It’s 2022 ! , and with a new year comes a new round of job seeking for many aspiring sales and marketing professionals across the UK. If you’re hoping to land your perfect role in sales or marketing in 2022, take the time to freshen up your CV before you send it out. Even the smallest changes can make a huge difference to your CV success rate. Here are our top 20 CV tips for job-seekers this year.
Top 20 CV tips for 2022
• 1. Don’t include a title, like ‘Curriculum Vitae’; it’s just not needed and it’s a waste of valuable space on your CV
• 2. Format your CV carefully, making it easy to read and using bold, italics, and bullet points strategically
• 3. Opt for a classic, readable font like Times New Roman, Verdana, or Helvetica. Don’t use Comics Sans.
• 4. Stick to a page or two in length, no matter how experienced you are – you shouldn’t need more than this
• 5. Balance out large chunks of text with white space so that your CV isn’t overwhelming at first glance
• 6. 50% of people who apply for jobs aren’t actually qualified; read the job description twice and make sure your CV fits
• 7. The CV ‘hotspot’ is the upper-middle section on the first page of your CV: this is where you need to impress recruiters
• 8. Order the sections of your CV, including skills, experience, and education sections, based on their importance in your career
• 9. Provide links to online accounts such as LinkedIn, Twitter, or your professional website to flesh out your personality and experience
• 10. Use a tool like Grammarly to proofread your CV, or ask a friend to look over it for you
• 11. Clearly state where and when you earned promotions in previous roles
• 12. Make sure your cover letter and your CV complement each other; they shouldn’t sound like they’re written by two different people
• 13. Get rid of any redundant jargon or unnecessary waffle in your CV; it should be as concise as possible
• 14. If you haven’t got any extra-curricular items to add to your CV, consider taking one up; it certainly won’t hurt
• 15. Back up the claims you make about yourself with figures where possible, such as sales figures from your last role
• 16. Flesh out your experience with achievements, which can include significant sales deals that you closed or projects you led
• 17. Tailor your CV to the job description of every job you apply for, no matter how subtle the differences between job adverts are
• 18. Add a small ‘hobbies and interests’ section to bring some personality to your CV, but only if you’ve got the space for it
• 19. Send a follow-up thank-you email to the recruiter or hiring manager after your interview; it’s good manners and it might help you out
• 20. Tell the truth; it’s OK to embellish a little, but if you wouldn’t say it to your friends or family, don’t say it on your CV
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