1. Starting with a clumsy title or title page
Adding the title ‘CURRICULUM VITAE FOR . . .’ in big and bold lettering not only looks archaic and clumsy, but it is also unnecessary. Everyone who receives your CV will know it’s a CV—that’s the whole reason you sent it in a job application. You don’t want to start clumsily; after all, this is the very first impression of your first impression.
You especially do not want to start with a title page—it will take up precious page real estate and make your CV longer (unnecessarily). Instead, begin with your name, profession, and contact details.
2. Including too much personal information
The only personal information a recruiter needs is your name (to identify you) and your contact details (to reach you if you pass to the next recruitment stage). If your work involves a lot of moving around, then also make sure to add a driver’s licence. The rest of the personal information should only be added if it has been requested or if it is an advantage in some way.
Some candidates add their national identity number, passport number, driver’s licence number, marital status, and religion. Adding too much personal information (including full name and identification numbers) puts you at risk of identity theft. Consider that you upload your CV on recruitment sites sometimes, and you have no idea of the actual people who will have access to your CV.
These unnecessary details also increase the chances of discrimination based on non-professional reasons. At the very least, the recruiter will wonder why you included details they don’t care to know and which don’t market you for the position. If something will just be a distraction and a waste of space, don’t include it.
3. An uninformative profile and attributes
Your profile is supposed to sell your experience, achievements, and skills. Attributes should not just be words on paper—they must be provable. Your profile should sum up who you are (professionally) in a few statements. Instead of going on and on about how you are self-motivated, results-driven, hardworking, innovative, goal-oriented . . ., focus more on facts about yourself that SHOW these attributes—your level of experience, your actual achievements, your competencies. This also ensures that a copy of your profile (or a very close resemblance of it) will not show up after a brief Google search.
If you’re going to google a generic profile to include in your CV, then best to leave the profile out entirely. Your profile has to uniquely describe you. If it’s going to sound generic, then best not to include it.
4. Leaving out achievements and provable/ unique skills
Achievements are the best way to distinguish yourself. They prove your ambition, drive, focus, and that you will go beyond expectations. You should make sure to include them.
Always look at the work you have performed in the past and then determine all the skills you acquired—include them in your CV.
5. Too much mundane detail
Keep your duties/ responsibilities/ tasks concise. Contrary to what you may be thinking, less is more. A few specialised duties (which show your impressive skills set and level) are better than a long list of mundane, routine tasks that hardly require any expertise.
Keep repetition to a minimum. Some candidates go to the extent of copying/ pasting the same duties as much as 3 times. Can you imagine being the recruiter and having to read the same information thrice? In such cases, combine the experience—list the work experience then list the duties you performed.
A complete but concise CV will always give you points—it proves you are organised, you are able to prioritise, you are a good communicator, and you are pragmatic.
6. Inconsistent writing
One duty is written in the past tense, the next is written in the present tense; one reference starts with the name, the next starts with the company; one phone number starts with the country code, the other doesn’t begin with the code . . .
These inconsistencies prove your lack of attention to detail and to work quality—which gets us to the last point . . .
7. Not editing and proofreading your CV
If you don’t edit your CV, you won’t catch obvious errors. Reading it aloud as you edit is a good technique. Errors in words, phrases, and sentences that sound okay when we read by heart are usually exposed when we read aloud. Make sure to go through your CV at least twice.
To get all the important information, advice, and tips, check out The CV Design Guide eBook or get the FREE Cheat Sheet.
See the 3 Common Mistakes to Avoid in your CV (Design)
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