7 Best Tips to Improve CV Writing Skills
CV is the document that gives your first impression to the recruiter. Writing a strong and professional CV is the key to securing your dream job. Whether you are a professional writer or a student beginning your career, learning how to write a job-winning CV will be beneficial. Read on as we are going to provide seven practical tips that will assist you in improving your CV writing skills.
Top Seven Tips to Improve Your CV Writing Skills
Is your CV struggling to stand out among the rest? If so, then it's time to start working on your writing skills. Follow the below tips to craft a compelling and impactful CV.
1. Get into the Purpose
Your CV is just not a document listing your experience and qualifications. It is a great marketing tool in which you showcase your strengths to recruiters. So before starting writing it is very important to get into the purpose.
For this first, you have to understand the job’s description. Find out what the employer is looking for, and what are his requirements. This will help you in writing a CV that will tell employers that you are the right fit for the job.
Your CV must clearly reply to the recruiter's requirements. It should tell them:
Who you are?
What have you done?
What can you do?
Remember, a good CV represents the achievements, not the roles. So, try to present the achievements that you have accomplished so far.
2. Simplify the Structure
Structure is one of the key factors that most people ignore while writing a CV. A fancy design with too many colors and improper structure makes the recruiters annoying. They will simply move them to the next CV without proper evaluation.
Recruiters have limited time, and they are not there only to review your CV. So, try to choose a simple and digestible format while crafting your CV. Moreover, divide your CV into small sections in a concise manner.
For example, if you are an experienced professional, you should follow the sequence:
Your Bio
Experiences
Academics
Certifications
Interests (optional)
Or else, if you are a student beginning his career, you should follow the sequence:
Your Bio
Academics
Certifications/Achievements
Internship (if any)
Interests
Using different fonts can also lead to poor readability. So, keep your font (both size & style) the same for each section. Bold headings to make them visually appealing. Stick to short paragraphs and try to write in a formal tone.
3. Start Strong
Description is the first thing that recruiters will see after your name. Writing a strong description will set a base for the remaining CV. Your description should give recruiters a clear message about your experience and what you can bring to their table.
So, while writing, try adding the most relevant experience and the main skills required by the employer. Moreover, try to incorporate power words like “achieved” or “transformed” into your description. Adding the power words will make your CV more appealing.
While writing descriptions for your CV do not stop after creating just one. Try to make 4 to 5 different descriptions and choose the one that you think is the best among them.
To further enhance the description, you can get assistance from AI paraphrasers. For example, the Editpad paraphrasing tool. This tool can make your description more professional by enhancing the vocabulary and changing the tone. Some online paraphrasing tools do have a formal or professional rephrasing mode which can be used to keep your wording truly professional and formal.
4. Ditch the Generic
A common mistake that most people make is using the generic formats and descriptions available on the web. Plus, they add irrelevant experiences into their CVs just because others did. This is a completely ridiculous thing.
So, if you want your CV to stand out above others, ditch these generic statements. Make a personalized CV reflecting notable differences.
Another notable thing is that most of the generic formats only highlight the previous job position. Instead of only mentioning the position, elaborate on the role in a short paragraph.
5. Quantify Your Qualities
Quantifying your achievements over quality is a better approach to adapt while writing CVs. By quantifying we mean that you should add your skills and achievements in a measurable way. Let us explain this by example.
Suppose you have added the statement “responsible for increasing sales” in your CV. This seems to be very generic. Instead of this, consider writing “increase sales by 25% within a year”. Similarly, another generic statement that most people add in their CVs is “managed a team.” Instead of this you should write “Led a team of 10 people to achieve the task successfully”.
Remember, by aligning your quantifiable qualities you can make your CV more compelling.
6. Beat the ATS Strategically
ATS (applicant tracking system) is the tool utilized by most of the big firms during their recruitment process. It assists them in reviewing the CVs at a pace. Recruiters add some filters into the system related to the job like years of experience, qualifications, skills, etc. If your CV does not contain the specific words used in filters, it may not reach the eyes.
So, beating the ATS is crucial to get a call from employer. For this first, you should have a clear understanding of the job description. Read it carefully and highlight the specific terms like qualification, experience, skills, age, etc. These specific terms will act like keywords.
Incorporate these keywords into your CV. But do not make a blunder by overusing them. Only use them in the right place. Even one time will be enough. Furthermore, improve the readability of your CV by adding bullet points. The better the readability scores, the better the chance of getting captured by ATS.
7. Revise, Rethink, and Revamp
Once you have finished writing your CV, proofread it. Get assistance from an AI tool like Grammarly to remove grammatical mistakes. Read your CV thoroughly and think if you have missed any important information.
If you find the CV annoying while reading it, consider revamping it to a different layout. Moreover, keep making different versions of your CVs with fresh content and a different layout. This will automatically enhance your CV writing skills.
Tip: Keep your CVs in the docs format as they are more ATS-friendly.
Sum Up
Writing a professional CV only requires a personalized approach and attention to detail. Practice by making different versions of your CV by following the tips discussed in this blog post above. We hope that it will help you in improving your CV writing skills.