​You have done an amazing job in your previous internship/work experience, and achieved many great things back in the university, you speak other languages than your native tongue. However, if you don’t have a good CV, recruiters will not be aware of a hidden gem like you. Most of the recruitment process is still relying on CVs. Recruiters, therefore, have to check certain criteria regarding the job descriptions. That’s why you need to give everything you got in a proper CV – please don’t hesitate to impress us in different ways if you have better ideas. A proper CV should be clear yet enough detailed. We all know it is not as easy as it sounds, but you got this! Now, take a deep breath, and relax. Take your computer, sit down and start watching Louis’ video below before preparing the first draft of your CV.

Mission Possible: Attract recruiters with a great CV to land your dream job

In this video, one of our young and talented recruiters, Louis Goulaieff, talks about how to make a proper CV in a very simple way. Because it is simple -just attached to the very stressed process of job search. To overcome the stress of this process, try to demonstrate your best skills and achievements in your CV and when you are done, you will feel more confident about your applications.

First thing first, let’s talk about the format of your CV. Most of the CVs we receive are still very difficult to follow because of their poorly structured format. It has never been a blocking point for us to evaluate the CV, however, we also appreciate visually appealing (not talking about anything fancy unless it is for your own interest) and simple CVs. The era of starting to make a CV from scratch in Word or asking a friend’s CV for a reference is almost over. It’s time to see a bit more personalised features as a reflection of one’s style, approach or interest in their career. Now you can use several design tools to build a creative or still a very simple but attractive CV, or you can find ready-made CV formats, in Canva for example, and re-create it in your very own style.

There are lots of options, however, even if you choose to continue with good old friend Word, at least listen to Louis' words and make a simple but effective one! Don’t forget that recruiters don’t spend hours reading yours as they receive a lot of CVs for every position. Be clear, that’s the key.

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The Main Parts of a CV

Recruiters will know more about you starting from the first interview, however, in the very first step, CV check, they want to have a general understanding of each candidate. That’s why you should -of course- include your professional and educational history and current status and additional interests related to the job you have applied for.

To start with, after giving the necessary personal and contact information, it is preferred to include a summary of your current status as a way of attracting recruiters in one or two sentences and helping them to understand what you are looking for.

Professional Background

The main part of your CV is your professional background. You should put the company details, time period of employment, the title of your job and since the title does not give enough understanding of your position in a company in every case, you should include the main tasks you held and highlight the achievements you have realised in the given position.

Academic Background

If you are a fresh graduate or junior level, while you should still include any related experiences in your CV, the main focus should be on your academic background and the theoretical and practical information you gained during your studies. In this case, adding extra curriculum activities, volunteering experiences and additional certificates will play a great role for you to outshine the competition. Depending on your professional experience, the relevance of your academic background and the detail you should include varies, however, it is still one of the main parts of a proper CV.

Hobbies and Interests

Lastly, is still a fashion to include personal interests and hobbies in your CV. It is an optional part, yet for many recruiters, being able to evaluate a candidate in a broader sense is significant. It should be a part to show your leisure time activities, especially if they really tell something about your personality that can be related to the characteristics required by the position. This part can be a great chance to show your soft skills. Don’t forget to tailor your CV and highlight different hard and soft skills for different positions you apply for.

Hard and Soft Skills

In addition to your professional and academic background, do not forget to highlight your hard skills in a smaller part. Most importantly, as you can see in our job offers, language might be a significant determinant for many positions in international and multilingual companies. That is why including the languages you speak is a must-do. In addition, certain positions require specific tools and skills. A higher number of matches of the necessary skills given in the job description and the ones in your CV will increase the possibility to get your first call for an interview, no need to be humble!

To Include a Photo on the CV or not Include: That’s the question

One of the main questions that have been asked regarding CV is the issue of including a picture of the candidate. We do not particularly look for a visualisation of the candidates, but also do not get affected by the photograph itself either in a positive or a negative way. However, you should better check if certain countries or companies ask for a photo of the candidate or on the contrary, the inclusion of it is unfavourable. In case you include one, make it professional yet sympathetic, as you are, right?

Are you ready to stand out with your CV?

That’s it! It is not that difficult to build a proper CV to attract recruiters. You should include all you have but in a very simple way. You don’t need fancy words and definitely, you don’t need to be a designer. Now, first, watch Louis’ video. Then, go and find a template (or build yours simply). Change the colours and fonts to personalise. Start from the top, and feel more and more confident as you move on to other sections. Just do it! We are waiting for your CVs to contact@bluselection.com or any