On Thu, Apr 22,
2010 at 4:28 PM, <cvservicesteam@theladders.co.uk> wrote:
Professional
CV Critique
Prepared
specifically for Erik Ribsskog
Dear
Erik,
My name
is David Emmerson and I thank you for selecting TheLadders for your CV review.
I have reviewed your document and prepared some comments that I hope will give
you some insight. Keep in mind I am reviewing your document as it relates to
the needs and demands of the executive employment market. We stay in tune with
what recruiters and hiring managers want and need in a CV and our experience in
working with executives is unmatched.
Before I
begin the critique, I do need to warn you about my style since my comments can
seem rather direct, though I mean no offence. The reality is that the job
market is very competitive now – particularly within the current economic
climate – so I find it beneficial to be upfront rather than subtle or
agreeable.
Please go
through the critique carefully. You will see at the end that I recommend our
premium CV rewrite for you, which can be purchased using this link (details
follow after the critique):
https://www.theladders.co.uk/order-confirmation?billId=20609&sign=y&et_id=84201004&sign=y
Let's get
started! It will help to have a copy of your CV nearby for reference as I make
comments.
SUMMARY/INTRODUCTION
Let's
start right at the top. First, don't open your CV with tags like
‘Personal Profile.' Every recruiter worth his or her salt will know it's your
profile statement when they read it. Instead, begin your CV with a career title/tagline to announce
yourself and provide a clear focus for your readers. It will present you in a
much stronger light.
Your
introductory section is too long
– containing far too much information than is necessary to establish a
connection with your reader. It gives the impression you are trying to cover
all the possible bases, making the document hard to read and digest
quickly. This is perhaps the most important section – employers will often
make their decision on whether or not to proceed with the CV while reading this
section. So you must do better! An effective summary is focused on
prospective employer's needs and outlines how your past can benefit their future.
It is supposed to provide a quick
overview and needs to be streamlined to make the most important facts about you
stand out right away.
Additionally,
I recommend pulling some of your higher skills out into a separate Core Competencies subsection underneath
the summary. This is a great strategy. It serves as a keyword-rich area that
enables your CV to be quickly found on the internet, while showcasing your
unique strengths to the reader. Therefore, carefully compile a succinct list of
industry-specific individual excellences, and add it to your CV.
CONTENT
As I
digest your CV, not much is jumping out to announce it is the CV of a
high-calibre professional. It is not
highlighting your experience level or skill-set as well as it could. I can see
you clearly have the impressive experience and credentials, but you must
display all you have to offer in a clearer and more accommodating way for your
reader. This will become clearer as we continue.
From the
way your work history is worded, you seem to be more of a ‘doer' than an
‘achiever'. Too many of your job descriptions are task-based and not result-based, meaning they describe
what you did, not what you achieved. To be effective and create
excitement, it needs to be results-based: What was achieved as a result of what you did? Employers are
looking for quantified results. They want to know you have solved problems
similar to theirs and that you achieved the results for which they are looking.
Look at these:
– I have
a Norwegian blog, http://www.johncons-mirror.blogspot.com, that I've been
working on, since I started with it, on my spare-time, in the summer of 2007.
– Working
as a freelancer, doing research on Scandinavian companies in the packaging-industry
for a database, www.packagingdatabase.com,
on behalf of Packaging Europe, Norwich
– Chinese
Food Delivery in Oslo West and Bærum, part-time
What you
have here is just job description, and this is going to be very similar to the
CV content of many other
qualified candidates. Be proud of your accomplishments
and allow them to shine through your job descriptions.
Another
problem is that your work history
is not presented properly. The paragraph format or ‘chunks of text' almost assure the
reader won't read it. Where are your bullet-points? These will allow the
most important accomplishments to be highlighted. Remember, a CV is read
differently – the summary is read and then the rest of the document is scanned
quickly with job titles, bullet statements, and other highlighted material
being read first. Total reading time is about 45 seconds. If a CV can't be read
that quickly, it won't be read.
You have
also taken your work history too far
back in time by going all the way back to 1979. Employers
are generally interested only in the past 10-15 years experience because it is
what is most relevant to the challenges they face today. If you are concerned
about showing depth, there are ways a professional writer would truncate your
older experience while still showing you have good background upon which to
draw.
Further,
while a traditional technique, having your referees on the CV is falling from
favour. Privacy and
identity theft have become significant issues and it is always best to protect
the details of your referees. Employers don't need this information at so early
in the recruitment process and you are putting private information into
circulation that should not be in the public realm without caution. Provide
these upon request by the employer.
MECHANICS
Moving
on, the language of
your CV could use extra attention. At the moment, it does not position you as a
leader in your area of expertise. The words and adjectives you use are too low-level in tone to successfully
promote your abilities and place you above the competition.
Firstly,
I am sorry to say that I did detect some typing
errors in your CV, such as: ‘90's' – it is incorrect
to have an apostrophe here. There are also numerous syntax errors where you
have used commas incorrectly. In most cases, a recruiter will automatically
discount any CV that is less than flawless, particularly at executive level.
Attention to detail is paramount, and there really is no room for mistakes.
There is
a lower level tone echoing throughout the CV because your writing switches
between active voice and passive voice
throughout the document. To be effective, a CV should be written in active voice. Indicators of the
passive voice are ‘responsibilities included,' ‘responsible for,'
‘duties included,' ‘served as' or noun phrases tied with
prepositions such as ‘quality member of' or ‘representative of.'
The active voice is more natural, direct, vigorous and emphatic – traits you
want your CV to have in tone. The use of passive voice weakens your CV. An
example of this in your CV is: ‘I was also responsible for the job of
packing the bags of screws'
Next, I
must point out that professional CVs are written in a technique called ‘tight writing', or verb phrases, where the
subject is generally understood rather than voiced. Articles (the, a, an) are
minimally used in tight writing and only the core message is voiced. You have
used these articles and some long phrases to describe your roles and
achievements, and sadly you are disguising the very information an employer
needs to see! You have to reduce the "clutter" of extra
words so that your many credentials can be seen more
clearly. This is just not doing you any justice, and it makes your
CV appear amateur. Additionally, you use personal pronouns ("I,"
"me," "my," etc.) which is awkward and incorrect
syntax.
Remember
that communication
is the number one skill that has the most impact on your promotion, retention
and performance. However, there is much
more to a great CV than just cataloguing your career history and getting pretty
words down on paper. Great communication is knowing what the reader is seeking,
knowing how to get your message across succinctly, and knowing how to create
clarity in your message. If you are not communicating well in your CV,
recruiters will assume you are not a good communicator in person.
DESIGN
I think
the design of your CV could benefit a lot
from a calculated modification. I mentioned the over-usage of chunks of text earlier which is both
textually and structurally problematic.
Within
your work history, keep in mind that the ideal
job description 1) gives a line of job title and company
description; 2) briefly summarises your duties in paragraph format; and then 3)
uses bullet-points for your accomplishments and results, so as to maximise
their impact. Make sure that the bullets are reserved for the most important,
results-based information only.
Your CV
is simply too long
to be effective. It's as though you couldn't decide what to include, so you
included everything. As a result, your CV runs at an inappropriate six pages.
With the use of proper design elements and formatting you can make a succinct
and commanding two-page CV. You have some difficult decisions and careful
consideration ahead, but you must remember that a two (or at very most three)
page CV is the only kind that will be considered.
On
another note, the Times New Roman font
you are using is not the most desirable. When hiring managers are reading
through dozens of CVs, they will spend more time on one that has an
‘easy-to-read' font. We are constantly polling companies for feedback on
what they want in a CV and believe it or not the font you use is a big deal! The preference of most
employers is a Sans Serif font such as 'Arial' in size 10.
Your CV
overall lacks the polish
and appearance of an executive CV. Using a run-of-the-mill design in your CV
hurts your candidacy; you end up fading into the pile of hundreds of others
instead of standing out. I highly
recommend a more professional look-and-feel to the document to provide a more
executive impression. So much can be done with the formatting and design to
improve first visual impressions while still maintaining a conservative
appearance.
OVERALL
IMPRESSIONS/STRATEGY
It is clear
to me that you possess the quality of skills, experience and qualifications
that are required for a job of an executive calibre. However, your CV does not
do you justice in reflecting this – it is too long, containing too much
unnecessary information and not enough important info about he roles you have
had. It is important to consider today's economic climate. Coming out of a
recession, job searches are at an all-time high with hundreds of qualified
applicants per vacancy. With job hunting so maddeningly competitive, you cannot
allow your CV to be anything less than amazing.
I
recommend that you make use of a more executive
CV, one that demonstrates your accomplishments and skills in a more strategic
way. Give employers what they want to see, and set yourself apart from the
hundreds of CVs against which you are competing. Remember that only the best CVs (not candidates) get
attention, and eventually an interview.
Of
course, this does not mean that you are not a good candidate. Rather, the way
that your CV presents
your career is not yet very effective or exciting to the reader (who has
typically read 100+ CVs before getting to yours).
It may be
some comfort to know that there are options available in this difficult time.
TheLadders offers an outstanding Executive
CV re-writing service, allowing you to relax in the
knowledge that your CV will dynamically and professionally stand out from the
crowd. We have a group of skilled writers who specialise in executive
industry-specific CVs. They have extensive experience crafting CVs to best
showcase the qualifications that employers consistently look for from top-tier
candidates.
Below, I
have listed information that I feel will be of interest to you about our
process, the ROI of working with our writers, and pricing. For any
further information, please don't hesitate to e-mail me:
DEmmerson@theladders.com
GETTING
THE INTERVIEW
There are
two things to consider here:
1. You
are a premium member of TheLadders.co.uk
because you've got the valuable experience, the superior skills, the unique
qualifications and, most importantly, the drive to get to that next level.
2. On
paper, your wording and presentation are not up to standard. Your CV does not generate enough excitement and
professionalism for you to be considered a top candidate.
These
elements combine to make you a prime candidate for a CV re-write. We are here
to make your job search easy
and successful! To this
end, it is crucial that your document looks as impressive as you do, and that
you do not lose
potential interviews in the process.
Only the best CVS – not candidates – get the
most attention and eventually an interview. You are clearly a very strong
candidate but this is simply not enough to get the interview. Do not forget
that at the application stage, the CV is the only representation of you that
employers have.
A lot of
people, like you, struggle to put themselves down on paper effectively – but
that's where we come in. We are experts
at knowing the best way to present you. Most competing professionals employ the
services of professional CV writers, leaving a disadvantage for those who make
the attempt alone. It is similar to trying to take on a home improvement
project: it is simply far too difficult and time-consuming to do on your own.
OUR
PROCEDURES (simple but highly effective)
Our team
is an elite group of skilled professionals. Each of them is a Certified
Professional CV Writer (CPRW) with years of experience in effective executive
CV/cover letter preparation, branding, and career marketing strategies. Each
has CV expertise in at least one Ladder. We provide customised critiques and
CVs based on your specific
professional needs. Our CV-writing team has prepared more than 25,000
results-oriented executive CVs with an unparalleled level of success. Our
service, credentials, and experience are unmatched in the industry.
When you
decide to take advantage of our CV writing service you can expect the following
process:
1. You
will be contacted by a CV writer from TheLadders CV Team within the next 10
business hours. The writer will send you a set of worksheets to fill out. These
usually take 1-3 hours to fill out.
2. Once you
have returned the worksheets, the writer will, if needed, schedule a phone call
with you to ask for more information.
3. The
writer will then produce a first draft within 5-7 business days, and you will
communicate any changes required to the writer.
4. The
writer and you will work together over the email and/or phone until a final
draft of documents is produced.
PRICING
AND FREE COVER LETTER OFFER
The
investment to create your CV is £299. Remember, a CV that gets you a position
is priceless. If it shortens your job search by one day, or results even in a
1% increase in compensation, it pays for itself. An ineffective CV can cost
thousands of pounds in lost time, income, and opportunity.
Limited-Time
Bonus: If you purchase the CV within the next 7 days,
we'll write the cover letter for free (worth £70)! This is a limited-time
offer so you must click the link to purchase within the allotted 7 day
timeframe.
In order
to purchase these services, you must first be signed in to your Ladders
account. Click the link below and we will send you the materials to get
started.
https://www.theladders.co.uk/order-confirmation?billId=20609&sign=y&et_id=84201004&sign=y
TRUST
IN OUR CREDENTIALS
You will
be in excellent hands working directly with our team. This is your chance to
work with the best executive CV writers in the world, some of whose credentials
include:
- Certified Professional CV Writer (CPRW)
- Internationally Certified Job and Career
Transition Coach (JCTC)
- More than 200 CVs/cover letters published in 20
career books
- VIP Contributor to High-Level CVs (Career Press)
- Master Career Counsellor
- Licensed Professional Counsellor
- Certified Personal Brand Strategist
- Certified Online Identity Strategist
- Masters of Business Administration
- Certified Six Sigma Black Belt
I hope
that my critique has given food for thought and helpful advice. Please contact
me on: 0207 148 7154 with any questions or concerns you may have.
Kind
regards,
David
Emmerson
Executive CV Analyst
TheLadders.co.uk
134-138 Borough High St
London SE1 1LB
