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Disclaimer before I continue: you may think I’m rambling, but from a recruiter’s perspective, I’m speaking from a place of exhaustion. What job seekers put in their CVs break our hearts.
Nzube’s first voice note set the tone for what would come after; a sneak peek into a recruiter’s workspace and how they filter candidates from the first stage.
Just so you know, digitalization hasn’t made CVs obsolete —not yet, and for most jobs, it remains a candidate’s gateway to landing an interview. Even with referrals, Linkedin, portfolios, and other non-traditional forms of hiring, CVs are still a potent tool for making a first impression. For this piece, I had a call with Recruitment Operations Specialist at CareerBuddy, Nzube Umezulike, and she revealed all the CV red flags that have been costing you a chance at a job interview.
What is the most important thing you want job seekers to know about this?
Above other things; candidates should know that they have ten seconds to capture the recruiter’s interest with their CVs, and that’s even for CVs that have passed through ATS.
So there are CVs that don’t even make it to your desk?
Many of them. But even after that, hiring managers have a lot of CVs they review in a day, and it could be up to two hundred or even more. Now, imagine a candidate with ten years of experience putting their NYSC job as their first work experience. Guy, you’ve lost that chance because no recruiter has the time to scroll down if the first part of your CV does not catch their interest. You might think this should be common knowledge, but a lot of job seekers make this mistake and as little as it is, it costs people big opportunities even though they are qualified. That’s why it’s important to know that the first ten seconds are for charming the recruiter because most of us do not have time to go over and over your profile.
Interesting.
The hook is one point, sending a brief but succinct CV is another. You would see people having up to six to eight pages of resumes when it shouldn’t be more than three pages, at most. Even if you have ten years of experience, your CV can still be made into two and a half pages and sell you well to a recruiter, let alone having just four or five years and sending an entire brochure for recruiters to review.
Don’t leave unnecessary spaces in your CV. In fact, this is one of the reasons why CVs have a lot of pages. There’s really no need for all the designs that people do; you’re not a graphic designer and neither is your recruiter. Just make it basic and straightforward.
What other red flags do you see when going through CVs?
What if I tell you people send their CVs as Word documents? It’s not rocket science; edit your CV, save it as PDF, and send it. Stop sending Word documents, please. It could get distorted and it’s not professional. Also, there’s no need for your experiences to have more than six bullet points each. With those six points, you can tell us what you’ve achieved in a role, not too many stories.
Plus, there's unnecessary information that makes CVs longer; your primary school, your hobbies, marital status, and unprofessional personal information. Those things have no business being on your CV. Maybe people should know that the chances of being called for an interview are not dependent on the number of pages on your CV; in fact, recruiters read shorter CVs and sometimes discard the bulky ones.
Talking about CV content, what do recruiters want to see when reviewing?
Include your Linkedin and portfolio link. That’s the career social media we want to see, not Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. People can go there to find out the kind of person you are, but there’s no need to include it in your CV.
How about referrals?
If you are making an academic CV, you can include referrals, but in a work CV, it’s advisable to leave them out and provide them when the recruiter asks. Just leave it as “available on requests”. And if you are going to be using someone as a referee, make sure you inform them and be strategic about it. Imagine you apply to a hundred jobs and almost all the recruiters call the same referee to vouch for you; that’s even putting a lot of pressure on the person and could backfire.
Asides from the CV, what else gets a job seeker a shot at an interview?
Linkedin and your CV are what get you through the door, and I always tell people to have a Linkedin account and always update their achievements. It should reflect your career projections and what you’ve done over the years. A lot of recruiters are searching for you on Linkedin; many people don’t know that recruiters download their Linkedin profiles.
That’s your public CV and where recruiters find you. It should include your history and career progression. That’s why you would find a lot of experienced persons who have bad CVs yet they get calls from recruiters; the secret is their Linkedin. In fact, many do not even bother pushing for an opportunity by applying with a CV. With Linkedin and referrals from thought leaders who know about them, they get a chance to be considered for an opportunity. So, if you don’t have that luxury of experience and top people able to recommend you, your CV is your best bet for getting your foot in the door.
So, CVs aren’t getting obsolete anytime soon
No. it’s always the first contact with a recruiter. Always be prepared; you do not know when your company might downsize. While you are upgrading yourself, please reflect it on your CV. There are people who don’t even have a lot of experience, but when their CVs clearly communicate who they are and what employers want, recruiters are sometimes willing to take a chance on them. And there are people who don’t know how to write their CVs but can tell their stories by word of mouth, this is why Careerbuddy has launched a CV writing & review service for job seekers.
CareerBuddy's CV Writing Services
