Keep up to date on articles and news and subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

When the pitch is imperfect

While a resume is the first tool with which you make your sales pitch, it may be saying all the wrong things about you. Kenneth Kwama writes about common mistakes executives make in their CVs.

Getting to the interview stage of a job hunt can be difficult. With the competition high and thousands of job-hunters literally going after the same jobs, getting into the interview room could just be as important as landing the job. Generally, HR specialists agree that it is impossible to land a good job without proper CV. (Unless you’re being headhunted by people who have worked with you or know you by reputation).

Neil Ribeiro, General Manager of MyJobsEye.com, a recruitment company, says that many qualified people have lost out on jobs because of simple or silly mistakes. Having looked at thousands of resumes, he says he finds it amazing how many blunders are committed by some of the most talented professionals.

“A CV is a marketing tool,” he says. “It is designed to get you an interview and is a marketing document that markets you as a person. A good CV should start blowing your trumpet in the first few paragraphs because you have only a few seconds to make an impact during the filtering process before you get put into the bin.”

The major culprits, he says, are senior managers because they are just not skilled job seekers.

“(Looking for a job) is something they haven’t had to do very often in their lives, so they’ve never gotten good at it,” he says. Many have either risen within one organization or were headhunted by former supervisors. As they get closer to the top of the ladder, the positions they are suited for a fewer, the competition stiffer and the chances of being recruited by people who don’t know them well greater.

Generally, the cover letter and resume get about five seconds before they are put in the consider pile or the discard pile. Obviously, the higher the position the more time spent looking at each application.

“If your front page does not scream at the reader that you are perfect for the job, then the CV would have failed to do its job,” says Ribeiro. A closer look at the CV should confirm the reader’s first instincts. This is only possible if you avoid some of the most common mistakes applicants make.

Very long CVs

“If a CV is more than three pages long then everything on the third page and beyond is unlikely to be read,” Ribeiro says. “If the agent filtering the CVs has 200 to get through, you can bet that they aren’t going to want to read an essay on your life story. The best thing is to keep it to a maximum of three pages.”

Playing out of your league

According to Ribeiro, this will also condemn your CV to the waste bin, especially if you are trying to leverage an upward career movement. He gives a recent example of where a client advertised a senior management position for people with over ten years of experience, but got replies from people who had never been employed.

“I called some of them and they told me that they were just ‘trying their luck’,” he says. “This passes the wrong message to the employer because it shows you are desperate. And even if you are lucky enough to get through, they could use this to pin you down during salary negotiations.”

Ribeiro says that employers usually judge potential employees on how they position themselves at the right level (which is why they so often ask for current salary as a shorthand guide).

“If your CV is meant to get you a management job but it dwells on minor skills or trivial details from the distant past, the look and feel will be more junior than the role you are after,” he says.

Not targeted to the role

According to Harrison Yieko, HR manager at Consumer Insight, another common mistake people make is to provide CVs that are too general.

“I’ve known people to have ten versions of their CV depending on the type of role they are applying for,” he says. “You should make sure that your CV is targeted directly to the position you are applying for each time you send it out.”

No expertise or achievements section

Without a summary of your skills, Ribeiro says the recruiter has to read the whole CV and pick out the skills themselves. This, he says is a real headache and will guarantee your CV a place in either the bin or the bottom of the pile.

“If the recruiter has 200 to read for one placement, they only need to find ten good candidates from the initial scan. Make sure yours is chosen by showing clearly that you have the skills required,” he says.

According to Don Nyangoya, the CEO of a new upstart, Errand Carriers Ltd: “Having a good achievements section can put you above the rest who don’t because this is where you state the measurable benefits that you have provided before to justify your pay-cheque. They are things you did that saved time, money or made more money. It demonstrates to the employer that you are commercially focused.”

Jack-of-all-trades resume

Some people go wrong by sending out the same CV for every application they make, and even making applications for all advertised positions. Nyangoya says one person recently applied for three different positions he had advertised without altering his resume to match the job descriptions. He says such people may find it easy to apply for different jobs, but advises that there is need to tailor one’s pitch to each opportunity.

“If the Longombas are looking for a flute player, expounding on how much you love all kinds of music isn’t going to get you the interview,” he says. “Neither will listing two pages of diverse experience you’ve had as a musician with no particular focus. But giving instances where you played the flute to many rounds of applause, for example, will surely earn you some points if not the job.”

Flashy CV designs

To get the job, you have to stand out from the crowd. Yieko advises that this is where it pays to be different in an acceptable and professional way. He, however, says that flashy CV designs are 100 per cent guaranteed to hit the rubbish bin immediately.

“Unless you are a model, do not even think about using a photograph,” he says. “Avoid text effects, colours, boxes and unusual fonts because they can be irritating. You have to keep the appearance simple if you want your CV to succeed. It is the quality of the content that resonates with recruiters and makes them want to meet you. Bravado doesn’t impress because they have seen every gimmick in the book and may be sick of looking at them.”

Lying unintelligently

While HR specialists agree that stretching the truth a bit sometimes doesn’t hurt, overdoing will definitely get you into the bin. No studies have been done locally to establish the truth in this assertion, but according a UK survey commissioned by the global information company, Experian, nearly half of HR managers at UK’s biggest firms can tell when a CV is lying. Three-quarters said that they regularly encounter deliberately inaccurate applications.

The worst offenders were women in their early 30s, more than three-quarters (77 per cent) of whose CVs contained some form of discrepancy. The most honest group were men in their early 20s, but even so, half of their CVs were less than scrupulously honest.

The survey, which involved 1,500 HR managers in large companies, revealed that 37 per cent of jobseekers had lied about their previous experience, 21 per cent about their qualifications and 19 per cent about their salary. The survey had coincided with the launch of a service designed to allow employers to check higher education qualifications.

Examples of untruths encountered included inflated claims about foreign language skills and, in one case, a claim to have been working abroad when the applicant was in prison.

According to Ribeiro, seasoned recruiters can immediately feel whether or not a document has the ring of truth. They can easily check up on basic facts and pin you down at interview, should you get that far.

Careless CVs

Errand Carriers received over 350 resumes for recently advertised positions. The ones that were automatically excluded from consideration were those that had spelling mistakes, ‘unprofessional’ email addresses and any that had inappropriate photos attached. He says that one applicant even misspelled ‘objective’.

“I often shortlist people who can spell liaison or liaise correctly,” he says. “Everyone seems to use this word but so many spell it incorrectly. To me it demonstrates attention to detail. Any resume without a covering letter was not responded to.”

Ribeiro advises that people should make sure that their CVs don’t have chronological gaps. “Even if the reason is innocent like ‘taking time off to attend to family matters’ or ‘went on an extended vacation’, put it in,” he says. “(If you don’t) employers may think the worst.”

Alan Beazley, who spearheaded the UK survey, said that while most discrepancies were honest mistakes, one in ten were serious issues such as lies about criminal convictions and fraud against previous employers.

Another dangerous mistake, he said, was people claiming credentials they didn’t have. For example, one candidate said that he had an MBA when, in fact, he started the programme but didn’t finish.

The last page

Another common mistake usually occurs at the conclusion. This is where you list your education, training and hobbies.

“If you have a degree and five years experience then you do not need to list every subject and grade of every academic level,” Ribeiro says. If your testimonials or referees are likely to damn you with faint praise, choose a source that can be relied upon to say something positive that reflects you at the right professional level.”

So what is the best way to write a killer CV?

Ribeiro says that there are essentially four sections to the front page of a high impact CV: Your name, address and contact details. It should also include your profile and a list of skills and achievements.

“Highlight in bold the words that match the job-advert. Make sure you also show a broad range of skills rather than wasting too many lines on one area. You should also remember to add personal qualities like the ability to meet tight and demanding deadlines under pressure,” he says. It would be easier getting an interview if you avoid any of these mistakes.