As the effects of the pandemic continue to be felt in the job market, there are now many more candidates applying for positions in some industries. So, the challenge is to learn how to stand out, to make sure your CV is read, your skills and experience are recognised and you are selected to be taken forward to the next stage, usually a shortlist, rather than simply cast aside as not making the cut.
The feedback we get from employers is that people simply send the same CV for each vacancy they apply for and they have not tailored it to the role or the company.
We are not suggesting you re-write your CV for each job but you will certainly need to study the job advert carefully, making a note of the skills they are looking for and the type of experience needed to fulfil the role. You then need to tweak and usually add in from your current and previous roles how and where you gained the skills and experience, they are asking for.
For example, if you are applying for a sales administrator role, make sure your CV clearly states where you worked in this role before or where you had the same responsibilities.
If the job specification is asking for skills in certain software programmes, or general proficiency in the Microsoft suite you need to state you are skilled in word, excel, powerpoint etc.
Make sure you read carefully the ‘desired’ and ‘essential’ skills wanted and add these into your CV where appropriate.
Job Board keywords
Most candidates will upload their CV to one or more job boards and again you need to make sure your CV contains the right ‘keywords’ that employers will be searching for: your CV wording acts in the same way as search engine optimisation (SEO) and for your CV to be found by potential employers you need to make sure you have all the right words in your CV.
For example, if you are applying for a shift managers job and want to work in food manufacturing or FMCG your CV must contain these words or you will not be found.
CV Healthcheck: If you would like JS Recruitment to healthcheck your CV ready for your next role simply contact us on 01977 269069 or info@jsrecruitmentuk.com
