Top Ten Things Not To Do On Your CV

It can take a long long time to write your CV. Then a few months later, or maybe only days, you’ll look back at what you wrote and cringe, not a bit surprised that you didn’t get the interview or the job you really wanted.

Don’t let your CV let you down!

The other thing that people get wrong, is thinking that a CV can put itself together in an hour or two. Nope nope nope… it can take hours or writing, days of re-writes, weeks of going back and forth making tweaks and trimming out the waffle.

So, to help you get your CV spot on, here are our TOP 10 things of what NOT TO DO when making your CV.

1 – Spelling mistakes

Check, check and double check. Then have someone you know that can spell to read your CV for you and check again. Spelling mistakes are one of the most common errors that let down an otherwise great CV.

2 – Putting everything on there

There’s no need to try and fill every white space on the page. Remember that someone has to read this! Also, do you really need to have on a CV that you use to be a babysitter for your neighbours? Trim the CV to the essentials and make it enjoyable for someone to read and find out about you.

3 – On a scale of 1 to 5

You’re good at Excel? Great! But are you really 5 out of 5 good at Excel? Do you know everything about Excel, that well, that you could teach people how to use Excel? There’s no need to have star ratings for your technical abilities, and most of the time, they’re not accurate.

4 – Telling sweet little lies

Job titles that don’t make sense or match with achievements. Qualifications that don’t exist or line up with your expertise. There’s no need to lie or mislead on a CV, and you don’t want to get caught out later.

5 – Too much personal information

We might not need to know what your TikTok handle is… unless you’re applying for a career in media and you’ve used TikTok for relevant videos, etc. If it’s not relevant, leave it out.

6 – Massive introductions

Your CV is not your covering letter, so keep your intros short and sweet and move on.

7 – Forgetting your achievements

So you worked in a bar and pulled pints and counted the money at the end of the day. But what did you learn in that role? How did you help that business to perform? You achievements are what make you stand out from everyone else that also worked in a bar, pulling pints, and counting money.

8 – Making it too fancy

Remove the flowers. Remove the cartoon characters. Get rid of the stars and circles. This isn’t your portfolio. Your CV will be uploaded to recruitment platforms that need to detect information. Focus on layout and keep your CV tidy and understood by your next line manager, and the work experience kid in HR that is sieving through them.

9 – Gaps

If there are unexplained gaps in your employment, then recruiters might be cautious. Where were you? What were you doing? If comparing you to someone that has a complete, explained career timeline… you might lose out.

10 – Out of date and irrelevant

Digging out that floppy disc (ask your parents) with an old CV on is not good enough. Your CV should always be on the brim of being out of date. As you achieve more, learn more, experience more, and that bigger better job around the corner needs more from you… your CV needs to be kept current. And a CV that is clean and well structured, is easy to update!