What makes a bad CV?

What makes a bad CV? If you’re applying to jobs and getting no replies whatsoever, the answer will interest you! Well, I wish there was only one thing to share with you. However, that is not the case. There are many things that help it.

Today, we are going to cover our top 3 things that make a bad CV. These are all based on real-life examples we’ve encountered at Linking Lines. Therefore, don’t think we’re exaggerating; people are actually producing CVs that include the below mistakes.

 

The most common thing that makes a bad CV

Believe it or not, the most common mistake is the number of pages! I wish we were talking 3 here – sometimes it can be up to 7. You’ve read it right – 7 pages of autobiography for busy recruiters to read.

Surely everyone has heard that the ideal number of pages is 1 and that 2 is acceptable? Then how come we have this mistake despite ? Well, in order to convince the reader they can do the job, people get carried away. Furthermore, because they’ve only got one chance to impress, they want to share everything – in detail.

 

Hence, it’s fairly easy to understand why this person didn’t get replies to job applications – probably no one read their CV.

 

The next worst thing that makes a bad CV

The next thing on our list is murkiness, disorganization, and untidiness – call it what you want! It is actually a mixture of things that result in a CV that doesn’t bring results.

Here, we’re going to list a few of those for your reference:

– typos and genuine spelling mistakes

– unusual “pretty” fonts

– no line spacing

– no emphasis on certain elements that make the CV easy to read (e.g., bold font for section titles)

– inconsistent formatting

These are all the things that add up to a bad first impression, and we see them frequently.

To put it differently – if the CV is unpleasant to the eye, complex, and hard to follow, it will not bring you the results you need.

 

The inability to distinguish what’s important makes a bad CV

Indeed, we’ve seen this time after time again. People are simply unsure of what to include in their CVs and what to leave out. This often leads to their CV being the perfect example of a poor CV.

But what do we mean by this inability to distinguish? Truth be told, we’re mostly talking about personal information. This is a very common issue we see and it can be anything from school trophies, parents’ names, and marital status to irrelevant hobbies!

Next, people tend not to emphasize the important stuff. If you think that is not possible, here’s one perfect example: a person holds a master’s degree in Computing, yet they only mentioned it at the very end of the CV. By the way, the keyword here is “mentioned” – they only listed the qualification even though they’re applying for a position in the computer science sector. Meaning no description, and no selling point to the recruiter. Hopefully, you now understand how and why this mistake occurs.

 

How can I avoid these mistakes?

In general, there’s loads of free advice right here on this blog, check it out. Also, you can send in your CV for a free review or get professionals to write it for you! However, if you are determined to write your own CV, I suggest getting this simple yet powerful CV writing guide! Follow the steps outlined in it and change your job search forever.

Lastly, stay tuned for more stuff on CV writing and career development here on our blog or various LinkedIn accounts- you can surely benefit from it.

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