Knowing the Difference Between CV & Resume
Before going through the CV mistakes by Fresh Graduates lets highlight the difference between a curriculum vitae (CV) and a resume. Both documents throw light on your skills and achievements but a CV is a detailed document which can be laid out over two or more pages while a resume is a short and a brief document over one or two pages only.
A job applicant must know this difference so that he should know whether his document of skill sets and achievements is a CV or a resume.
Why may a CV get REJECTED?
You may have outstanding skills and plenty of experience. But if you have not invested your CV and resume, the recruiter might turn a blind eye to it. Recruiters receive hundreds of applications and they can not obviously see each every CV or resume in detail. They filter out the applications. There are mostly many CV mistakes by fresh graduates due to which their CV gets filtered out. We have compiled some important reasons which can be the reason for the rejection of your CV or resume.
CV Mistakes by Fresh Graduates
Following are some common CV mistakes by fresh graduates that should be avoided:
Proper Email Address
The first of all the reasons for the rejection of your job application is your email id. You should make a proper email address if you do not have one. Recruiters might ignore the email ids like gangster@abc.com, sweetsiprincess@xyz.com or johnnydepp123@pqr.com as they do not give a professional look. Ideally, it should contain your first name and last name, for example, firstname.lastname@email.com or usain.bolt@gmail.com or nearby to it.
Subject of the Email
After email id, this is a very important point to consider. The subject of the email should be proper, precise and related. Never use ALL CAPS. Your email may not be even read by the recruiter if the subject is not proper. Sometimes, the required email subject is mentioned in the job advertisement. If it’s not, then you may write something short like “Software Developer Application”.
Cover Letter
If you succeed in making the recruiter to open your email, the next thing that he or she might observe is how well you have written your cover letter. Sending the CV or resume without a cover letter is a bad practice. Do write a cover letter in the email while sending the CV. The cover letter should be written in the body of the email as a content. Do not attach it to a separate document in the email.
Layout and Design
The first impression is the last impression. Let’s hope that you cover letter was convincing enough to make the recruiter have a look at your CV. The first impression of your document will be its layout and design. It is possible that your document may get discarded, no matter how potential and the highly qualified candidate you are. Hence, try to keep your layout and design simple in a proper format. Avoid colorful designs unless you are applying for some creative and artistic type of job.
Use of Font
Use a standard font consistently in your documents like Arial or Times New Roman. Do not use fancy fonts like Comic Sans etc. Use of inconsistent fonts in your document may give it a bad look. It can be the reason for making the recruiter least interested to read your details.
Stating Objective and Focus
If you have added Objective to your CV or resume, make sure that it is not copied from Google. The recruiters are very smart. Further, having a clear focus in your document is very essential. For example, if you are applying for a Software Developer position, you should focus only on the relevant skills, experience, and achievements.
References will be furnished on request
Not a good idea! Either you should directly add the references otherwise please do not waste space on your document by writing this line “References will be furnished on request”.
Avoid Personal Information
Refrain from including your personal information like residential address, NIC (National Identity Card) number, ethnicity, or religion. You can add your residential address if it is demanded by the employer or if the organization seeking a candidate which resides in a particular city or area. If an organization might be needing your personal information, they will ask for it. You can provide it to them afterward. But refrain from adding it to your document.
Picture on CV/Resume
You are going to be hired on the basis of your skills, not on the basis of your looks. So avoid adding your photograph to the document unless employer demands it. If you still want to add it, make sure that it is formal, not a selfie or a photograph captured in a wedding event. Otherwise, it will give your document a non-professional look.
Irrelevant Skills
Do not add any skill that is not relevant to the job you are applying for. Additionally, do not add any skill in which you are not good at all. Try to be honest in this. Further, make sure that you have an updated LinkedIn profile with the same skills and mention its link in your CV.
Document Format
It is recommended to save your document in ‘PDF’ format. Moreover, name the document as “FirstName LastName.pdf” or nearby as it becomes easier for the recruiter to search for it if required.
Different Document For Different Jobs
The CV should be different for every other vacancy that you are applying for. Read the job description carefully. Try to add the exact requirements on your document which are mentioned in the job advertisement. Sending out the document for every vacancy is not a good practice.
Proofread, proofread and proofread!
Proofread your CV again and again. Make sure that it does not contain any spelling or grammatical mistake. Having typos in CV is one of the CV mistakes by fresh graduates that is not affordable.
Conclusion
Your CV is your marketing brochure and your ambassador. Therefore, you can not afford even a small mistake or error in it. Ordinary and shabby CV shows laziness of the applicant. Especially for the fresh graduates, it is highly recommended for them to invest their time in improving their CVs and trying to make it unique.
Disclaimer: There is no guarantee of getting a job by following this article.But if you will not make these common CV mistakes, it will surely increase the chances of your being called for an interview. Rest is up to you. Best of Luck 🙂
