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It’s probably safe to say that most
jobseekers at present have their two or three page CV created and saved in
Microsoft Word. It’s also equally safe to say that if you’re a jobseeker, you’re
in the same situation as a large number of similarly qualified and experienced
candidates, who have similar MS Word based CVs.

A question to ask yourself is how are you
standing out?

If the answer is that you’re not standing
out, then perhaps you may want to think about it from the perspective of a
hiring manager with a job to fill. This manager will have a large amount of CVs
to sift through, all of them in MS Word or variants.

However, here are some simple steps to help
your application stand out from the rest.

1: The World Wide Web

There are a number of ways of hosting your
CV on the internet, and rather than just emailing your CV to the hiring
company, why not consider emailing a link to your online CV or Resume as well?
My favourite site in this area is www.visualcv.com. They allow you
to host your CV for free, creating a custom url or web address based on your
name, e.g. www.visualcv.com/ruadhri
where you can view an example that Vie created. Also bearing in mind that more
and more people are using mobile devices to view their email, why not create a
version of your CV that can be easily used and designed for mobile devices?
Here at mynewcv.ie
we are pioneering this method, feel free to get in touch to learn more about
this service.

Don’t forget about sites like www.linkedin.com
and www.xing.com,
not only are they great networking tools, but they are also places to get
recruited!

2: Portable Document File

Also known as PDF, Adobes product is an
excellent way of creating a static, read only version of MS Word documents.
They print better, look better and cannot be manipulated, plus as they are
effectively an image rather than a standard file, they hold any and all
formatting, irrespective of the software being used on the hiring manager’s
technology. The only caveat Id mention about PDFs is that if you’re sending the
document to a recruiter or to a large company to be held on file, most
recruitment searching technology is geared towards MS Word, rather than PDFs. That’s
not to say that they’re not searchable, but only that it’s easier not to.

3: Consider the Resume

Especially in Western Europe, the mindset
has been to use the CV as the main sales document, however, feedback from
hiring companies, bearing in mind how quickly they must decide on candidates
for specific roles, a one page resume can get you to the top of the pile.

If your communication skills are such that
you can condense your career into one page, then what are you waiting for? It
will guarantee that you stand out from the other applicants, and if well
written, will leave the reader wanting to know more. Plus it’s an excellent
interview tool, just one page, with space for notes by the interviewer of
course can be very useful. If you require more information on converting your
CV to a Resume, feel free to contact us.

Ruadhri McGarry is Managing Director of www.mynewcv.ie,
well help you get the interview, you get the job. For more information, please
email Ruadhri sales@mynewcv.ie.