Here at STEM Graduates we review a lot of CVs, so here are some of our original tips…

1. Put Your Contact Details On Your CV 

It sounds obvious but people often miss them off.

2. Don’t Title Your CV ‘CV’ 

We recieve a lot of Curriculum Vitae documents with the same title ‘CV.’ Adding your name makes it easier for us to find you.

3. Put Your Qualifcation Grades On Your CV 

It saves us having to ask, and you having to tell us. Missing them off because you think they’re too low won’t actually help in the long run. Be upfront and honest to avoid confusion.

4. Send A Word and PDF Copy Of Your CV

Stylish formatting and having a sleek PDF is great and it can give you an edge, but as a recruitment agency we will probably need to edit parts of it initially to send to our clients. Having a Word copy makes this far easier for us and saves us from tampering with your hard work. (Some jobs require really high standard PDFs, so we understand this might not always be possible!)

5. Read The Job Description Before Applying

So many people fall short of reading a job description the whole way through and as a result end up applying for a job that says, for example, ‘must have a driving license’ when they don’t have one.

6. Don’t Carelessly Mass Apply 

We know you are probably going to apply for more than one job. However, chances are, roles in the same field are being managed by the same consultant/s. If we see you applying for 8 roles at once it makes us think you haven’t read our job descriptions properly and you aren’t particularly interested or serious.

7. Don’t Go buzzword crazy

A lot of people use the same cliché phrases found on Google in their CV. We read the same buzzwords over and over again. Being a ‘team player’ is a good skill but try and find an original way to tell us about it, using your own brief examples wherever possible. Conversely, however, don’t go too crazy on originality by describing yourself as a ‘CV Legend!’ (genuine example).