Whether you are unemployed or if you have a job but aspire to a better position, you must have a good CV. The CV continues to be a key document to access companies and you must take maximum care of it. The main objective of a resume right now is that it attracts attention, that it is attractive, and that it is different from the rest. We give you all the keys to how to make a perfect professional job resume.
The Curriculum Vitae continues to be a fundamental tool to find work and make yourself known as a professional. It is the first impression that companies are going to have about you and you want it to be unbeatable. Due to our experience at the school, we are used to seeing many CVs of the students that we later send to agencies with which we have an agreement for them to do internships. So that we know what details companies to look at, what they value, and what they expect from a resume. We want to share with you the conclusions we have reached. We hope they serve you.
20 tips to improve your CV and help you find a job in 2022
Pay attention to the content
Giving a good shape to the resume, which is attractive at first glance, is important. It’s clear. Later we will give you some recommendations in this regard. But really, the fundamental thing is still the content, the data that you include, and how you count it. Here are some tips on how to improve your resume :
1. Good photo
You must take great care of the photo you put on the resume. Don’t choose any. We recommend that you take a good, professional, well-lit photograph, where your face can be seen, you are looking straight ahead and you leave with a friendly gesture. It is advisable that there are no objects that cover you (sunglasses, scarves, hats…) and that can cast shadows on you. If possible, it should not be a full-body image. Better if only the face appears. You can have that same photo on all your social networks and your blog. In this way, you make it easier for the person who searches for you on Google. Did you know that after seeing a resume, 82% of recruiters go online to learn more about the candidate?
Of course, do not put a cropped photo where you appear at a party, with friends, or in a bar. You must convey a serious and professional image. Do not forget.
2. Personal data
Along with the photo, the first information you should put on the resume is your name, surname, and email. We know that this point is pretty self-explanatory, but believe me, there are still people who forget or misspell this basic information. As for the email, we recommend that it be a serious email address. It is best to include your first and last name or your initials. Don’t even think about adding that email account you have for friends with inappropriate or funny words.
3. Blog and Social Networks
It is interesting that together with your data you include a direct link to your website or blog and your professional Social Networks. If you are or have been a student of ours, you already know the importance of the blog for professions such as Community Manager, journalist, designer, and publicist. If so, you will already have one and if you do not have one, we highly recommend that you do so. We also advise you to share valuable content about your profession weekly on Twitter and Linkedin.
4. Title that defines you as a professional
You can put a title that defines you as a professional as the header phrase of your resume or just below your data. By this, I do not mean that you put “serious, responsible, good colleague or with organizational capacity”. It’s not about writing adjectives about yourself. They are better keywords* that indicate what you do for a living. For example, if you work in online marketing you can write “community manager, a specialist in SEO and Content Marketing”. Above all, it is about highlighting those functions and profiles that best fit the position and the company you are targeting. Here is an example that can serve as a reference.
* In tip 9 we tell you what we mean by keywords.
5. Experience
In general, we advise you to put work experience before training. Above all, if you have already worked in the sector to which you aspire. Companies will value it more than the courses or studies you have. You must write it in reverse chronological order, from the most recent to the oldest, starting with the most recent work done. You are interested in giving more visibility (using bold, for example) to the experience related to the position you want to achieve. And if you’ve had jobs for a long time that have nothing to do with the field you want to work in, you shouldn’t skip them. You better put them on. If companies see that there is an empty period, without reflecting on the CV, they will get a bad impression.
In the experience section you must put:
6. Training
6. TrainingIn this section, you must include your last studies and where they were taught. If they are superior, you do not need to also put the previous ones. It is understood that if you are a graduate you have successfully passed COU and selectivity. As for complementary training (such as these online Marketing courses, this SEO course, or our Master in Online Marketing ), you should write about everything related to the job offer in question.
For languages, it is advisable to refer to the level, according to the Common European Framework of Reference. That is, when placing your level of knowledge of another language, use the terms: B1, B2, C1 C2, etc. Instead of “medium-level”, “intermediate level” or high. It is recommended that you do not put “basic level”. It is not relevant and it does not generate more opportunities for you. The effect can be just the opposite.
7. Brevity and conciseness
To make your resume attractive and easy to read, you want to keep it short. Write short sentences. If there is something that you can count with two words, do not use more. For example, instead of writing “in this program, I was writing the texts for the videos”, you should write “video editor”. Remember: flee from the ramblings and schematically offer the information. We say that a good resume must be “scannable.” In other words, the person who reads it can capture the most important data in just a few seconds. Recruiters take an average of 7 seconds to decide if a CV is interesting or not. Keep that in mind. Maybe this example will help you.
8. Plain language
Do not use technical terms, or words that are too far-fetched. Use simple language that anyone can understand. Keep in mind that, many times, the first ones to receive your document are from the human resources department and they do not have to master the codes of all areas of the company. But, instead, they are in charge of filtering the most interesting resumes, so you should seduce them and conquer them at a single glance.
9. Use of keywords
We call keywords the terms most used and searched by people on a topic or sector. In this case, we suggest that you detect the keywords of your professional profile and of the sector in which you want to work so that you can include them in your CV. Also, highlight your professional characteristics that best fit the company you are targeting.
10. Do not repeat data
Make sure you don’t repeat the same information multiple times. It does not contribute anything and is occupying a space that you could use for something else. In the curriculum the economy counts: everything you can save will play in your favor.
11. Final information: skills, languages, computing
Leave the extra data related to skills, languages , and technological knowledge for last. The fact of putting them in the last place does not mean that they are less important. Take care of your presentation. We suggest, for example, that you use more visual or graphic elements to count them, as Carlos de Frutos, a former student of our school, does.
12. Proper Extension
Ideally, your resume should take up one page, no more. If you have a long history and a lot of experience, the synthesis work will have to be greater.
13. Spelling and grammar
It is also something obvious, but it should be remembered because it is very important. A resume with misspellings or misspellings makes a bad impression and says very little about its author. On the one hand, it shows that the text has not been revised several times before it is delivered. And, on the other, it damages its image. You also have to take into account choosing the best font for your resume so that it is well readable. We advise you to pass it on to a friend or person with criteria before sending it so that they can take a look at it and tell you if everything is ok.
14. A different CV for each job offer
You should review your resume and change the information every time you send it to a company for a new job offer. It is recommended that you have different versions of the CV. In each one, you will highlight one function or another depending on the demand of the company and the requested requirements.
The design of the professional curriculum vitae is also important, take care of it
A good professional curriculum vitae is one that, from the first moment, enters through the eyes. This means that, in addition to paying attention to the content, you have to take care of the design. We hope that the keys that we give you below can help you to give the best shape to your CV.
15. Attractive and visual, but not extravagant
Currently, if you submit the resume in a boring Word full of text the chances of it ending up in the recycle bin are high. Very high. The person who receives it will have no desire to read it. I assure. Therefore, you have to create a CV that is visually attractive, that makes an impact, but without being exaggerated. The design must be at the service of the data, not the other way around. There are
16. Scannable
You are interested in capturing the attention of the recruiter in the first few seconds. For this reason, we recommend that you structure the content well, leaving blank spaces between the different sections and including titles, subtitles, and words in bold.
17. Font
Use clear, legible, and clean typography. Don’t use too many different fonts. Two at most. The best typeface for your resume is Century Gothic and Verdana.
18. Colors
For the background of the CV, it is better that you use white or a light tone. They are cleaner than the dark ones. Don’t use too many different colors in your resume design. Two different at most, apart from white for the background and black or gray for the text.
19. Different formats: video resume
It is interesting to have the CV in different formats (PDF, online, video…) to send them according to the characteristics of the job and the company. If you decide to make a video CV, you will achieve one of the main objectives that we pursue when looking for a job: stand out and differentiate yourself from the rest. Of course, make sure that it is well done and that it includes all the necessary data.
20. Do not lie
With the curriculum, you must have the strategy of making visible and highlighting the experience, training, and skills that best match the job description. If there is data on your trajectory that does not contribute anything, do not put it directly. And if some information has nothing to do with the sector in which you want to find a job, the best thing is that you reduce its presence within the CV.
In no case include invented information that does not correspond to reality. Do not lie or inflate your CV. In the long run, it can harm you.
Employment and job interview websites
Once you have your resume designed, following the guidelines that we have told you, it is your turn to take the following steps.
- List the companies with which you would like to collaborate and see if you can contribute something to them. If so, go ahead and do it. You have nothing to lose.
- Sign up for the best employment websites. It’s a great way to keep up to date with the latest deals.
- Prepare for potential job interviews. You are not interested in improvising and going to these personal meetings without a plan.
After this, we can only wish you much success with your resume and that you find the job you need. If you think you can put your grain of sand in this article and you dare to leave a recommendation for other readers, do not hesitate to do so. All tips will be welcome and may be useful to the rest.