GUEST COMMENT: Super-quick CV fixes for the New Year

Before you send off your CV to take advantage of the annual outbreak of post-bonus hiring, it's worth paying some attention to whether it will be doing your job prospects more harm than good.

CVs are marketing documents. Present yourself wrongly, and you won't get far beyond the initial application stage. Before sending anything out, it's therefore worth running through the points below.

1. Have you over-used buzz words?

Be mindful that there are words and phrases which crop up in everyone's CV and can therefore appear meaningless. These include:

Highly dynamic

Entrepreneurial

Great team player

Innovative

Results oriented

You can use them, but ensure you...

2. Back them up with evidence

I've no issues with you using powerful language. But if you're using powerful words, you've got to back them up.

Anyone can write "I'm highly analytical, great team player, dynamic" etc.'

It's far more powerful to provide evidence on a CV which proves your ability, rather than simply saying words suggesting it.

If you give some real examples of instances where you delivered commercial outcomes within cross functional teams, it will illustrate that you're far more 'dynamic' and have stronger analytics than someone who simply lists a load of buzz words.

If you give real examples they'll show you to be different (they'll be your own individual examples). If your CV is going to a recruiter, you'll also provide them with a list of fact-based stories to share with clients when they're trying to secure interviews for you. This will work far better than the standard line: "Oh he really is dynamic and comes across well."

3. Be yourself

If you say you're "confident and outgoing" on your CV and you're clearly not, I'll know it within 30 seconds of a phone call and within 2 minutes of a face to face interview.

If this is the case, I'll trust you far less as your CV is misleading.

4. Less is more

If you do use some powerful words to describe yourself, don't go overboard.

Putting multiple buzz words into a paragraph simply sounds like you're trying too hard. Or worse still - just cutting and pasting words from a website to make you sound more impressive than you really are.

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