If you are in that postgraduate phase where you send avalanches of resumes but no one answers you, or at most you rIf you are in that postgraduate phase where you send avalanches of resumes but no one answers you, or at most you receive is a “we will let you know”, while friends and companions enter the world of work like bees in a hive, do not worry: you are not wrong, but maybe your curriculum is! In this article we will show you some tips on how to create a successful CV in 2022 and for the future.
Writing your curriculum vitae is the main step to enter the world of work, based on your passions and skills, and on the basis of what the market offers. It is therefore essential to know how to propose oneself in the best possible way and the first step is certainly through the CV, given that it is through this tool that the first processes of choosing recruiters are carried out to organize subsequent interviews.
How to make a Curriculum Vitae effective
The first question that needs to be addressed is: how can I make my resume attractive? Companies receive hundreds of applications similar to yours: why should they bet on you? It will be essential in this sense to focus and emphasize one’s strengths, such as experiences, skills, language knowledge, skills, etc.
HR managers will review your professional experience and educational background, probing your background in search of the most relevant aspects for the industry and position. Be sure to include all the information that highlights your experience in the specific industry and makes you the “ideal profile”.
Let’s now go into detail and see some tips to create a successful CV in 2022. Before considering the various aspects, we advise you to check the contact details and personal data you have included. It often happens that an email address, or telephone number, have changed. Make sure in this sense to insert the correct ones since they represent the first medium of contact with the possible employer.
- Personal information
- Appropriate photo
- Define the target
- Order
- Originality and creativity
- Sincerity
- Control
Personal information
As indicated, the insertion of personal data is the initial point and among the most fundamental. Do not lie about age (or things like this) and check that the contact details are correct: it would be unpleasant to be potentially selected but not be able to be contacted for wrong or unavailable contact information.
Appropriate photo
As with personal information, the photo is also decisive. The importance is not given by your aesthetics or beauty but by the seriousness that transpires from it. So choose photos in which you have a serious, professional, but also smiling and positive expression. Be careful not to exceed on both sides and choose a photo that enhances the characteristics indicated. Avoid sunglasses, wigs, grimaces.
Target definition
Once the personal and contact section has been set, we move on to define the target for sending the CV. Does this action answer the basic question “What position am I applying for“? Usually, in fact, the positions or sectors of work for which we apply can be different or even diametrically opposed. Understanding the target will therefore allow you to highlight or hide some information or experiences of that particular sector.
Summary and strengths
Often, not to say almost always given the situation of the labor market, human resources receive hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of applications. Starting from this it is necessary to focus on two central aspects: the synthesis of the CV and the immediate underlining of one’s strengths. The ability to synthesize experiences, skills, knowledge, school career in a single page (or a little more) will be a point in your favor.
Synthesis is in fact fundamental, especially in cases where the curricula for a position are numerous. In the same way, giving immediate prominence to your skills will allow you not to go unnoticed and therefore not to be discarded. Imagine yourself instead of a recruiter: on what aspects could your eye fall? Certainly not on a decidedly long CV and with little clarity about skills and competences.
Order
Have you decided what to highlight in a synthetic way? Perfect. The next step will be to compose a CV, in an orderly manner, where each part contains the required information. On this aspect there are no strict rules, only a few pieces of advice on the method. Organize the information in a logical and spatially ordered way: for example, enter first the personal data, then the language skills, not vice versa.
Originality and creativity
As never before, the visual and graphic part assumes a central role: in different contexts candidates with original curricula are preferred, in which personal elements can emerge more easily than the “canonical” CV in European format. On the internet you can find dozens and dozens of examples, from one organized as a subway map, to one that resembles the posters of the wanted (Dead or Alive). Creativity, very often, is rewarded.
Sincerity
You may have heard “write that you worked there, so they will not go to check and at least you have put in an extra experience”. Don’t do it. The knots sooner or later, always come to the comb. Enter your skills and abilities with sincerity and without “inflating”; if you have certain skills, it will not be a problem to highlight them. On the contrary, you risk bad impressions.
Control
Once the cv has been created, check what has been written. Re-read all the boxes, review the style and correct any errors. Even a single incorrect character in the email address will compromise the effectiveness of the Curriculum. Beware of distraction errors and typos. A recruiters who finds themselves reading a Curriculum Vitae with errors will certainly not be happy and will tend not to take into account the document itself.
The anonymous CV
This will help you create a successful CV for 2022. In recent years the practice of anonymous Curriculum Vitae is spreading. It is a Curriculum from which some data which could e the subject of discrimination, voluntary or unconscious, by the recruiters, are hidden by obscuring some CV’s data, HR Managers and recruiters can focus on the skills and professional experiences of the candidate who, therefore, can be effectively evaluated on the basis of his skills and potential.
Normally the following pieces of information are deleted:
- Name
- Age
- Gender
- Origin
- Personal interests
- Name of the universities or institutes attended
Obviously, it should be noted that even photos are not allowed, because the intentions mentioned above would be lost.
In many cases, it is the recruiters themselves who decide which elements to hide because they are the subject of more careful selection. A practical example? A specific legal consulting firm was interested in hiring recent graduates and before the selection deliberately eliminated the name of the university attended, so as not to risk being influenced by the prestige of the university, but simply to evaluate the candidate’s skills.
Aware of their human “limitations“, because this is what we are talking about, the recruiters themselves made this decision, which turned out to be successful.
To have proof of skills, then, always proceeding in the perspective of Blind Recruitment, there are many ways to test the skills of a candidate with tests that do not require identification except through a serial number. Once this phase has been overcome, when necessary, we move on to the real interview, where other factors such as presence, attitude, character and much more are inevitably taken into account.
However, it is necessary to clarify that this type of recruitment , despite its rising popularity in some European countries, is not too widespread in others, wherein the use of personalized CV with personal information remains preferable.
Useful tips
When choosing the format, try to be original but remain consistent with the role for which you are applying. You can find inspiration from online tools, such as Canva, or from the templates offered by Microsoft Office. It is however essential that the version you send is always in PDF format.
Writing up the CV is, as we have seen above, the first step in the world of work: this operation, however important and delicate it may be, should not generate anxieties, insecurities or make you hesitant. If you find yourself in a similar situation you can resort to some ideas collected here, simple benefits. Be optimistic and proactive, so you can create the future you want through your dream job.
If you are proposing yourself for the first time on the market and you do not have any work experience do not worry and remember that honesty, especially for the first job, is fundamental. Focus instead on emphasizing your skills in school or academia; internships, external stays, knowledge of languages or specific subjects, and so on. You can, in other words, create a successful CV for 2022 even without this information.
At this address, you can find more tips and ideas with our guides that can be downloaded completely free of charge and with just a few clicks.