Typical Mistakes in a Curriculum Vitae

It is very important to update your CV frequently if you are seeking for a job. Nevertheless, not many people pay attention to this matter, even if they do know about it, and as a result, their final CV for a job is often full of mistakes.

Below are 08 of the most typical mistakes one can make in
his/her CV:

1. Lack of contact details

Contact details are very important for a CV. However, these can vary at certain points in your life, such as when you buy a new house, when you attend a university or graduate from it, when you change your boarding house or even when you change your email/ yahoo/ Skype addresses. It may become too confusing for you if you don’t keep your CV on the track of your most current addresses.

Just imagine what if an employer receives a very impressive CV, with outstanding qualification and working experience, but without any email address (or at least correct one), phone number, residing address, etc. What will he do in this case? What will he THINK in this situation? Even if he still try to track your address, you still lose several points then.

2. Spelling Error

It is said that if you can do the simplest task, how can you do a bigger one? Yes, spelling in your CV is that simplest task. It is a too typical requirement that it is (nearly) forbidden if one makes spelling error in his/her CV.

Just imagine one more, you are talking to a new guest for the first time and he is very funny and interesting to listen to. You listen very attentively and feel very interested when suddenly, you see a piece of vegetable between his teeth. Soon you will be distracted by this very little detail.

The same is applicable for an employer. He may be very interested in your CV and focus on it more than others. However, if he finds that there is any spelling error, a forgiving one will not take it too much heavy, but a serious employer will often decrease you some points.

3. Too much or too little information

As a fact that the employer has to consider many CVs and application forms sent from potential candidates, especially in certain jobs, it is crucial that you should not add irrelevant information into your CV. For example, it is unnecessary to mention what you did 10 years ago (working experience section) or go down even to the name of your high school (education section).

But too little information is not good either. If the CV is too short or lack of information, the employer may feel it is unclear when reading the CV and may ignore such CV.

One more point to remember, do not forget any fundamental section, especially your qualification, education and working experience.

4. Complex Format

Nice format is a good thing for your CV; however, a complex format is not. Don’t use colorful or hard paper to write your CV (like ones used to make postcards) as it is not typical for a CV.

Also, do not use stylish fonts too often or without consideration. It is best to use single style and font for your CV and the font should be common like Times New Roman or Arial (especially important if you write your CV in electric format such as Word, pdf, etc.) You may write in plain text as well without having to be afraid if you will be losing the points doing that.

5. Be untruthful

Telling lies in your CV can be fatal to your opportunity of getting the job. Also, never think that if you are telling a lie, the employer will not be able to figure it out. In fact, he has many ways to identify if you are telling lies or not, for example, the simplest way is the reference section in your CV, which is typically required especially for such jobs as a teacher, engineer or in relation to academic areas.

Another way is that he may ask you directly in relation to the details you provide in the CV. Unless you want him/her to figure out you are telling lies, you must prepare very persuasive evidences which tend to be an even harder job.

6. Lack of Focus:

Focus in your CV means all the details you provide in your CV must serve a common purpose: how to get you the job, which means they must “tell good” about you in relation to the job. For example, working experience must somehow relate to the duties you are going to take over or in education section, you must cleverly refer what you have learnt to what you will be able to contribute to the job.

For such reasons, a specifically designed CV for a certain job is very important.

7. Focus on Personal Interest

As aforementioned, lack of focus may be fatal to your job opportunity, a wrong focus can be the same, too. And the most typical wrong topic your focus falls into is personal interest. You should ask yourself what the employer want from you instead of what you want to get from the job. You must learn to give yourself before demanding the job giving you.

So, persuading the employer that your abilities and qualifications are very suitable and useful for the job is very important.

8. No Space Left

What I mean with “No Space Left” is that your CV is full of words and words and with no space for the employer to take a break. I tell you not to add irrelevant information into the CV but not limit the amount of words you can bring into the CV. If you have much to state, do not hesitate to extend the CV into many pages (but not too many) instead of trying to limit all those details in several pages which makes your CV full of words and bores the employer in reading.