There’s a little place in the office of every hiring manager and HR person. It is a cold and dark place. An eerie place filled with shadows. A place swarming with the ghosts and spirits of missed “dream job” opportunities. A kind of job purgatory if you will. In effect it is actually a CV graveyard, needing only 1 excuse to lure its CV prey. In applying for a job you must avoid this place with all your might, and to aid you in your quest (or odyssey!) I have outlined a few of the lures and weapons the graveyard has in its arsenal. Beware…….

  1. The format trap - always save your CV as a generic and compatible file format. To be safe go with a .doc (note: avoid .docx as they are not always compatible with earlier versions of Word). The last thing you want is to submit your prized CV that you have slaved over making it perfect - only for it to be trapped by the graveyard because it is inaccessible.
  2. The cocky cover letter - It is of course good to be confident, but not arrogant. In your cover letter try not to give the impression that you are doing the employer a favour by applying for their job. This is sure to be graveyard material.
  3. CV Spam - There’s nothing the graveyard likes more than multiple targets. Should you send your CV to every job under the sun, the employer will know about it (its a small market), therefore giving the impression that you are practically unemployable. Whether you are or not is irrelevant. Only apply to a few jobs which match your skill set best.
  4. The irrelevant CV - Read the spec a few times before you apply for the role. If your current role does not match most of the skills and requirements, then the chances are your CV will be buried in the graveyard. Harsh but true.
  5. The careless CV - Proof read proof read proof read. CVs like to be read, so if you haven’t read your own at least 5 times all the way through, then it is destined for the graveyard to be buried under a misspelled obituary.
  6. The greedy CV - Be realistic. If you are outlining your salary expectations in your CV or cover letter try and match the going rate of similar jobs in a similar industry. An inflated salary expectation is the bread and butter of the graveyard.
  7. The bloated CV - Keep it to the point. 2 - 3 pages should be more than sufficient for any CV. If your CV is any longer then consider culling before sending. The graveyard likes big targets.
  8. The smelly CV - try not to embellish your CV with long lists of skills you have used and learnt in any particular project. Or use inflated job titles (eg. “IT Director of Irish Multinational” when in reality you head up a team of 2 people working on the IT infrastructure of an Irish carpet manufacturer that also has an office in the UK). The graveyard is good at smelling a rat.

I wish you all the best in your quest, and hope the above will be of some use to you in evading the graveyard….

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