8 common mistakes to avoid

Writing a CV can be a stressful experience especially if you do not know what information to include about yourself, educational background and work experience. And it can be even more stressful if you don’t have any work experience. I work in the HR environment and I see over 20 CV’s everyday with mistakes, that harm an individual’s chances of being invited for an interview.

This will serve as a guideline as to which details you should never include:

1. Personal details are important but avoid things such as your hobbies, age, likes & dislikes, religious beliefs, height & weight. This kind of information is unnecessary and no one has the time to read through it all.

2. Salary expectations. This is a definite NO. It only makes you seem like you are only after money & not interested in developing your career. Leave salary discussions until you have been invited to the interview.

3. Avoid lies & false claims. If you don’t have a degree or work experience clearly state that in your CV. Lying will ruin your professional career before it even starts. Honesty is always key. If the job is yours, you will get it. Just don’t LIE.

4. DO NOT include your picture, unless you are applying for a modelling job or a sales position, where the company wants to see how the potential candidate looks like and whether or not they are suitable for the image the company is trying to portray.

5. DO NOT mention any negatively about your previous or current employers. This is UNPROFESSIONAL.

6. GRAMMAR. Check your spellings and punctuation before sending your CV. Spelling mistakes indicate lack of "attention to detail" and no one wants to hire that kind of individual. 

7. Don’t list jobs that were short term (2 months or less) or didn’t like because it takes up unnecessary space. You can mention the short-term jobs in an interview, only if it has added any value to your long-term positions.

8. High school subjects or marks. DO NOT list the subjects you did in high school or the marks you got for those on your CV. Your matric certificate is there for that.

Keep these guidelines in mind & compiling that CV to get your dream job & develop your career will be much more easily.