Writing the perfect CV is no easy task. You must respect a certain number of practices and be as concise as possible. Business Cool lets you discover today all the golden rules to follow to seduce your recruiter before even seeing them.
It is often considered that a recruiter spends very little time on a candidate’s CV. Every year, the largest companies receive several thousand applications and they cannot devote much time to them. To succeed in this essential stage of recruitment, you must know how to capture attention and draw it to important details, without creating a CV that looks like a Christmas tree.
Nearly 500 recruiters tackled this arduous task, trying to create the perfect CV that would appeal to them, meet their expectations and guarantee candidates passed this crucial stage. Want to access interviews? Here’s how to do it!
CV layout and formatting
The organization of the CV is an essential point to take into account. To summarize years of experience, you need to keep certain rules in mind and think about the optimal way to organize your content.
What are the sections you absolutely must include on a CV? The recruiter does not dwell on every detail, so it is essential to be brief and concise. On a CV, it is recommended to highlight the following sections:
- Contact details : telephone number, email address, residence address, LinkedIn account, etc. Not putting a link to your LinkedIn profile is a serious mistake according to 96% of recruiters
- Introductory paragraph where you generally present your professional orientation and your strengths for the position in question
- Professional experience by detailing your missions and quantifying your accomplishments
- Training and diplomas
- Behavioral skills : communication, empathy, teamwork, listening, etc.
- Technical skills : graphic design, SAP, Pack Office, etc.
According to the investigation of Resumelab76% of recruiters prefer when both types of skills (soft skills and hard skills) are separated on a CV.
Should you opt for a single column or two column CV? For maximum clarity and better understanding on the part of recruiters, we recommend that you write a two-column CV. 77% of professionals say they prefer this type of CV. If you have more than 5 years of experience under your belt, you can afford to use two pages to write your CV.
What are the elements to avoid in a CV according to the ResumeLab survey?
- The list of interests if you have more than 5 years of experience
- The list of your references, according to 89% of recruiters
Colorful CV or CV in white and black? Recruiters prefer CVs in black and white or sober colors. We therefore recommend that you opt for colors like gray, beige or even blue. Thus, 71% of recruiters prefer formal and standardized CVs and only 7% prefer creative designs. This of course depends on the sector in which you are applying and the position sought. If you want to be a designer, it is best to be creative.
CV writing and content
According to the ResumeLab survey, “a large majority (64%) of HR managers spend between 3 and 6 minutes on each CV they review. Only 2% said they take less than a minute to review a resume. » This means that, even if recruiters are not going to dwell on the smallest detail, they will still read the content of the different sections. This is why you have to be careful about what you write, since every word counts.
The question that arises is: which part of the CV should you mainly focus on?
- 46% of recruiters prioritize experience
- 15% the educational path
- 13% skills
- 3% the introductory paragraph
- 22% from other sections of the CV: these are certifications, training courses or even conferences in which you had the chance to participate. Recruiters pay very particular attention to this. Among the best known and important we cite: languages (31%), certificates (27%), semi-professional or voluntary activities (21%), interests (19%), software (18% ), professional training (11%)
That said, professional background remains very important in the eyes of recruiters. Make sure to highlight your biggest accomplishments by using action verbs and supporting your words with numbers. The recruiter needs to have numerical data in front of them to keep in mind your potential contributions to the position. “85% of recruiters think it’s a good idea to list numbers and results to illustrate your professional achievements. » It is by supporting your words with figures that you will gain valuable points against the competition, attract the attention of your recruiter and demonstrate the extent of your achievements and your skills.
If no number comes to mind, we advise you to follow the frequency and scale strategy:
- Frequency: for example “payment of more than 50 supplier invoices per day” instead of “supplier invoicing manager” or “publication of 3 to 5 articles per day” instead of “web content creator”.
- Scale: for example: “active participation in the deployment of the offer on 3 national and international markets”.
When it comes to your years of experience, recruiters recommend covering the last 5 years of experience and including 5 to 8 bullet points in each position description. Professionals are not particularly interested in experiences that go back very long. Indeed, ” 33% said they don’t care about jobs candidates held more than 4 years ago. »
Who should you send your CV to?
72% of recruitment professionals advise sending the CV directly to the manager. The reason is very simple: this is the most important person in the recruitment process as they are the most likely to understand the extent of your skills and responsibilities. When writing your CV and choosing your missions, we advise you to think directly about your future manager and not about HR. It would also be preferable to send your application directly to them, without going through HR.
According to a Jobvite study, “ less than 1% of candidates who apply through job boards (LinkedIn or Indeed) or internal career sites end up getting the job. Among those who apply directly to the hiring manager, 19% are offered the position. » However, only 0.14% of candidates use this technique. You therefore improve your chances of getting the position in question if you follow this strategy. This will help you get through automated application sorting software, the famous screenings.
When you apply via a job site, your CV will go through an initial selection carried out by software based on artificial intelligence. According to the ResumeLab survey, “82% of recruiting professionals use either the ATS (applicant tracking system) or an HRIS (human resources information and management system). » In a nutshell, these are automated software programs that receive applications, scan the documents and search for keywords on them to compare them with the company’s requirements. However, robots are far from perfect and recruiters are aware of this. 65% even say they don’t trust them.
