CVs used to be a collection of titles and dates. That’s not good enough anymore. When you are writing your CV you need to convey what you have achieved, what you started with and what you ended with. Context and colour is everything.
If you just list your job titles and dates employers will reason that you had a position but did nothing with it. A job or a position is an opportunity to achieve things for the company. If you don’t outline what you did and what you achieved, in context, you won’t even make a paper short list, let alone an interview.
The paper sift, the pre-interview elimination process, is the most brutal. Most people prepare for interviews either by getting interview coaching or running through potential questions and answers. But you have to get in the room first. So focus on that first!
A recent client of mine was one of 20 who got a job offer from a large consulting company. Over 4000 people applied, but they probably only interviewed 100. Do the maths – your chances of getting excluded on the basis of your CV are huge compared to the chances of failing at interview. Your preparation and your coaching should reflect that.
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