Competition is Rife
Job hunting is a very competitive process often because of the sheer volume of candidates in the job market and the speed with which desirable positions are filled.
In the first instance, it is your CV that will put you ahead of other candidates and get you the interview, where you can show your suitability for the job. Hence, getting a positive response from your CV upon application is key.

Selling Your Skills
Your CV is the first opportunity that you have to make your case to a recruiter telling them why you are suitable for the role for which you are applying and for this reason your CV is a selling tool or advertisement for you and not just an account of your experience.
As a sales document your CV must show the benefits of hiring you over other candidates and make it easy for a recruiter to see the specific advantages of hiring, or more specifically, buying your skills.
It may be hard to see yourself and your experience in terms of benefits for a prospective employer but in order to ensure the greatest chance of success you must draw out your achievements and highlight ‘what you can do for them’.
The best CV will ensure that you stand out from other applicants, show what you can do for them and how you match what the recruiter is looking for.

CV Structure and Strategy
There are complex rules of etiquette surrounding CVs on best practice structure and content. These rules change over time and can even vary within industries and roles. It is important to get your CV right and work within the structural limitations to sell your relevant skills and attributes.
Going outside these rules of etiquette in the attempt to be different or gimmicky often fails and varying from the standard format of a CV is not recommended.
Once you are aware that your CV is a selling tool, which will help you obtain the job, interview or agency support you want, and you are aware of the formal requirements of CV formatting and content restrictions, you will then have a greater understanding of the inherent challenges involved in encapsulating your background and strengths within this one concise document.
With a CV that is a well-written sales tool in the correct format with excellent content the next step in the job-hunting process is success in short-listing but how does your CV affect this, how do recruiters short-list and what are they looking for?

Getting through the short-listing process
Initially recruiters, whether they be recruitment consultants, human resource professionals or hiring managers, will use CVs as the basis for short-listing the large and often overwhelming number of applications they get for a particular role.
When short-listing recruiters look to match CVs to the skills or experience requirements of their vacancy and may well have a list of ‘must have’ and also ‘desirable’ qualities.
It is against this ‘wish list’ that they will perform an initial short-list and is important that the content and format of your CV allows your application to match what they are looking for.
For short-listing success it is extremely important to tailor your CV for each role or company you are applying to. If your CV does not specify the ‘musts’ on a recruiters list it will not matter how perfect you are for the job or how fantastic your CV is, as you will not make it past the initial hurdle of the short-listing process.

Brevity and Breadth
Because of the sheer volume of CVs submitted for any one role recruiters often scan through them in order to short-list, rather than reading through line by line. Therefore, it is important that your CV quickly obtains and holds the attention of a recruiter and in a concise and easy to read format highlights your main skills and achievements.
Because of the speed that recruiters read CVs at and the need to quickly ascertain an applicant’s suitability it is very important that your CV includes all the relevant information as it is very unlikely that they will contact the applicant to clarify any initial questions or missing information.

Fact versus fiction
It is important to know that although your CV is a sales tool it is not an opportunity to include false information. Never lie on your CV or over-exaggerate your skills, qualifications or experience.
Recruiters today are sensitive to the fact that some people do lie on their CVs and you may be required to provide physical proof of qualifications, which they may check up on, in addition to undergoing detailed verbal reference checks.
If someone is found to have lied or greatly exaggerated on their CV or during the interview process in order to obtain a position, the result can be automatic dismissal.

Job Hunting Success
A professionally written CV will reap better rewards for your job search.
Professional resumes perform an average of three to five times better than a well-written amateur resume.