Posted by Applying to jobs online can be an emotional and stressful process. It takes long enough just to fill out those pesky applications. The last thing you want to do is customise your CV for every job you apply to. But what if I told you it didn’t have to be difficult. What if you could increase your chances of landing an interview by only spending 5 extra minutes per application. In this article, I am going to show you how to customise your CV for the job. By doing this, you will land more interviews and get hired faster.Â
1. Include the target job title at the top of your CV
A proper CV should include the desired job title at the top. This will go right below your name, and slightly above your summary section (see image below).
This section should only take about 30 seconds to edit for each job that you apply for. If the job title you are applying for is “Senior Financial Services Manager” then the top of your CV should say “Senior Financial Services Manager”. In most cases, you can use the exact job title word for word on your CV. This section is not meant to be your current job title. It is meant to be your aspiring job title.
2. Customise the key skills / areas of expertise section
Every CV should have a section that highlights some of your key skills for the job. Usually this section goes right below the professional summary and right above the work experience section. Your CV skills are a perfect section to customise based on the job description. This will take a little longer than customising the target job title but should not take more than 3-minutes total.
Thoroughly read through the desired job description. If you notice any common words being used throughout the job description, include those words on your CV. If they are mentioned in the job description, you can assume they are important. For example, if the job description says “looking for someone who has experience in Salesforce” then you will want to make sure you have the word “Salesforce” in your CV.
3. If there is no useful information in the job description
Sometimes you will find a job posting online and the job description is very brief. If you can’t find any useful keywords in the job description, do a quick Google search on the most common skills for the job you are applying to. If you are applying for a leadership position, you can Google “Leadership Skills for CV”. If you are applying to a sales manager position, you can Google “Sales Manager Skills for CV”. To save you time, we’ve created a list of the most common hard and soft skills for a CV.
4. Work with a professional CV writing service
At the end of the day, you could spend hours customising your CV and still not get results. CV customisation will do very little good if the CV you are customising isn’t good to begin with. The reason CV customisation should only take about 5-minutes is because the original CV you are working from should be 99% complete. If you feel that your original CV is part of the problem, it’s recommended that you either rewrite it yourself, or work with a professional CV writer.
There are dozens of great CV writing services. Find one that you trust, with excellent reviews, and resume customisation will be a simple and effective task. Leave us your thoughts on the comment sections below. Head over to Jobstore.com and unveil your next job opportunity.