What is the Purpose of Your CV?2 min read

To:

• Give an organisation a summary of who you are?
• Talk about your skills and abilities
• Tell the employer what you can do?

The sole purpose of your CV is to get someone to contact you and invite you to have a conversation.

It is a marketing document about you.  If you were marketing a product you would understand your audience before writing your marketing material or going out to the market.   So why wouldn’t you do the same before you write your CV.

You are not writing your CV for yourself but for the organisation you are applying to, it is a document for them not you.

So where should you start?   How about with yourself, what do you have to market, what can/will you tell your audience?

Write a master CV, and then think about your audience, who are they and what they need to know about you:

• Do you match their criteria (essential and desirable)?
• What sort of person are you?
• Do you have the skills, experience and abilities to do the job?
• Do you improve and develop yourself?

Research the industry, organisation and people, find out as much as you can before your write your CV, you are then in a position to create a specific marketing document about you.

Different organisations, industries and countries may require different styles, formats and information.   If you are applying for a role in advertising or marketing perhaps you can be more innovative in your approach than if you were apply for a finance role, find out? Make sure the employer gets the information most important to them as quickly as possible when they read your CV.

Remember an employer is looking for evidence so don’t just give them a list, tell them what you have delivered and achieved and how you have done it e.g.

Developed and delivered company presentation to an audience of approx. fifty people at an industry specific conference resulting in two successful business collaborations.

In short your CV is:

• a marketing document about you
• written for the organisation you are applying
• interesting to read
• a document that shows evidence of your experience, skills and achievements
• a document that matches you to the role/organisation

 You will:

Research, research, research

• Network
• Company websites
• Business social media
• Professional associations and organisations
• The Global Resume CV Book
• Country guides e.g. Deloitte