PR Job Seekers, Do You Have the Right CV?

For those without work, now is the time to get your CV in shape. A professional and concise CV will give you a better chance of receiving a call to be considered for any live job opportunities.

When writing your CV, you need to keep in mind those who are going to be reading it. Recruiters like Latte and hiring managers will often see dozens of CV’s a day. They will glance at your CV and make a quick decision.

Each week Latte reviews over 50 PR CVs. We get daily feedback from clients and we know exactly what most hiring managers are looking for.

It’s not a one-pager (how can you get any key information into this?) and it’s not a novel. Your CV should outline your most recent roles in detail and if you are a more seasoned professional, summarise anything past the 5-year mark in your career.

Don’t graphic design it, don’t use text boxes and don’t try and make it look pretty. It should be professional, to the point and give enough information so that the recruiter or hiring manager can make a quick decision on whether you are worth calling on regarding the job opportunity.

Our top “do” tips are:

• Make sure your CV is in bullet point format
• For your last two positions, try and include a key achievements section
• Start with your most recent role and work back
• Always include start and end dates. Even if your CV is jumpy, people want to know how long you stayed in a role. If you leave it out, you most likely won’t be chosen for an interview.
• On each role, your bullet points should include a mixture of duties & responsibility and/or key projects you’ve worked on

Our top “don’t” tips are:

• Forget making your CV look pretty. Graphs, images, logos and different fonts are distracting and don’t really give useful information.
• If you’re a freelancer don’t summarise your freelance experience into one lump time period. I.e. between 2012 – Present. People want to see what you have most recently worked on, especially in the last two years. Past this, it is okay to simply list position, date and company.
• Don’t summarise your career into one page, unless you have only had one or two jobs. If you have a five-year career and summarise this into one page I can guarantee, you’ll leave out vital information that could engage a hiring manager.

Below is a link to a mock CV we’ve created to give you some guidance on how you should format your CV.

>>  Dean Connelly CV 2020  <<