Well the New Year is nearly upon us. We just need to get through Christmas and that’s it, BAM, 2010 the New Year, time for finding a new job, time for writing down your goals and also time to review those things you said you would do last year, but still haven’t got round to doing it. Can you relate to any of this?

Well I’m going to continue writing about CV Review and CV Writing because I still think there are still lots of you that can benefit from some extra information or help from someone like me on your CV’s. Please keep reading.  Well, I was surfing the net today and I came across a useful free CV template website with various CV templates.  Looking through these templates I immediately recognised the common templates that I have received in my inbox time and time again from candidates looking for a job. It got me thinking that none of these generic CV templates stand out. In light of this, I’m going to share with you some of my tips for putting together a great CV and CV Template for free.

7 CV Tips

1. Know your value and consider putting down

• What do you have to offer your perspective employer?
• What skills you have to offer?
• What have you achieved in your career?

2. Know your audience

• Who will be reading your CV?
• Have you demonstrated your ability to do the jobs you are applying for?

3. Don’t do a sheep, “baa”

• Don’t be afraid to do something different and take a risk on your CV to highlight your uniqueness or specific skill and/or ability
• Don’t follow the presumed leader – asking your peers how they put together their CV is not always to best point of reference. Copy a bad idea or CV, and you may end up having a CV that does not give you the desired results for years to come.

4. Ask an “expert’s” option

• Get an expert to review your CV and give you some honest feedback. It’s no good thinking you know how to fix your CV when you are not getting the fast results you need. You probably need to go back to the drawing board. In the last two weeks, I have reviewed about ten CVs, all as boring as hell, from professional accountants looking for work that needed some help. From the feedback received after the review and rewriting their CVs, they can now stand out from the crowd with a CV to be proud off.

5. Who will be reading your CV

• Having an understanding that your potential line manager may not be the only person reviewing your CV is useful. A CV that cannot be understood by non-techies is likely to alienate people, such as the HR Manager and other staff members involved in the decision making process.

6. Stay away from boxes and tables on your CV template

• Boxes and tables are so last year! Very old fashioned…ask yourself this, “does my career deserve to be put in a box?”

7. Invest the time or money needed on your CV   (The business plug – use our CV Writing Service)

• If you are applying for jobs and not enough people get back to you, it’s time to spend more time developing your CV.  Get your CV professionally written so you can benefit by having someone present you in the best way possible, which you would not have know otherwise before going through the professional CV Writing process. This will definitely increase your chances of getting your foot in the door tenfold.

If you are struggling to do any of these tips, I want to hear from you. And if you think you could benefit from our services of CV Writing, CV Review, Interview Preparation or Career Coaching, then I want to hear from you too. Email me at careercoach@david-walters.co.uk or click here for further information.

David Walters Coaching, Career Management, and Recruitment from the ground upwards