Use Your Passion for Books to Make Your CV Stand Out
Recruiters spend an average of 3.14 minutes on an applicant’s CV. That’s right—you have almost no time to show off your love of literature while simultaneously coming off as skilled, professional, and capable. Data shows that 1 in 5 recruiters will even reject an applicant before they even finish reading the entire CV.
Focus First on the Format of your CV
The overall layout of your CV should read like a book, not look like one. Of the top reasons that recruiters reject an applicant’s CV, over 40% attested to being turned off by too much design. When applying for a bookish job, it might seem like a quirky idea to format your resume like a book—with a prologue, chapters, and you as the main character. But there’s something to be said for following traditions, and CVs are conventionally drab, colorless, and abridged in format. Skip the borders, the clip-art,clip art and the wacky fonts. Save all that for your blog! But don’t be discouraged—you can let your creativity and passion for literature meld together in the text of your CV, just not the design.
Highlight Your Bookish Soft Skills
Every great CV shows a combination of both hard and soft skills. While it might not seem worthy of listing as its bullet point on your CV, reading is an extremely understated skill in the workplace and is the building block of nearly every type of career. Most times, workers spend almost half their day—reading emails, texts, memos, websites, press releases, and so on. Soft skills like quick-learner, analytical, writing, quick-wittedness, giving feedback, emotional intelligence, empathy, research, and critical thinking are all skills that stem from having a passion for books and will look great on any CV.
Show How You’ll Translate Your Hobby into a Viable Career
Every application must be tailored to the job in question, and a large part of that shaping happens in the CV. If you are on the hunt for a marketing or communications position, don’t hesitate to show off your book-loving attributes that’ll help you succeed in that type of career. For example, if you have a successful book blog with a large following, show it off! Attach a link to your blog in the CV—just make sure that the personal brand you’re revealing is the one you want your potential employers to see.
By focusing on the design, soft skills, and career building blocks of your CV, you can find creative ways to integrate your passion for books into the way you present yourself to potential employers. So make Make Your CV Stand Out.
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Donresume
A good resume is the key to success when looking for a job. To make a resume stand out from the crowd, simply design is not enough. You also need to think about the structure and content of the resume.