How to target your CV
8 out of 10 companies read your CV first, and half of them do not read your application if the CV is uninteresting, according to Ballisager's Recruitment Analysis. It is therefore crucial that you target your CV when applying for a advertised posting.
Here are 8 tips you as an academic can work with to ensure that your CV lands in the "yes" pile.
1. Know your recipient
Make sure you know your recipient so well that you can target text, layout, CV type, profile picture, etc.to the company.
It is therefore a good idea to always start researching the company. For example, you do this by researching the company's website and social media and finding news about the company.
You can also research by asking in your network and calling the company.
2. Analysing, analysing, analysing
The CV must correspond to the job posting. You should therefore analyse the job posting in depth so that you can, for example, use the company's language and phrases in your CV. It is often a good idea to repeat their keywords, when you present yourself.
Follow up your analysis with calls to the company, so that you get more precise answers, for example in regard to what the tasks really covers.
For example, if you must "perform quality assurance", what does that mean in practice? Does this mean you have to work with statistics, collect them yourself or maybe do interviews?
The answer to this is crucial to what you choose to highlight in your CV and in your application.
Call the employer
3. Show your skills in your title
Present yourself as the solution to what the company is looking for.
Rather than presenting yourself as” cand.scient.soc.in international affairs" then present yourself as a "Versatile academic specializing in public administration" - if that is what the employer demands.
Similarly, "Cand.mag in art history" becomes ‘Strong communicative relation creator" if a company advertises for a writer who can forge relationships.
4. Target your professional profile
As many as 83% of companies read your professional profile, so be sure to target it to each position you apply for. This is where you show why you are particularly relevant to the position.
Have a special focus on showing precisely what your person, experience and skills can do for the company.
You do this by making it relevant for the company, when describing your professional or personal skills. For example, mention how exactly your skills or experience can solve a specific task or contribute to the team or company.
Examples of good professional profiles
Expand all
For the job as Business Developer with focus on process optimization
"I am a development-oriented and numerically strong Business Developer with a focus on optimizing and simplifying processes. I am passionate about developing and optimizing, and it is therefore particularly meaningful for me to help ensure performance and deliveries at [the company name] in future."
For the job of Digital Marketing Consultant
"Positive marketing consultant who loves to understand people. With experience in Google Analytics and knowledge of digital behaviour, I can create insights into the online consumer behaviour for [the company's] customers. I am adept in collaborating, doing targeted digital campaigns and processing large amounts of data. "I share yarn- and baking recipes on my own blog, which after a marketing campaign in the spring now has over 200 views a day."
5. Use your layout to support your professionalism
Your CV's layout has two main features:
- Create overview
- Emphasize your points
The recipient must be able to find the relevant information quickly, and therefore, clarity, space and a clear layout is important.
In addition, your CV gives a credible and professional impression of you if you use color, setup, and image to emphasize your points.
For example, if you are looking for a creative position, the layout alone can show your creativity.
Get help with the layout
6. Select relevant experience
Many employers look at your experience to make sure you can create results in their business. Therefore, present the most relevant experience first, and please consider what professional image you want to create for your employer.
Often it is a good idea to select the appropriate information. If you are looking for jobs in two different areas, for example financial consultant, and yoga teacher, you must consider which information best suits the employer.
Whether you are graduate or have 20 years of experience, both have relevant and irrelevant experience. The trick is to find the relevant experience first.
7. Highlight relevant results and tasks
For each selected experience, you should also highlight the results and tasks that are most relevant. Overall, they paint a picture of how you contribute to the company.
Also use strong and active verbs e.g. optimize, develop, build, communicate, increase.
Use the following example
I have made [result] by [your competence].
Example
I have increased the customer base by doing market analysis as well as producing video/ film content that created awareness and described the product in an attractive way.
8. Stand out through your personal profile
Don't be afraid to create pictures, smiles or feelings when writing your personal profile. If you are applying in a field where there are many qualified candidates, it is, among other things, the following that can help you stand out.
Write in full text, e.g.: "As someone who otherwise prefers Netflix and Nutella , I am proud to say that I have accomplished my goal of completing the Berlin Half Marathon”