarrassing.
If you want to demonstrate your value to potential employers, stick to using facts like experience, talents, and accomplishments.
including the necessity for payment
In addition to being unneeded and a touch premature, including your present pay rate or compensation requirements on your resume reduces your negotiating power when it comes to the offer stage.
Prior to expressing your intentions regarding compensation, you should always try to ascertain the role’s maximum budget.
Employers are highly unlikely to offer more than NGN200,000 if you have already stated in your CV that you will accept NGN150,000 for the position and they are willing to pay NGN200,000.
inappropriate email addresses
It’s not a good idea to brand the top of your CV with an email address like “hotboy4life@gmail.com” while trying to appear credible to potential employers. Recruiters will question your general work philosophy as a result of how unprofessional it appears to be.
If you have an email address that you thought was extremely awesome when you were 14 years old, create a new one for your job search.
