Tailoring your CV

It’s standard advice from most CV consultancies that a CV isn’t complete, even after you’re satisfied with the final document. A CV should be tweaked and changed for every job you apply for. Just as every employer and every job is different, so a CV should be changed accordingly.

This advice has recently been backed up by Deborah Meaden, the Dragon’s Den entrepreneur, who recently said in an interview with the BBC “If you send the same CV out for 10 different jobs, nine times out of 10 you will be sending the wrong CV”. Deborah makes the valid point that rather than just thinking what you can offer – you should think about what an employer is asking for. This doesn’t usually mean making sweeping changes. You may need to tweak the ‘Professional Profile’, or accentuate particular skills or examples of achievements by placing them closer to the front of your CV. A little more effort into each job application could make all the difference in getting invited to interview.