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Key lessons on writing an amazing resume

Learn important lessons on how to write a CV. Your professional life depends on it!

Its important nature notwithstanding, most people tend to make lots of mistakes trying to oversell themselves, belittle some information that is quite important.

These are a key lessons on how to write a successful CV:

1. Don't be vague in your descriptions

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The tend to use terms like “good communicator”, numerous achievements or achieved to expectations. These may be good descriptors of one’s qualifications in themselves, but it will be better to summarize exactly what you achieved that made you live up to expectations. For example if you exceeded your target in a sales position in your former job, state what the expectation was and by how much you exceeded it.

2. Don't hide important information

Most job seekers operate under the belief that if that withholding information is not necessarily lying.

But in the corporate world, not acting in good faith is lying and dishonesty. Any information that you believe to be an important decider of the job you applying for must be included in your CV, unless it is explicitly ruled out as not important.

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It’s vital to highlight the key points that may help swing an interview for a particular job. So think about the design of your CV and ways you can bring important details to the fore, for example by putting key achievements in bullet points or bolding your previous job titles.

3. Giving too much irrelevant information is bad

It is believed that recruiters spend the average of 10 seconds looking through a CV. In their quest to impress, however, most job seekers tend to clutter their CVs with information they deem to be important. It is essential to lead with the most important information and add any additional information, but you must be sure not overload the CV. You must definitely leave out details of your religion, political affiliation and other overly personal

4. Don't leave unexplained gaps in employment history

Don’t leave too much gaps in your employment history for your employment history to be filled by the guesses of your recruiter. If for some reason you were inactive for one or two years, state the reason. Remember you are not there when your prospective employer assesses you CV to offer explanations, so make your details as plausible as possible.

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5. Do not manipulate the truth or exaggerate

Mostly, in their quest to present the best versions of themselves, prospective employees tend to exaggerate their qualifications or achievements. There is thin line between selling yourself and painting a picture that may not be true. Be very tactical in presenting the facts and selling them as what they are.

Recruiters are on the lookout for anything that seems out of place, including salaries and job titles (and are often expert at spotting them), so be honest and ensure that you give your real attributes a fair chance of getting you the job you want.

7. No complex CV designs

Again, this stems from the over-exhuberance of prospective employees to make a good impression.

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Do not be over elaborate in the design of your CV. Choose the simplest format as possible, bearing in mind that the recruiter will most likely assess your CV on screen and not in print.

Using fonts like Times New Roman and Verdena are screen friendly and appropriate.

and a font size of 10 or 12 for body copy, and slightly larger for subheads.

8. Typographical errors should be double checked

The exercise of CV writing is the one that requires no mistake or petty errors. In other words, certain exercises in life allow for petty mistakes, but not your CV. It is testament of you how much attention you pay to details, and your ability to do things right when it is extremely necessary.

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Some recruiters equate having typos in CV to serving a dish of food with a strand of hair in it. It is disgusting and a good basis  for throwing that CV away.

9. Write a good introduction

Many people do not know what to do with the introduction. The introduction simply is where you state succinctly, in perhaps two lines, what position you are applying for, and why you think you are qualified.

I hope you will avoid making these nine common mistakes in the future.

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