5 Things That Make Your CV Scream ‘Unprofessional’

I recently had a conversation with one of our career advisors to find out some of the mistakes that make a CV to be unprofessional.

‘I will give you an example of John’s CV (not his real name) which I recently revamped. Since 2019, he had been applying for content writing jobs. His CV had many grammatical errors, the email was unprofessional and his achievements were not quantified. Remember, John was looking for jobs that involved editing and proofreading. This prevented him from getting opportunities and this frustrated him. Three months after I revamped his CV, he got an interview call and he realized that his unprofessional CV had ruined his chances.’ Says, the career advisor.

If you check your skills and experience, you are a good fit but why are you not getting interview invitations?

The reason could be that your CV is doing you the injustice of screaming unprofessional before you even get a chance to convince the employer that you are the best fit.

Here are 5 things that make your CV scream unprofessional:

1. Ridiculous Email Address

Employers pay attention to an email address and if yours is unprofessional, it shows that you don’t care about your professional image no matter how experienced you are.

John’s CV had an unprofessional email that read ‘johnthelazyboy@gmail.com’ and this was a sure ticket to a ‘no’ pile because it spoke more about him.

2. It Stands Out — But Not in a Good Way

To stand out from other candidates, it is important to be unique, authentic, and be real to avoid questions about your ability to fit in the role.

Including the skills, keywords and relevant experience helps you to stand out in a good way. It is important to consider removing pictures, funny fonts, and unnecessary colors because they are not ATS system compliant.

3. Solid Wall Of Text Which Lacks Substance

Including irrelevant information in your CV makes it long and hard for the employer to go through it. Before including any information, ask yourself if it is visually appealing and if it will convince the employer.

A well-crafted CV contains accomplishments that prove your duties and responsibilities in the previous workplace.

4. Lies And Half-Truths

Honesty is the best policy and if you lie on your CV, you are taking a risk. Most employers conduct background checks before a job offer and dishonesty will ruin your success.

5. “Red Flag” Information

The goal of your CV is to land you an interview by giving a summary of your skills and experience.

Avoid information that can raise questions for instance ‘I left my previous job because my boss stressed me or I was not promoted’.

Such discussions should be tackled during the interview but in a professional and positive way.

6. Passive Tone of Voice.

Listing responsibilities can be passive and boring and it is important to use action verbs to show how you got things done.

Examples of action verbs include, managed, led, oversee, achieved, organized, or increased, and avoid overusing them.

Summary

Having an impactful CV full of useful and relevant information is essential to a successful job search. It is therefore it is important to avoid pitfalls that make your CV unprofessional and maximize your chances of getting an interview.

Our FREE CV Review can help you stand out from the crowd.