Your CV is a bit like a herald you send on ahead to spread the word, a signal you transmit to inform others about what value you have to offer. It has to make a comprehensive case for you in your absence, it has to be cogent and cut to the quick because you are not there in person to validate or justify anything it contains. Your CV must speak for you, on your behalf, by speaking for itself; in other words it must be a legitimate ambassador and avid promoter of your merit and worth.
In all likelihood your CV is bound to have to make the perilous journey across the desk of a recruitment consultant or HR manager on its way to the decision makers for the position you want. ‘Perilous’ because very often the calibre of your CV determines whether your application makes it to the starting line or gets eliminated in the try-outs. In order to ensure you have a fit and fighting chance and qualify to be in the running for a position, your CV has to get over the first hurdle of cracking the nod with a recruitment consultant or HR manager.
In acknowledgement of this, at the beginning of 2011 Enshrine invited peers from our international network of consulting partners and collaborators to share their insights regarding what differentiates an excellent CV from a poor one, from ‘the horse’s mouth’, so to speak. The objective of this exercise was to provide you with some insider tips and guidelines that might assist you in the task of creating a CV that supports rather than sabotages you. Understanding what consultants want and look for in a good CV plays an extremely important role when it comes to whether yours ends up in the fat stack on the floor, or in the small neat pile on the desk ready for presentation to a client.
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