{"id":116862,"date":"2016-03-19T19:30:41","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T17:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=116862"},"modified":"2016-03-18T17:37:56","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T15:37:56","slug":"11-ways-you-can-improve-your-job-chances-by-making-your-cv-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/116862\/11-ways-you-can-improve-your-job-chances-by-making-your-cv-better\/","title":{"rendered":"11 ways you can improve your job chances by making your CV better"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to applying for a new job, outside of the initial application, your CV is often\u00a0the first touch-point any prospective employer has with you.<\/p>\n<p>So it&#8217;s important that you structure it so your best qualities can really shine through.<\/p>\n<p>BusinessTech spoke to a recruitment expert who provided 11 tips to help you better structure your CV, so that you don&#8217;t drown out your skills with a flood of useless information &#8211; or leave employers in the dark.<\/p>\n<p>According to our expert, a CV should be able to be read in approximately 30 seconds &#8211; which is a short time to say everything you need to.<\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, you should take the time to make sure your CV is free of errors, and includes crucial information such as contact details.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You would be amazed at the amount of people leaving these off and miss out on great positions,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here are 11 tips to better structure your CV:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your CV should be customised for each and every position: make sure your <strong>most important skills are listed according to the job you have applied for<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Mention achievements: most importantly,\u00a0<strong>focus on the benefit you bring to the company<\/strong> and prepare examples of specific scenarios to prove your point.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Add your <strong>ability to work overtime<\/strong>, weekends, shifts and willingness to travel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Provide proof of any claims you make\u00a0(sales sheets, commission sheets, minimum 4 salary slips).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Include all personal detail, address, licence, email address, and <strong>remember your contact number<\/strong>!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Organise your CV in <strong>chronological order<\/strong> starting with most recent employment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Use bullet-points to list<\/strong> your experience and key performance areas \u2013 its reads faster.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Include a <strong>skills matrix of relevant experience<\/strong>, skills and knowledge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Each position should <strong>state your reason for leaving employment<\/strong> &#8211; is important and <strong>be honest, but professional<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Check that employment dates are accurate and correct.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Lastly include all <strong>contactable work\u00a0references<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve passed an employer&#8217;s CV check and get called up for an interview &#8211; be sure to check out our tips on <strong><a title=\"Permalink to How to prepare for a job interview in SA\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/general\/116474\/how-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview-in-sa\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">how to prepare for a job interview in SA<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">More on job tips<\/h3>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Permalink to 7 things you should negotiate before saying yes to your next job\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/general\/114510\/7-things-you-should-negotiate-before-saying-yes-to-your-next-job\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">7 things you should negotiate before saying yes to your next job<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Permalink to Top 10 most common interview blunders\" href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/107675\/top-10-most-common-interview-blunders\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Top 10 most common interview blunders<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wealth\/103841\/south-africas-best-and-worst-paying-jobs-and-the-gap-in-between\/\">South Africa\u2019s best and worst paying jobs \u2013 and the gap in between<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/general\/101388\/most-in-demand-jobs-markets-right-now\/\">Most in-demand jobs markets right now<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to applying for a new job, outside of the initial application, your CV is often the first touch-point any prospective employer has with you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":116884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[26,11252,4348],"class_list":["post-116862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-headline","tag-job-tips","tag-recruitment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116862"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116898,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116862\/revisions\/116898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}