Join the Riada Gym & get your CV into shape

First impression counts

You have 6 seconds to make an impression.

Your CV is often your first opportunity to make a 'first impression' of yourself, so it should be treated as an essential sales tool for you to demonstrate your work experience to date and what you can bring to their business.

According to research carried out by The Ladders.com in 2012, most job seekers think recruiters spend 4 to 5 minutes reviewing a resume. The truth... recruiters spend about 6 seconds before they make the initial “fit/no fit” decision. That means prioritising information on your CV is essential.

The study’s “gaze tracking” technology showed that recruiters spent almost 80% of their resume review time on the following data points:

Name
Employment Titles / Companies
Employment position start and end dates
Education

Beyond these four data points, recruiters did little more than scan for keywords to match the vacancy.

10 Top Tips for a perfect CV from Team Riada

At Riada we see hundreds of CVs every week so we know how important it is to have a good one. We regularly comment on a good CV so I asked Team Riada for their comments on what stands out to them on a really good CV.

Keep it to max 2 pages where possible - Nyree

Keep it simple but to the point (...bullet points) - Leroy

Where you meet the criteria, include it. Especially if you are applying for a specific job. You can use the same terminology to really spell it out to the client - Annita

Leave no gaps in employment - It is OK to have gaps in employment as long as you qualify them - Heather

A quick line about the company before going into job duties - Leroy

A brief personal profile to start your CV selling yourself and tailoring your experience with the job you are applying for - Lisa C

Correct Spelling and Grammar - Lisa McC

Setting it out correctly with structure, ie personal details, work experience (include dates) education etc, and using bullet points - Jill

Consistency - keep to the same font and use the same order to list Company Name, Position, Dates and Duties for each position - Jenny

Key achievements - Include tangible improvements the person has made like 10% reduction in material costs, reduced labour absenteeism less that 2% or increased department sales by 3% - Eoghan