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During summer 2001, Chiumento and Effective Resources, a London-based human resources consulting firm, conducted a survey of 580 recruitment consultancies and 302 top companies in the U.K. The question at the heart of the survey is one that plagues every job seeker: What's the secret to a great CV?
Although opinions among recruiters and companies were somewhat varied, a strong consensus emerged about what can make -- or break -- a great CV. If you're thinking about working in the U.K., check out the survey results below, and see how your resume measures up.
Length
The majority of recruiters (60%) and companies (70%) prefer a two-page CV over a one- or three-page resume. Thirty-six percent of recruiters and 28% of companies favor a three-page CV.
The popularity of the two-page CV has increased in the last decade, according to the results of a similar Chiumento survey conducted in 1992. One-page CVs are less popular now than they were 10 years ago; in the 2001 survey, a mere 2.6% of recruiters and 1.67% of companies prefer them over two-to-three page CVs, compared to 9% in 1992.
Format
Over 90% of all respondents favor a reverse chronological format (most recent employment to least recent). Few favor a "skills only" CV, which some respondents fear candidates use to disguise a patchy employment history.
Content and Layout
This year, participants were given the opportunity to respond at length on the most important components of a CV. Respondents were asked to rate 29 items on a scale of high, medium or low importance. According to companies, the top ten most important components of a CV are (from highest rank to lowest): work experience; qualifications; achievements; the candidate's contact information; personal background information; accountabilities; number of staff; budget responsibility; reasons for leaving; and most recent salary information.
Respondents stressed that candidates choosing to list a "hobbies and interests" section on their CV should keep it brief and relevant. One respondent gave an example of the kind of irrelevancies that can crop up: wife's employment, children's first names, and pony club ribbons.
Cover Letters -- Handwritten or Typed?
Thirty-three percent of companies and 41% of recruiters prefer cover letters to be typed. Both groups have high scores for "no preference" -- about 45%, although recruiters and companies stress that handwritten letters must be neat and legible.
Electronic CVs
Electronic CV scanning or input enables candidates' data to be stored in a retrievable format. Few companies (9%) are considering installing automatic CV screening software, and only 2% already have such systems in place. By contrast, 73 recruiters (12.5%) use CV screening software, and 75% installing it within the next six months.
Lay-Offs
An overwhelming majority (87%) of respondents feels that it makes no difference if a candidate is currently unemployed due to lay offs, or declared redundancy. A small percentage (3.8%) indicates that being laid off could even improve a candidate's application, due to their immediate availability. However, respondents stressed that candidates should be honest about their lay-off history, rather than trying to disguise or omit it from their CVs.
Paper Color
Twenty percent of recruiters and 33% of companies express no preference in paper color, but both groups strongly prefer (73% and 57% respectively) white to cream, light blue, or other colors.
Submitting your CV
Seventy percent of the respondents suggest that CVs should be sent to the personnel or HR department; 18% prefer that it be sent to the function head. Twenty-five responses (8.3%) suggest that candidates send CVs to both the personnel department and either the function head or the function director.
