Today, CVs are increasingly being sorted by standardised software. And recruiters are overwhelmingly selecting according to skills and experience. Therefore, restructure your CV as a skill sheet!
The CV is dead, long live the CV! Make sure it stays alive! Here you will learn how to structure the four most important sections of your CV. Up to now, this has followed a relatively standardised European format: The individual stages of the career were listed in reverse chronological order, the career path separated from the choice of education/training. This rigid structure is no longer in keeping with the times. If you are followed in an English CV, it is clumsy, because Anglo-Saxon CVs are presented differently. In my experience, these are presented better. Learn from the Anglo-Saxon curricula vitae! Not necessarily by omitting your date of birth and photo, but by promoting your skills in the top third of your CV.
The usual answers to "When?", "Where?" and "Who?" follow a new introduction: this lists convincingly what you have done and what you can do. Now it contains all the explosive power of your CV! Because that is what brings a CV to new life today! So: what have you achieved so far? What are your skills? This "What" makes your CV a veritable skill sheet or story sheet. You're afraid such a list would contain too many details? You think that every sensible person should know what a sales manager at XY does and can do... In case of doubt, the potential new boss could read about it in the references....: No!
After all, you have a goal, don't you?! You want a new job, a change of position. Your CV is your key to it. So forge it to fit
1. Start with "What?": Your skills and experience
List them in such a way that a maximum intersection with the desired position is visible. Weight your skills so that you immediately catch the eye. Emphasize what you would like to do more of in the future. Omit roles that you no longer want to manage or that do not fit the new job profile. Adapt technical terms in your CV to the terms used in the job posting. Every company has its own jargon. You can take this from the company's website and the advertisement. Assume that CVs are increasingly being sorted by standardized software. Only if the right magic words and codes appear in your CV will you get into the castle!
2. “When?”: Education and further training, professional career
Create an overview, structure your career. HR managers like to check whether all positions follow one another without gaps. If there are gaps, they'll ask about them! You can avoid this by not entering March 2014 - September 2016 for professional activities. Write instead: 2014 - 2016. Training, further education and professional matters are often separated from one another. This looks nice, as long as you have completed a classical academic training with Abitur (A-level equivalent)/Matura (school-leaving examination), university/study and entry into professional life. However, if you have studied while working or interrupted your professional activity for training, a good presentation is not easy. A reader of your CV will then have difficulty reconstructing your path. This is how you create clarity: Combine professional and training periods in a reverse chronological order.
3. "Where?" Employer, industry, working environment
Most applicants only enter the name of their employer. Watch out! Not every recruiter can automatically recognize a connection between industry and working environment from the company name. Your employer's name usually says little about the specific services and products with which you have gained professional experience. However, this is a decisive qualification criterion, especially for CVs from the life sciences. Therefore describe the product and business environment in which you performed a corresponding function: What product portfolio, manufacturing and services were offered or produced at the site? We at gloor & lang often still take the time to research foreign companies and company locations in order to select an application.
4. "Who?" Titles and functions
Titles are nothing but smoke and mirrors. Avoid high-flown titles in your CV. And if you do, put it into context. Attach a brief explanation of the functional scope. This looks more credible than meaningless titles. If you have had different tasks in a company, structure the individual sections with the different responsibilities. Don't give the impression that you're all over the place. Lay a red cord through your internal developments. Did you have different roles with the same employer? Then do not list them as two separate sections in your CV. Rather, emphasize continuity with the same employer. Have you moved from a managerial position to another function? Recruiters and personnel managers are trained to find possible demotions. They want to find out if your change was voluntary. Your explanation for the change must therefore be compelling, your motivation should be credible. From Director to Sr. Specialist? With this type of change, you weaken the function of the director. Or you describe them in such a way that no break becomes apparent.
5. Final general tips
Preferably keep CVs in technical or scientific fields in English. In many cases, the terms customary in the industry cannot be translated into German in any case. You can also avoid exaggerated anglicisms in German by using English from the outset. For applications in German-speaking countries, however, you should emphasize your language skills in a dominant position. I also recommend that cover letters be in German. Proceed in exactly the same way as with your social media profile!
The CV is only dead if it doesn't tell any more stories! Dare to stand out!