The authentic CV wins the day
Everything will line up perfectly when knowing and living the truth becomes more important than looking good. — Alan Cohen
You’ve sweated over it, you’ve researched it, you’ve tailored it, you’ve revised it time and time again. Now it’s time to push your precious CV out of the nest and just hope that it can fly. We all know that anxiety. We’ve worked hard to craft the perfect CV that we fear will just end up in a heap of other unlucky prospects. And, honestly, it’s a justifiable fear when we hear stories of the shear number of people that have applied for a single position.
The goal is to stand out from the crowd; to stand out as a real prospective for a job position. The keyword here is “real”. You see, one of the main problems with many resumes is that they don’t represent their owners as authentic but more like… resume robots. You have to remember that companies are searching for people not machines.
So the question is how can you create a CV that showcases your authentic self so that you stand out from the crowd?
Don’t be a Robot!
Write like you’re real
The Turing test is a means of judging levels of artificial intelligence.In layman’s terms it’s a way of asking, “Am I talking to a machine or a person?” It’s interesting that the Turing test’s main tool for detecting intelligence is conversation. If it talks like a robot then it is a robot.
It can work the same in your CV. Remember that your resume is really a dialog between you and your prospective employer. You’re less likely to stand out as authentic if you use cold, mechanical language. One of the best ways to break through this obstacle is just to write like you talk. Using real life words and phrases can bridge the gap between your resume and the reader.
Focus on accomplishments not just credentials
For sure credentials count: no one wants to hire a brain surgeon that never went to medical school. But just rattling off a list of the schools you’ve attended doesn’t doesn’t give the person reviewing your resume any sense of your personality. You can assume that a lot of the people applying for the position have about the same credentials as you do.
“Some of our most successful employees have captained a rugby team or been president of the students’ union. One of the biggest frustrations we have is meeting students with the same C Vs and answers — as if they have all been prepared in the same way. At interview we try to assess behavior as much as any work experience to give us a sense of the future a candidate might have with our company.” Katy Smith, resourcing partner, Endsleigh Insurance Services
One way to break away from the pack in this area is to also focus on your accomplishments: job related and extracurricular. If you don’t have as deep of credentials as others, but you’ve participated in projects in your field, it can show that you’re willing to take on a challenge and that people trust you. Likewise, if you list that you’re a member of a sports team it serves to humanize you. It can communicate that you enjoy healthy fun and can work with a group.
Have some fire!
Let your passion shine through
You probably know the Hollywood trope where the android goes through the process of becoming more human by discovering some flowering emotion within themselves. It’s passion that exhibits our humanity, so express that passion in your resume.
“We are after people with a can-do attitude, enthusiasm, interpersonal skills and the drive and ambition to make an impact. Softer skills such as collaboration are also valued, especially as employees often have to work with a variety of people outside their immediate team. For us, it’s less about what you’ve studied and more about why you want to work for us and what you can bring.” Theresa McHenry, human resources director, Microsoft UK
An employee that has passion interjects energy into their work environment. And it’s not just enough to say “I am passionate”. You need to demonstrate that passion by utilizing the first two strategies we covered: use enthusiastic language and show enthusiastic accomplishments.
It’s alive!
Employers are looking to hire authentic, flesh-and-blood people. There’s a deluge of resumes out there pouring in that make their owners sound like gears and cogs. So, If you want to stand out from the android hoard, let your humanity shine through in your CV. Be unique, after all, there is only one “you”.
