in Careers Advice, CV Writing

Improve your CV in 5 minutes

How to change your CV and improve it dramatically with this simple hack.

Simply change your profile at the top of your CV so that is actually reflects who you are and not the usual nonsense that 90% of CVs seem to contain. By this I mean including factual information rather than a load of meaningless words.

So if I was a residential conveyancing solicitor with five years experience, specifically dealing with freehold and leasehold property properties up to a value of about £1 million and looking for a job in the High Wycombe area my profile would read something like this:

“A five year PQE residential conveyancing solicitor looking for a role in the High Wycombe area. Specific experience of both freehold and leasehold sales and purchases up to a value of £1 million.”

My CV should definitely not say:

“A dynamic resource full and enthusiastic solicitor whose commitment knows no boundaries with many years of professional experience client interfacing and being customer orientated at all times. Conscientious, committed and dynamic, I am the solicitor for you.”

What a load of nonsense this is! Anyone could say something similar as all the information included in this paragraph is subjective and not objective. It does not assist recruiters at all and hence is completely worthless. The suggested paragraph above is objective information and this is what employers want to see. You have but a few seconds to impress the reader of your CV. Wading through reams of waffle to get to the facts does not help.

One thing to perhaps consider adding to the paragraph I have written above is your salary range and start date although this is not essential.

Spend five minutes checking your profile – is it factual or waffly? Whilst you are at it check your LinkedIn profile for the same waffle – but that’s another article..

Jonathan Fagan

Jonathan Fagan LLM FIRP is Managing Director of Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment. He has been recruiting solicitors and legal support staff for law firms and in house legal departments for over 20 years and handles roles from junior fee earners through to partners and law firm sales/purchases. A non-practising solicitor on the Roll since 2000, he is also the author of a number of legal career books, which are available at www.ten-percent.uk. You can contact Jonathan at cv@ten-percent.co.uk