Professional CV: relevance over keywords

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 - CV Format, CV Help, CV Keywords, CV Writing, Job Application

Professional CV: relevance over keywords

Many job seekers ask how recruiters and employers can review and reject Professional CV‘s in less than 30seconds? Well, here is the secret word that every recruiter and employer knows that most job applicants don’t: RELEVANCE!

If an employers advertises for an accountant with experience in the small office environment, then from the moment they pick up your job application, they want it confirmed – very quickly – that you have relevant experience: are you an accountant with experience in a small office environment? If you:

• Don’t have relevant experience: the reason for rejecting one third of job applicants)
• Have relevant experience but don’t confirm you do: the reason for rejecting another third of job applicants

Then it is easy to reject your job application in less than 30seconds.

Professional CV relevance

There are two ways to ensure that your CV has relevance to that employer or recruiter. Firstly, the easiest, quickest and simplest way of making sure that you engage the employer and don’t get rejected is by writing a relevant Personal Profile. The advantage of a personal profile is that it is often the first piece of text in a Professional CV that the employer reads. But the problem with old style personal profiles was that they were focused around the job applicant, not the fact their skills fitted the advertised job. Focus your around the job.

Professional CV Keywords

Secondly, check for keywords. Now, much is written about keywords, but if you have a copy of the job advert in front of you and a copy of your professional CV, then you have all the information you need to check that you have the right keywords. Firstly, read the job advert, three times. Then take a highlighter pen, and highlight the required skills, qualifications and experiences that are listed, and the order they are listed in. Now find the same highlighted words in your Professional CV, ideally placed in the same order. Don’t have them, then don’t apply for the job; do have them but can’t find them, then re-write your CV to enable that to happen, and show your Job Application has relevance.

In example:

CV relevance: personal profile for fashion retail

John asks: A dynamic, free thinking individual with leadership qualities and managing experience. With sales, purchasing and selling ability. A supportive and innovative character who demonstrates a responsible attitude and who at all times is looking to learn new skills to maximise his own performance either within a working team or independently.

Thats my personal profile for a job i am applying for in a mens fashion store. They want someone with retail/customer service experience. I have this experience. But is what i wrote okay or can i change anything? Please help

In answer:
Oh yawn! If I see another of these power word packed pieces of rubbish, I think I will reject them! No sorry, I just did – again, and again, and again…..

Employers question: where’s the relevance to my job? Retail is about detail, and retail sales is about revenue per square foot. Your profile doesn’t have one £/$ sign in it, or one verified claim in it (managing experience – how many people/shops?)

The simple formula for a personal profile is:

• I am
• I do/deliver
• I seek

For instance:

I am an experienced retail (manager/supervisor) who has a consistent track record of (over?) delivery in the retail sales of (list products) to (list a diverse product or sector). Having started on the shop floor being trained by (name employer), I have since over the past (insert time scale) now experienced all aspects of retails sales from employers including (A to Z), up and including (state highest level of experience), managing teams of (state size) and achieving sales of (£X per period). I have won (insert two prize claims), and (insert recognition, eg commendation/employee of year). I now seek to (state what you want to do, which is – surprise – their job title).

Take that irrelevant power word rubbish to the bin, and Good Luck!

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One Response to “Professional CV: relevance over keywords”

1. Tweets that mention Professional CV: relevance over keywords | Professional CV -- Topsy.com Says:
   June 10th, 2010 at 7:25 am

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ian R McAllister and cv4biz, cv4biz. cv4biz said: Professional CV: relevance over keywords: http://bit.ly/aGfPZo [...]