Simple Steps to Get Your C.V. Into Shape

Writing a C.V. is a lot like going to the gym: it requires initiative, energy and dedication, and, at times, it can be daunting. In the long run, however, the hard work pays off and allows you to put your best foot forward with prospective employers.

This autumn, try out an exercise routine that will improve your career prospects: a five-step C.V.-writing workout. You may not have the muscle tone to show for it, but you'll have an impressive tool to use in your job search. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or new to your field, you can follow the same simple regimen.

Step 1: Establish an objective.
While the main goal of exercise may be to lose a little weight, a job seeker’s ultimate aim is to be recruited. Start by including an objective on your C.V. It should spell out your career goals and your qualifications for the role. Although it is an optional element, an objective allows you to tailor your C.V. to the job vacancy. Make sure what you include in this section is targeted to the company and the job for which you are applying. Your objective might look something like this: “An entry-level position at a magazine that gives me an opportunity to apply my background in English and my three years’ experience as editor of my university newspaper.”

Step 2: Shift into high gear.
If you expect to see results, whether you're working on your calves or on your C.V., sooner or later, you've got to pick up the pace. Since the work history section is the most important element of your C.V., it’s the best section to work hard on. Most employers prefer that applicants list their work experience in reverse chronological order, starting with their most recent jobs. Be sure to include the position, company, location and dates of employment. Use action words to describe your accomplishments and specifically demonstrate how you made a positive impact on the company. For example, it’s not enough to say, “Grew territory revenue in excess of corporate goal.” A statement such as, “Grew territory revenues 25% in less than six months, exceeding established goal of 15%,” will impress employers more.

Remember that one size does not fit all on your C.V. If you're applying for a variety of roles, what you highlight should relate specifically to each unique job vacancy.

If you have been out of the workforce for some time or are looking to make a career change, consider grouping your work history under functional categories instead of chronologically.

Step 3: Eliminate extraneous activities.
Even the strongest athletes run out of steam when they overexert themselves. Avoid exhausting yourself, and the C.V. reader, by weeding out information that does not directly relate to the job at hand. For example, if you are currently in a finance role and a big fan of the circus, there’s no point in mentioning your affinity for the flying trapeze. Or if you want to show off a particular skill that isn't included in the work history section, such as familiarity with a certain software application, list the training courses you've taken or certifications you've received. Just don't go into detail about personal hobbies that don't directly relate to the job.

Step 4: Don't forget the final stretch.
Feeling the burn of lactic acid build-up while exercising is one thing, but waking up in pain is another. Smart athletes know it’s important to conclude their exercise routines with some final stretches. After you've written your C.V., you should give it one last look for grammar and punctuation errors, misspelled words and typos. Format the document so it’s easy to read and appealing to the eye. Use boldface type for section headings, employer names and jobs titles, and leave ample white space so it doesn't look cluttered.

If you submit your application via e-mail, prepare the file as a plain-text document so it can be read on any computer system. Remove all formatting enhancements, such as underlining or boldface, and replace bullets with asterisks or dashes.

Step 5: Request a quick once-over.
If you've worked hard to develop well-defined abs, you shouldn't be afraid to show them off. Similarly, before submitting your C.V., show it to a few friends or professionals in the field and ask if they think it successfully highlights your background and skills. A pair of fresh eyes also can spot any errors that you've overlooked.

Writing a C.V. can be challenging, but it shouldn't make you break out in a sweat. Approach the task like you would a workout: Break it down into small steps, take your time and give each one your all. With a little effort and willpower, you're bound to strengthen your chances of landing the job you seek.

25 Words That Can Hurt Your C.V.'s Chance of Success

So, you're experienced? Before you advertise this in your C.V., be sure you can prove it.

Often, when job seekers try to sell themselves to potential employers, they load their C.V.s with vague claims that are transparent to recruiting managers, according to Scott Bennett, author of "The Elements of Resume Style" (published by AMACOM). By contrast, the most successful job seekers avoid these vague phrases on their C.V.s in favour of accomplishments.

Instead of making empty claims to demonstrate your work ethic, use brief, specific examples to demonstrate your skills. In other words, show, don't tell.

Bennett offers these examples:

Instead of... "Experience working in fast-paced environment"
Try... "Registered 120+ third-shift accident and emergency patients per night"

Instead of... "Excellent written communication skills"
Try... "Wrote jargon-free User Guide for 11,000 users"

Instead of... "Team player with cross-functional awareness"
Try... "Collaborated with clients, the Accounts Receivable Department and Sales to increase speed of receivables and prevent interruption of service to clients."

Instead of... "Demonstrated success in analysing client needs"
Try... "Created and implemented comprehensive needs assessment mechanism to help forecast demand for services and staffing."

The worst offenders
It’s good to be hard-working and ambitious, right? The recruiting manager won't be convinced if you can't provide solid examples to back up your claims. Bennett suggests being extremely careful before using these nice-sounding but empty words in your C.V.

Aggressive

Ambitious

Competent

Creative

Detail-oriented

Determined

Efficient

Experienced

Flexible

Goal-oriented

Hard-working

Independent

Innovative

Knowledgeable

Logical

Motivated

Meticulous

People person

Professional

Reliable

Resourceful

Self-motivated

Successful

Team player

Well-organised

Is Your C.V. a Lie?

A C.V. is a marketing tool – it should showcase your experience and qualifications in the most succinct and relevant way possible. And that often means being selective in the kind of information that you include or being crafty in your wording.

But that doesn't mean you should lie. A survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 96% of HR professionals always conduct reference checks on job candidates, and more than half say they sometimes find inconsistencies.

Recruiters get so annoyed by misleading information on C.V.s that "lying or misleading information" ranked as one of the top recruiter pet hates in a survey by C.V.doctor.com.

According to the survey, the most common misleading statements put on C.V.s are:

Inflated titles

Inaccurate dates to cover up job frequent changes of job or gaps in employment

Half-finished degrees, inflated education or "purchased" degrees that do not mean anything

Inflated salaries

Inflated accomplishments

Out and out lies in regards to specific roles and duties

But what if your job is equivalent to a Senior Technology Manager and your job title is "Senior Project Leader"? Is changing your job title on your C.V. to reflect your responsibilities lying?

The crucial line between marketing and lying on a C.V. isn't always clearly drawn. But for those wondering how much exaggeration on your C.V. is too much, heed these tips from 25-year HR opinion leader and workplace commentator Liz Ryan:

1. You CANNOT change your dates of employment.
Were you a contract person recruited full time after a period of time in the job? Say so on your C.V. You can also mention you did contract or consulting work after leaving the company's regular payroll. But the dates must match your actual employment dates.

2. You CAN, to a limited degree, change the titles on your C.V.
Ryan suggests that if your company used odd job titles, it's okay to use an equivalent title that most people would recognise. However this does not mean it's acceptable to inflate your job title to imply you had more responsibility that you actually did.

"You cannot turn yourself from an Assistant Manager to a Manager with a wave of a magic wand," Ryan says. Likewise, if you worked in the purchasing department, you can't write that you were in marketing.

3. You CANNOT mess around with academic credentials.
If you didn’t quite pass the final year of a degree course, say so on your C.V. A professional-development course at a university is not the same thing as an actual academic course – and should not be treated as such. And you cannot change your degree from Chemistry to Business – that is just as serious a crime as inventing a degree, because that's what you're essentially doing.

4. You CAN leave out irrelevant jobs.
If you are willing to explain a three-month gap in between jobs, you don't have to mention that you took a horrible job at a call centre and resigned right away. You also don't need to list every job you've had for the last 25 years. Stick with the most recent and relevant experience.

5. You CANNOT get away with lying if your company went under.
Some candidates feel that they can take major liberties with their C.V.s when they companies they've worked for not longer exist. But thanks to websites such as LinkedIn.com in the U.S., employers can talk to people who worked at your long-gone company and check the facts.

Making Your C.V. E-Friendly: 10 Steps

It is important to provide a short, clear and concise electronic C.V.! Some scanning systems and databases stop reading C.V.s after a certain number of lines, often after about one and a half pages, so be sure that your most important information appears early in your C.V.

You can easily take your existing C.V. and reformat it for electronic submission. Here are some quick guidelines to do so:

1. Open your standard C.V. file on your computer and select the Save As command on your toolbar, usually located under the file menu. Select Text Only, Plain Text or ASCII as the type.

2. Close the file and then reopen it to make sure you are working from the new text-only version. You'll see that most graphic elements such as lines, images and bullet point symbols have now been eliminated. But if they haven't, go ahead and delete them. You may use equal signs in place of lines or borders and replace bullet points with plus symbols(+), asterisks (*) or hyphens (-).

3. Limit your margins to no more than 65 characters wide.

4. Use an easy-to-scan sans-serif type font, such as Courier, Arial or Helvetica.

5. Eliminate bold, italics and underlining if any remain after saving as text-only.

6. Introduce major sections with all words in capital letters, rather than in bold, italics or underlining.

7. Keep all text aligned to the left.

8. Instead of using bullets, use a standard keyboard character, such as an asterisk.

9. Instead of using the Tab key or paragraph indents, use the space key to indent.

10. When done, click Save or OK. Then reopen the file to see how it looks. Make any additional format changes as needed.

Now test your electronic C.V. by e-mailing it to a friend who uses a different Internet Service Provider. For example, if you use BT, send it to a friend who uses NTL or Hotmail. Also try sending it to someone who works in a large company to see how it transmits via their I.T. system as the body of the e-mail rather than sending it as an attachment. That way, they will be able to tell you how it looks when it shows up in their e-mail system and whether it is legible. After getting their feedback, make any adjustments necessary to fix it.