How to write a customised CV is an important step to adapt your work experience and competencies for job applications. By following these tips, you will be able to tailor your CV to the role you are applying for. In today’s competitive job market, candidates have to demonstrate that they possess the key skills, abilities and personal attributes requested by employers. A customised CV or resume will help you demonstrate how you match the job requirements of the job application.
How To Write A Customised CV for Job Requirements
Current trends in recruitment indicate that employers are trying to orient themselves to a skills-based hiring approach. By following these simple suggestions, you will be able to adapt your expertise and skills to the job ad and compel the employers to notice your competencies and acknowledge that you are a match for their specific needs.
Research indicates that both employees and employers seem to prefer skills-based hiring. Most employers agree that skills-based hiring is the main recruitment trend of the future and are trying to use this approach. Employers are adopting this trend, hoping to improve employee retention, diversity requirements and hiring costs.
Also, most candidates seem to appreciate skills-based hiring because they feel it can help prevent bias in the hiring process. This approach moves the selection process from traditional indicators like work experience and education towards skills.
1. Analyse the job description keywords
Every industry has specific education, skills, personal attributes and qualification requirements. To make it easy, create a master document with all the skills and competencies you have accumulated in your professional experiences. For each application, you can refer to your master document and choose the suitable competencies. In the job ads, you can easily identify the keywords you need to match as the minimum selection criteria.
Take your time and start by reading the job description, having in mind the objective to draft a list of the critical skills, qualifications, and work experiences the employer is seeking. Consider the job title, main responsibilities, key skills, personal qualities and education.
Most companies use application tracking systems (ATS) to process all CVs they receive. The ATS will scrape information from the CV and automatically fill it into form fields. It parses the documents and uses sets of skills as keywords to select the matching candidates on the shortlist.
2. Write a compelling summary or objective to customise your CV
Writing a compelling profile, career summary, or professional objective is a very important part of your CV. This paragraph is the first thing people will read about you, and it must grab their attention. A well-written profile statement is an opportunity to make a good impression and should be to the point.
The paragraph should have no more than three or four sentences, refer to the job you are applying for and highlight your strengths. By tailoring your summary paragraph to each job and incorporating industry keywords, you can efficiently communicate your professional value and competence to employers. Adapt this personal statement by introducing the most relevant experiences identified in the job description and achievements that match the job requirements.
Try to mirror the language used in the job description, only if it’s possible. Choose the main or critical industry-specific keywords and expressions from the job description. These keywords should reflect the essential skills and responsibilities the employer is seeking. You can incorporate the keywords by linking them with your experiences or accomplishments to showcase your competence. While phrasing the summary, try to remain authentic and pinpoint your personal qualities to give a compelling and real idea about yourself.
3. Formulate professional experiences as action-oriented results
After identifying the minimal requirements, you should think about your specific tasks in previous roles that you can link to job requirements and translate them into results. You can take into consideration similar requirements, objectives you reached or relevant outcomes that can stress your contributions to the team or project.
Rearrange the bullet points, placing your relevant experience first to emphasise responsibilities important to the job you’re applying for. When phrasing your work experiences and responsibilities, reinforce them with metrics and clear action-oriented results. Professional experiences should be communicated as successful actions and achievements by using verbs and significant achievements.
Your customisations should highlight relevant work experiences. Start by reviewing relevant experiences from your track record, emphasising the last three or most relevant roles. After identifying the matching responsibilities or achievements, you can prioritise the experiences closely aligned with the job requirements.
You should include those experiences directly linked to the employer’s needs and selection criteria. If the CV is longer than expected, remove or shorten details that don’t relate to job requirements. Remain focused on relevant background and professional experiences demonstrating your suitability for the position.
4. How to customise your skills CV section
The skills-based approach is gaining popularity, and both candidates and companies are adopting it. You should tailor your skills to match those listed in the job ads. Choose skills for which you have work experience to back them up. Your customisations indicate to employers a real interest in their needs.
In most cases, the skills are job-specific selection criteria and are usually categorised as minimal or critical, nice to have or not mandatory but advantageous. To match their job opening, you need to customise your skills by aligning them with the critical skills in the job description. Also, you should try to use similar terminology to indicate to them that you are a clear match with what they are seeking.
The use of action-oriented phrases will point out your competence in each skill. Whenever possible, you can exemplify with metrics to demonstrate your proficiency because quantitative data strengthens your credibility. Your CV bullet points should be based on industry key competencies or include problems you solved, illustrating your qualities like problem-solving abilities and adaptability.
5. Use Simple CV Formatting
Most of us read from left to right, and our brains are wired to better navigate through structured and organised content. Always choose a clean, customised CV layout, and consider using bullet points and simple formatting. Writing or adapting your CV to the job requirements will help you better formulate possible answers to the interview questions.
Writing and customising your CV can give you a clear picture of how and why you are a fit for that particular role. Market trends are coming and going, but knowing how to customise your CV can help you with career growth and job challenges.
