Can your CV really make all the difference?

Can your CV really make all the difference in your search for your next role? How important is it to spend time and effort on a document that will, if the conventional wisdom is to be believed, only be considered for a matter of minutes and is there any magic to producing the perfect CV?

The answer lies in the role of the CV in the application process. Your CV is your first and often, only interaction with your potential new employer. Failure to succinctly and effectively convey the relevance of your experience will normally mean that your application will go no further. Your CV alone will not get you the job but there is no doubt that it is a vital part of the process.

How then, do you ensure that you give yourself every chance to succeed?

In essence, by telling your prospective employer quickly and efficiently why they should interview you and why they should potentially consider you for the job. Most roles you apply for will be highly competitive. The hiring manager will review numerous applications. Yours needs to stand out.

On this basis, you should always tailor your CV to the job in question, even if this takes you time and effort. By doing so, you will be presenting your experience in as interesting and relevant way as you can and you will be putting yourself in the best position to be considered.

By all means, keep it concise and to the point because this will obviously enable you to achieve the goal of making it relevant to the role but don’t slavishly assume that it must be 3 sides or less, particularly if you have a lot of experience. Cramming a CV onto a couple of pages will, in most cases, ensure that it does not get the attention it deserves. Instead, include the experience that is most relevant to the role and don’t be afraid to exclude other experience, provided always of course that the CV is a fair reflection of your background.

A well thought out and tailored Candidate/Executive Summary can be an excellent way of allowing you to deliver an effective message to your prospective employer early on in the CV, that they should, at the very least, read on and ideally, interview you for the role. Try to pick out the important aspects of the job specification and highlight your own exposure to them and always remember that virtually everyone is an ‘enthusiastic and ambitious team player with excellent communications skills’…..!

Standing out does not mean using unconventional fonts or colours. Keep it clean, simple, professional and well laid out and, as a lawyer, it is vital to proof-read the document thoroughly to make sure there are no typos. Ensure you include enough information about each matter you refer to, to allow the reader to gain an understanding of the nature of your responsibilities, the legal skills involved and the extent of your involvement.

Remember that if you choose to include a photograph (or your date of birth), you are allowing people to make decisions based on more than just your experience. 

These are the basics. Beyond that it is more a matter of preference. Personally, I prefer to review a CV that chronicles the candidate’s experience in each of their roles, as it allows me to understand how recently a candidate’s relevant experience was obtained but, by the same token, there is also a merit in producing a skills based CV, where roles are listed up front, followed by an amalgamation of experience on a skills basis. Again, it really comes back to presenting your CV and your experience in as relevant and persuasive a way as you can for the particular role in question and if that means redrafting it to give yourself the best chance of success then it might just be worth spending a couple of hours to do so.

Finally, whilst a lot of candidates include personal interests at the end of their CV, an equal amount are advised not to. There are arguments both ways and certainly, pastimes such as reading, watching TV or doing crosswords might be best kept to yourself but the inclusion of other interests can enable you, at the very least, to build rapport with an interviewer (if he chooses to pick up on them) or in the case of particular achievements or worthy activities, illustrate an aspect of your personality or ‘soft skills’ in a more persuasive manner than writing ‘I am an enthusiastic team player’ in your Executive Summary!

To summarise:

Whilst there may not be any ‘magic’ to producing your CV, there are a number of effective ways to ensure that you maximise your chances of success, whether it be for a paralegal position or your next General Counsel role.

Do:

1. Tailor your CV to each role that you apply for;
2. Ensure that the relevance of your experience is immediately apparent.

To achieve this you may want to:

• Include a factual tailored summary at the start of the document;
• Ensure that the CV is well laid out in reverse chronological order and is professional and to the point;
• Ensure that it is thoroughly proof-read and accurate – lawyers, in particular, can be judged on their accuracy, honesty and attention to detail and there is nothing worse than giving the wrong impression from the start.

Don’t:

1. Slavishly follow the 2/3 side rule on the one hand or have a CV that is unduly lengthy or irrelevant on the other;
2. Use unconventional (or small) fonts or colours – standing out is the aim but not for the wrong reasons;
3. Include photos or dates of birth unless you are happy to give someone the chance to judge you (subliminally or otherwise) on more than just your experience.