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Top 15 CV Mistakes

Job seekers that have gone through the frustrating experience of sitting by the phone for hours or constantly checking their inbox for possible messages from job recruiters know the anguish they feel each time they send another CV out to no avail. The widespread rejection of their CV may not be necessarily due to the fact that they are unqualified, but rather to a list of factors that play against them each time a job recruiter looks at their CV. The end result is inevitable: they are never short-listed for a possible interview and may spend months or even years looking for a job.

The above scenario is the nightmare that no highly skilled and competent job seeker wants to be unfortunate enough to find himself/herself in; however, it is nonetheless the reality of hundreds that have never sought professional career/CV advice and have embarked on the mission of CV writing alone. They end up committing blatant CV errors that reduce their chances of being considered for the job in question and unknowingly rob themselves of the opportunity of getting their dream job. Below we have listed the top 15 CV mistakes that should be avoided at all cost:

Poor Grammar and Spelling Errors: The information that is presented in your CV is a direct representation of your attention to details and education level;therefore, poor grammar and spelling errors are interpreted negatively by job recruiters. A “spell checker” may not highlight all of your spelling errors and this is why it is very important that you read your CV aloud at least two times before sending it out. You should also consider the possibility of getting it checked by a professional copywriter that specialises in CV writing.
Excessive Information: The need to be marketable and competitive should not overshadow your CV with excessive information. If this happens, the important information that would increase your chances of getting interviewed become hidden with hundreds of buzzwords that contribute to boring the job recruiter rather than making him or her enthused about scheduling an interview with you.
Poor Formatting: Sloppily formatted CVsare quickly rejected due to the negative impression they create about the job seeker. The correct use of font sizes, underlines, italics, bold fonts, etc., should not be exaggerated; there should be harmony in your CV that motivates any HR manager to take another look at the information. Your CV should be customised to meet the requirements of the job description; therefore, do not adopt the approach that one CV fits all job applications.
Sophisticated Formatting: It is easy to believe that the more original your CV the higher the chances of getting the job in question; however, this is far from the truth. Excessive and complicated formatting can play against you instead of opening the door of opportunity that you are knocking on; therefore, ensure you have the right balance and nothing overly sophisticated to grab the recruiter’s attention.
Lack of Objective: The information in your CV should be presented very clearly and in an orderly fashion. It should not have information that has absolutely nothing to do with the experiences and expertise that the organisation is looking for. Do not provide pages and pages of information that lack a logical order to market your skills.
Informal and Complicated Language: The recruiter should not sense that you are trying to talk down to him or her or that you are being informal. The language that you use to write your CV should be formal and professionally written without references to “I”, “we”, “us”, “they”, “you”, etc. Words that are not used on a daily basis by the average human being should also be avoided.You want to create the impression that you are intellectually inclined and not a verbose boast.
Floating Information: If you make a claim in your CV, do validate it with facts and if necessary figures as well. This will add more credibility to what you have written and also increase the chances of being interviewed.
Age Reference: The days of putting your date of birth on your CV are long gone, so do not assume that your age is valuable information to get the job. Whilst some organisations will not openly admit it, but reference to age can create a negative impression in some job markets. Sometimes some companies are looking for young people and will not openly admit this, so you do not want to give them the chance to ignore your CV without at least scheduling an interview to market yourself.
Absence of Keywords: If you are submitting your CV to job recruitment websites, then it is important that you include valuable keywords in it. These keywords will vary according to the vacancy in question. The more targeted your keywords are, the higher the chances of having it selected by the website’s automated selection process.
Lack of Originality: CVs that are found on the internet and that just about everyone is using should be avoided. Some effort should be made to create a CV that has certain distinctive characteristics to make it more visually appealing and interesting. A HR manager that sees identical CV formats is not likely to consider them on the short-list.
Misleading Information: Skills, education history and experiences that are not factual can easily be detected by a meticulous reader. If you do not have the skills that the organisation is looking for, then do not invent them, instead spend the time to become qualified or focus your attention on another job. Information that is deemed as misleading can result in a prison sentence and public humiliation.
Job History Gap-A glitch in your past jobs should not be reason to hide information. Once the job recruiter sees the information gap then your credibility is put on the stand. Include all the information that is necessary to make your CV complete and factual.
Negative Comments: Your CV should be used to present information and the interview to clarify what you have written. Negative comments about a bad working experience should never be included, because this does not work to your advantage.
Hobbies: Including hobbies in your CV is important to shift the focus from academic and professional qualifications and reveal some basic information about your personal interests. However, there are some hobbies that do not complement your CV and should not be mentioned. Some of these include: stamp collection, writing poems, knitting, meeting new people, travelling, etc. Instead of hobbies you can include section about extracurricular activities. This section should have valuable information about your participation or even leadership roles as it relates to working with a team.
Unclear Accomplishments: Job recruiters want to know why they should hire you and the only way they can know is by your past experiences and accomplishments. Therefore, highlight how your presence in a particular company fuelled its growth and overall accomplishments. The more accomplishments you can truthfully present the higher your chances of being called for an interview; however, do not write a sales page; but professionally structured pages full of relevant accomplishments and information.