Let’s imagine this scenario: Following an informal chat with someone or seeing a job advert, you come across a great opportunity to further your career but you need to apply for it in writing. You start checking the CV’s you store on your computer – what do you find? You might find some files from years ago, and it feels like that they just don’t reflect your job anymore. Or you find no files at all and you start checking old emails you sent to others hoping that you will find at least an old version of your CV. Alternatively, you may have a good standard generic version of it with your latest tasks and achievements.
If it’s the last one, you are in a good position for these three reasons:
- It captures all important elements of your roles
If you have been keeping a career development log recording all progress to your career, this will be easy. If you haven’t started a log yet, one way to record new responsibilities, achievements, projects, milestones is to add them to the main version of your CV as and when they happen.
It is easy to overlook and forget the extra tasks and you would be surprised how much additional work you pick up when in a role. Even if they are temporary, they add to your skills and knowledge and will make you look a stronger candidate.
2. Customising is much easier and quicker
When you have a good basis material from which to work, you won’t need to write everything from scratch and you can spend more time on the important step of tailoring your application to the advert. Choosing the words that match the advert and shuffling the order of responsibilities influence the outcome of you application and they are just as important as submitting a resume without any spelling errors. If you have to complete an application form with very specific questions, your generic CV can be used as a good resource for ideas on what to include in your answers.
3. You won’t need to compromise on the speed or the quality of your application
Don’t take your time just because there is no formal closing date or it is 3 weeks away; recruiting managers will most likely start looking at at the applications as and when they receive them. The quicker you submit yours, the more competent, prepared and confident you will come across in the process. By having the extra time to get your application checked out by others for any mistakes or changes you need to make, you won’t need to compromise on the quality either.
If you need help with the customising or finalising of your CV, get in touch. It is usually only a quick fix to make sure your application is of the best standard possible. Find out by requesting a free CV review.
