Resumes are an integral part of the job-search process and therefore to make your application shine, one should know about the Dos and Don’ts in a CV.
Most importantly, cvDragon understands the predicament of students and to help them create perfect resumes we have compiled a list of Dos and Don’ts in a CV. Not only, it will reduce common errors but also help you get noticed by Recruiters.
Dos: Guidelines for Dos and Don’ts in a CV
- Use cvDragon Resume Builder for 200+ resume templates. Outline and arrange your CV sections accordingly.
Related: Know about the 20 Important CV Sections for Freshers in 2022
- Identify Resume Keywords according to the job description before creating your resume.
- Reread the job description and list specific Skills that the ATS software will use to screen resumes.
- Use the job role or last professional qualification like ‘Business Development Manager’ or ‘Marketing Supervisor‘ as Professional Title.
- Choose a resume format (Chronological, Reverse-Chronological or Functional resume) that displays your experience, education and skills distinctly.
Freshers: Use ‘Reverse-Chronological’ or ‘Functional format’.
Experienced: Use the ‘Chronological format’.
- Mention your Full Name and optional details like Age and Gender in the Basic Info section.
- Enter your own Phone Number, location and Email Address in the Contact Details section.
[Note: Use a professional email-id instead of a work or personal email and enter your full address if required.]
- Use cvDragon‘s predefined Keyphrases for multiple CV sections.
- Be concise and to the point as Recruiters look through several resumes in a day.
- Trim and focus your resume based on what you’re conveying to a Recruiter.
- Offer a Career Summary if you’re experienced and Career Objective for Freshers with limited experience.
[Note: Explain why you’re the best fit for the role by adding a few USPs and recent achievements about how you will benefit the company.]
- Make a clutter-free resume that’s easy on the eyes. Use legible font styles with background contrast and whitespaces for readability.
- Use fonts like ‘Roboto’, ‘Lato’ or ‘Roboto Condensed’ with font size in 8-10 pt. to adjust your CV within one page.
- Choose layouts with subtitles for various CV sections. Use short one or two-line sentences instead of paragraphs.
- A Resume Builder like cvDragon reduces common formatting issues, but if you’re doing it yourself, use a Text Editor like Notepad.
Dos: Tips for Dos in a CV
- List your Education Background, Certificates and Work Experience chronologically using the cvDragon Resume Builder.
- Use an Interview Elevator Pitch to grab the attention of the Recruiter.
- Use bullet points with active verbs and action words such as “Monitored” or “Analyzed” for Work Experience or Internships.
- Provide periods and choose a template with a table form for your Educational Background.
- Include links to your LinkedIn Profile, GitHub (for Developers) or Medium (for Content Writers) account according to the job role. Customize your profiles and update them as per your qualifications.
- List Soft Skills and Technical Skills in separate CV sections.
- Mention Technical Skills level as Beginner, Intermediate and Proficient.
- List Spoken Languages in which you communicate. Including Foreign languages is a bonus since MNCs will be more interested to hire you.
[Tip: Use free websites like Duolingo, FluentU and Babbel to upskill yourself with language certifications]
- If you’re satisfied with the CV contents, check for spelling mistakes or grammatical errors using tools like grammarly.com.
- Save your CV/ Resume in an ATS-friendly format like .pdf using the cvDragon Resume Builder.
Don’ts: Things to avoid in a CV
- Avoid keyword stuffing, and stop mass-spamming to avoid rejection for bad resume etiquette.
For example:
✔ “SEO” “Digital Marketing” “Google AdWords”
❌ “SEO, Digital Marketing, Google AdWords”
- Forget to tailor your CV according to the job description. Note the keywords in the advertisement that the ATS software will look for.
- Create your resume in a word processor like MS Word. Use a Resume Builder like cvDragon instead.
- Forget to mention your Full name in the Basic Info section.
- Add someone else’s Phone Number or Email Address as Contact Details. Remember, Recruiters won’t be able to contact you.
[Note: Avoid entering work or personal email-id. Do not include a full address unless required.]
- No one has the patience to read boring resumes so don’t use generic summaries.
- Overlook the importance of a Career Summary or Career Objective. It’s often the first thing a Recruiter looks at on your resume.
- Make the Career Summary more than four sentences. It will be a paragraph no one is going to read.
- Choose a Resume Objective when you should have included a Resume Summary.
- Forget to include a Professional Title and don’t use first-person pronouns like “I,” “My” in the resume. It’s unengaging and unprofessional.
- Make your resume a nightmare using illegible fonts or weird colours. Don’t use cursive fonts to be bold.
- Avoid rich graphics unless it’s for a Graphic Designer post. Most ATS software do not parse them well.
- Make the resume too long. A one-page or two-page resume is acceptable but having a third page is a common resume mistake.
- Never use passive voice by mistake. It makes the resume evasive and unclear.
For example:
✔ “Managed account registers and prepared invoice statements.”
❌ “Utilized accounts registers and send invoice statements.”
Conclusion:
To conclude as per an HR statistics report, “A Recruiter spends an average of just 7 seconds skimming resumes.”
So, making the ideal resume that grabs their attention should be the main concern of every applicant. Additionally, we hope our guide for ‘Dos and Don’ts in a CV’ will enable you to secure an interview soon!
