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19th Jan 2016

The Five Things Potential Employers Want To See On Your CV (And The Things They Really Don’t)

This could come in very handy!

Cathy Donohue

When applying for a dream job, it’s very easy lose the run of yourself and rush the process so you can be the first to get your CV in.

Of course, this is a really bad idea and according to this survey, some of the standard CV inclusions should be banned.

Recruitment specialists Michael Page, conducted research which was published on This Is Money  and there are some very interesting results.

The survey was based on 2,000 people and 480 recruiters and revealed the most important and least important elements of a CV.

Most important:

  • Correct spellings
  • Correct grammar
  • Details of your achievements in previous jobs
  • A professional tone of voice
  • Details of your responsibilities in previous roles

Least important:

  • How your CV is laid out (order of different headings, education, experience, etc)
  • Length of CV (doesn’t have to be under two pages)
  • Writing in the third person
  • Experience working abroad
  • Volunteer experience

Other interesting results included that 36 per cent of recruiters believe that staying in the same company for ten years weakens your CV while 70 per cent of workers think the opposite is true.

Another notable statistic was that 72 per cent of workers think a ‘personal interest’ section is essential and only 41 per cent of recruiters agree.