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10 Deadly Sins to Avoid in Your CV

Wondering why you are not getting interviews? Could your CV be the problem?

A well-written professional CV can easily guarantee you an interview.

To make sure that your CV makes it to the front door of a potential interview, here are deadly sins you should avoid on your CV.

1. More of Personal Information

It is important to have a professional approach to your CV. The employers are not interested in your marital status, religion, age, number of your kids, or tribe. What is relevant in contact information is name, email, and phone number.

Also, when saving your CV, save under your name as it appears in your ID and not just CV doc.

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2. Using First Person or Possessive Nouns

When describing responsibilities, avoid the use of possessive nouns or writing in the first person. Leave out “I, me, or mine. Instead, maximize the use of action verbs like managed, coordinated, or developed.

3. Unprofessional Email Address

An inappropriate e-mail address should be avoided for example like cutegirl@email.com. You should use your name while creating an email.

4. Images On the CV

A picture of yourself should never appear in your CV. It is a big sin no matter how beautiful you are. Employers are interested in your skills and expertise and not your physical appearance. Some employers will immediately dismiss a CV with a picture to avoid being accused of discrimination during the process. Keep in mind that some companies also use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to scan the right candidates and the system will automatically disqualify the CV with pictures.

5. Salary Information

Salary information is confidential and it is a sin if it appears on your CV unless the employer is strict that you should mention in your CV.

6. Using Caps

Capitalizing every word in your CV is a bad impression and it sounds like you are yelling at the reader. Allow your accomplishments to stand for themselves and do not use unnecessary capitalization or fonts when trying to put across your points.

7. Listing Every Job That You Have Done

If you have worked in 10 different positions, then that is good of you but it is not necessary to indicate every single job. Mentioning temporary or interim jobs is unnecessary especially if you have a lot of experience in your field of specialization.

8. Making Your CV Too Long

Yes, you may be having a lot of experience in different companies but you will have to filter some of the information to make your CV concise. Having a 10-page CV will not help you get the job but you should keep it to 3 pages. A long CV is unreadable especially when the employers have a pool of applicants and spend a few seconds on each CV.

9. Reasons Why You Left Your Previous Employer

It is a sin to include the reason why you left your previous employment. Some employers may only ask this question during the interview but you should not mention it in your CV. What about if you left on bad terms? Avoid such details unless the recruiter requested you to share that information.

10. Negative Information

Your CV is a marketing tool and it is the best weapon when looking for a job. However, never include any negative information as this will undermine the positive part of your CV.

In conclusion, you should avoid the above pitfalls and ensure that your CV is concise and clear. Having a professional CV free of error makes you stand out whenever you send your application.

Is your CV professional? Reach out to our professional CV writers and get yourself a professional CV today!

4 Comments

  1. Good morning

    i would like to have a physical mock interview ,what are the requirements

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