I’m sure you have always been told about what you should have in your
CV. But today I want us to talk about five things on your CV that are
probably very irrelevant.
These are sections that are not adding any value to your CV but instead
end up giving you a lengthy piece of document that fails to bring out
the best in you.
Let’s find out.
5 things you should never have in your CV
1. Your photo
Unless you are applying for certain jobs such as modeling which often require a visual, kindly do not have a photo on your CV.
What the recruiter wants to know is how well equipped you are to do the job not how handsome or beautiful you appear to be.
Furthermore, adding your photo only eats up valuable space on your CV
that could have been used to communicate your expertise instead.
2. Inappropriate/unprofessional email addresses
Creating an email is an exercise that is free and will take you no more than 5minutes.
With these perks some job seekers opt to create very unprofessional email addresses such as maggymresh@gmail.com, jimbabayao@hotmail.com, shirowamum@yahoo.com.
Such email addresses only show your lack of seriousness and unprofessionalism.
3. Personal social media accounts
Communication has greatly changed in the advent of social media.
While it is okay to include your LinkedIn page due to its professional
nature, you need not start including everything else like your twitter
handles, facebook page, Instagram, Snap chat, you-tube channel etc.
This will only make a recruiter start going through your profiles and
perhaps stumble on something that will diminish your chances of being
shortlisted.
4. Grammatical errors and typos
It is very annoying for any recruiter to peruse pages of a CV that has not been proof-read.
Before sending out your CV, read it, re-read it and if possible give it to someone else to proof-read for you.
Having grammatical errors and typos show that you put little thought
into your CV and hence the recruiter will not even look at it twice.
5. Vague and ambiguous phrases
If you have the habit of indicating on your CV vague statements such as
“hardworking”, “competent”, “motivated” etc., you are doing a great
disservice to your CV.
These statements don’t tell the employer much. What you need to do is
offer a brief explanation or statement not cliche statements that every
job seeker is using.
A good example:
“I am a highly motivated individual who
takes a personal initiative to ensure that the tasks assigned to me are
completed and executed in due time.”
Piece of advice…
The amount of time and effort you put into your CV will reflect to any recruiter.
If you’ve been churning out half-baked, error ridden CV’s you will probably never get a call back for an interview.
If you require expert help on how to write the perfect CV, have a CV writing professional help you through that.
Sometimes the only barrier between you and your dream job is your CV!
Esther Kamau works for Corporate Staffing Services, a leading HR firm that offers recruitment and FREE job placement.
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