The inside view on how your CV is used
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So you’re applying for a new role – have you ever wondered what happens to your CV? From our experience, there are really four key points in a selection process where a prospective employer might use your CV:
Short Listing
For many recruiters, when they receive your CV the first thing they’ll do is check (often for just 10-20 seconds) to work out if they want to see you again. With this in mind, your CV needs to sell you very quickly. For example, often the first thing people will look for is the job titles and what organisations you’ve worked for. They are trying to see if you are an immediate match for the role. You need to make sure your key career details stand out and are easy to understand.
Long Listing
At this stage recruiters are going to spend a little longer on your CV (often a few minutes) and they’re looking for the detail underneath. They’ve decided you’re worth looking at and are now starting to work out the gaps in your CV and to understand whether you fit with the role – for example, do you have the right level of seniority and have you undertaken relevant roles in your background? With that in mind, if you only have 3 minutes to impress keep it short and snappy – remember your CV is a sales document, so think about your reader first and foremost.
Preparing for the Interview
At this stage the interviewer is looking through your CV to work out two things: firstly, how they’re going build rapport with you at the start of the interview (e.g. through shared experiences, interests or companies you have mutually worked with). Secondly, they are trying to decide whether there are any particular questions they would like to ask you.
With that in mind your CV needs a lot of useful information to base questions on, so make your CV very achievement focused. The interviewer does not really need to know the tasks you undertook in that job, they are more interested in what you accomplished when you were in the role and the times when you went above and beyond. This kind of information makes it very easy for the interviewer to plan their questions – and gives you a great opportunity to shape the type of questions you get asked. Remember the information you give the interviewer may well drive some of the questions. Above all, don’t put something in your CV you don’t want to be asked about!
As part of a CV bank for future reference
If you didn’t get the job – or sometimes even if you did – the recruiter will often hold your CV for future reference in a computerised CV bank, recruitment system or applicant-tracking tool. This means you need to be aware of two things. Firstly, you shouldn’t include information that goes out of date – make sure your CV is future proof. And secondly, when they do a search on whole groups of stored CVs in the future they will be looking for particular keywords – so make sure you include some targeted keywords through your CV that relate to the kinds of jobs you would like to do in the future.
TAKE AWAY
Really think through your CV – does it work for each of these four scenarios? And remember – it’s not a document that you will use, it only exists for their benefit!
Short Listing
For many recruiters, when they receive your CV the first thing they’ll do is check (often for just 10-20 seconds) to work out if they want to see you again. With this in mind, your CV needs to sell you very quickly. For example, often the first thing people will look for is the job titles and what organisations you’ve worked for. They are trying to see if you are an immediate match for the role. You need to make sure your key career details stand out and are easy to understand.
Long Listing
At this stage recruiters are going to spend a little longer on your CV (often a few minutes) and they’re looking for the detail underneath. They’ve decided you’re worth looking at and are now starting to work out the gaps in your CV and to understand whether you fit with the role – for example, do you have the right level of seniority and have you undertaken relevant roles in your background? With that in mind, if you only have 3 minutes to impress keep it short and snappy – remember your CV is a sales document, so think about your reader first and foremost.
Preparing for the Interview
At this stage the interviewer is looking through your CV to work out two things: firstly, how they’re going build rapport with you at the start of the interview (e.g. through shared experiences, interests or companies you have mutually worked with). Secondly, they are trying to decide whether there are any particular questions they would like to ask you.
With that in mind your CV needs a lot of useful information to base questions on, so make your CV very achievement focused. The interviewer does not really need to know the tasks you undertook in that job, they are more interested in what you accomplished when you were in the role and the times when you went above and beyond. This kind of information makes it very easy for the interviewer to plan their questions – and gives you a great opportunity to shape the type of questions you get asked. Remember the information you give the interviewer may well drive some of the questions. Above all, don’t put something in your CV you don’t want to be asked about!
As part of a CV bank for future reference
If you didn’t get the job – or sometimes even if you did – the recruiter will often hold your CV for future reference in a computerised CV bank, recruitment system or applicant-tracking tool. This means you need to be aware of two things. Firstly, you shouldn’t include information that goes out of date – make sure your CV is future proof. And secondly, when they do a search on whole groups of stored CVs in the future they will be looking for particular keywords – so make sure you include some targeted keywords through your CV that relate to the kinds of jobs you would like to do in the future.
TAKE AWAY
Really think through your CV – does it work for each of these four scenarios? And remember – it’s not a document that you will use, it only exists for their benefit!