I’m a careers knowledgeable and these are the CV errors that might value you your dream job

The world of work can be daunting for fresh-faced youngsters straight out of university – especially when they have never been taught how to write a CV.

Whether it’s listing experience that isn’t entirely relevant or including a picture of yourself, people fall victim to major mistakes when writing their CVs which will set them back in the ruthless race to find a job.

The good news, however, is that writing a CV doesn’t require some rare and innate talent. Rather, it is a skill that can be acquired and honed like any other, according to Gary Gamp.

The UK-based career coach and business leader, who has worked with some of the biggest companies in the world, has now turned his attention to the plight of young people eager to get a foot in the door and build their careers.

In his new book Career Catalyst: Ten Secret Job Skills They Don’t Teach You At School, Gary – known in the business sector as ‘The Company Doctor’ – outlines the mistakes people are making when writing their CVs.

1. YOUR CV ISN’T INTERESTING ENOUGH

Gary says that he has a ‘six-second rule’ when it comes to CVs.

He writes: ‘From my experience in assessing candidates, you only need a brief moment to determine whether someone is suitable.

‘I have a list of things I’m looking for – experience and background – but you have to pass the six-second rule and the way to do that is to be really clear about the job you’re applying for and reflect that in the first half of the CV.’

He compares job applications to dating apps and suggests that swipers often make up their mind about a potential partner within seconds or maybe even less. 

‘If you don’t have an interesting bio, you’re probably going to be swiped left,’ he writes in the first chapter of his book. ‘It’s the same with your CV. You have to use the language that the company has used in their job description and connect to it in your CV. 

‘Don’t bang on about how amazing you are. It’s context over content.’

Gary emphasises that you should adapt your CV to every single role that you apply for in order to put your best foot forward.

He also reminds young people to keep the experience on their CVs relevant to the job they are applying for.

He pens: ‘For your education, say you got three A*s in your A-levels and note the subjects, or a range of your grades, but you don’t need to go into immense detail and talk about the school musical you were in unless it demonstrates where you got your confidence or presentation skills. 

‘If you have an interesting hobby or qualification – maybe you’re a keen scuba-diver, sky-diver or ski-instructor – it can’t hurt to note those down as it says more about you as a person.’

2. YOU’RE PUTTING A PICTURE OF YOURSELF ON YOUR CV 

‘Here’s another small thing to be wary of about CVs.’ Gary writes. ‘Everyone has a picture of themselves on their LinkedIn profiles – and they usually have a headshot of themselves on their Slack, Teams and Zoom accounts too – but I don’t think you should have a photo of yourself on your CV. 

‘That might surprise you, but I believe people could make an opinion about you based on your photo.

‘I know what you’re thinking. “But Gary, can’t they just go on my LinkedIn and make an opinion of me from my photo there?”. Yes, but they might not do that until later in the process. 

 Gary advises job applicants to treat their CV ‘separately from everything else’.

He continues: ‘Another CV trip hazard is your bio. When I read through people’s CVs, there’s a lot of “blah blah blah”. Stuff like, “I’m a highly energised, organised, successful person.”

The expert career coach warns that this sort of language ‘shows up on almost every CV’. 

Instead, he insists that applications should ‘be more specific about the results you’ve achieved that are relevant to the job you’re applying for and cite figures and statistics that show what you bring to the table’.

3. YOU’RE NOT TAILORING YOUR CV FOR EACH JOB

Gary advises people to create three different CV profiles with ‘slight nuances’. 

He explains: ‘Think about who is going to be reading your application. 

‘If it’s a marketing job, it might be the marketing manager or the HR supervisor. You’ve got to be shouting out to them so you flag their attention.

‘If you’re applying to be a project manager, you need to have the words “project management skills” in your CV. If they have to look for it, you lose it. 

‘One blanket CV for every kind of role is a lazy approach and you won’t stand out.’

4. YOU’RE NOT BEING CREATIVE ENOUGH

When creating your CV, Gary suggests that you make it ‘as edgy as possible’ to ‘set you aside from the thousands of other CVs your potential employer is piling through’.

Gary writes: ‘A contact of mine made a cartoon CV because he was trying to get into radio and wanted to show off his creative side. 

‘My son applied for a reporter job at a news website and turned his bio into a news article with the headline “BREAKING NEWS”. 

‘Now that is a proper way to stand out. 

‘Find something unique and tailor it to your personality, skillset and style.’

The ideal length of a CV should be two pages ‘and no longer than three’, according to Gary.

‘It shouldn’t be rambling and should only contain your key qualifications,’ he says.

‘Because this is the 21st century, why not send in a video cover letter?

‘You could attach a nice little clip, explaining why you’re the right person and want the job. That would make you stand out, wouldn’t it?

But if you choose to do this, Gary warns that it must ‘look professional’.

He says: ‘Don’t make it tacky or cheesy. Keep it short and simple.’

• Career Catalyst: Ten Secret Job Skills They Don’t Teach You at School by Gary Gamp is out now on Amazon, available on paperback and on Kindle for a special price of 99p. For more career tips from Gary, listen to The Company Doctor Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.