{"id":66482,"date":"2015-01-29T13:23:32","date_gmt":"2015-01-29T11:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/?p=66482"},"modified":"2018-10-31T16:40:52","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T16:40:52","slug":"words-cv-ordinary-extraordinary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/blog\/words-cv-ordinary-extraordinary\/","title":{"rendered":"Using the Right Words to Take Your CV from Ordinary to Extraordinary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time really is money, and when it comes to approaching employers with your CV<\/a>, you need to make a powerful impression in as few words as possible. When reading what amounts to a summary of who you are as an employee, the words you use matter, so it pays to make sure that you\u2019re writing with conviction. Here are some ways that the language on your CV might be sabotaging your job hunt<\/a> – and how to fix it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Switch from passive to active voice<\/h2>\n

Any occupation is all about what you do. While an employer might care about who you are as a person, it makes sense that their primary interest is in what you\u2019re actually capable of in the workplace. Reflect this in a CV that focuses on strong verbs in active tense. When you say \u201cthe accounts were maintained…\u201d or simply listing \u201caccount maintenance\u201d as a skill, you make yourself invisible.<\/p>\n

Instead, make yourself the subject of the sentence and focus on what you were responsible for. Rather say, \u201cI maintained accounts\u201d. This puts you, and your skills, front and centre.<\/p>\n

\u00a0[bctt tweet=”Switch from passive to active voice”]<\/p>\n

Switch weak verbs for strong ones<\/h2>\n

Your CV is not just a dispassionate list of all the things you\u2019ve done. It\u2019s a sales letter, and you are the product. Picture this: two applicants have identical skills and histories, but one says they \u201cformulated a marketing programme that integrated new policies and launched the company as a top 10 performer in the province\u201d, and the other says they were \u201cresponsible for marketing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Get rid of weak-sounding verbs like \u201cmanaged\u201d, \u201cwas responsible for\u201d or even weaker ones like \u201cdid\u201d and \u201cmade\u201d. Go for verbs that are vivid and descriptive – clarified, expanded, initiated, inspired, investigated, informed, monitored – all these verbs give employers an idea of what you can do, and will make it easier for them to picture you actually doing it for them. Find a thesaurus and weed out those ineffectual verbs.<\/p>\n

\u00a0[bctt tweet=”Your CV is not just a dispassionate list of all the things you\u2019ve done.”]<\/p>\n

Switch out vague words for specific ones<\/h2>\n

Chances are, your employer won\u2019t be impressed by vague and potentially useless sounding skills like \u201ceffective communication\u201d. Details will draw the reader in. Examples support your statements and give you credibility.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A good format is to list your skills using strong verbs, then use the most powerful and convincing example of where you used those skills in the past. Show how you solved a problem, or what you learnt. Give the employer a \u201cbefore\u201d and \u201cafter\u201d, with you as the special ingredient. Another good tip is to use industry-specific jargon. This can be an effective way to communicate your competence quickly as well as save space.<\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”Give the employer a \u201cbefore\u201d and \u201cafter\u201d, with you as the special ingredient.”]<\/p>\n

Swap timid language for confident language<\/h2>\n

The way that you speak, write and communicate tells other people a lot about how you work. If you doubt your skill, have low self esteem or don\u2019t enjoy your work, it will come through in the way you express yourself – and employers will notice. Employers want to hire someone with autonomy, and they need to trust that they can leave a task to you and that you will do it properly. Therefore, putting forward an image that\u2019s timid, shy, uncertain and unconfident can damage a potential employer\u2019s faith in you.<\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”The way that you speak, write and communicate tells other people a lot about how you work.”]<\/p>\n

Get rid of mousy sounding words like \u201cpossibly\u201d, \u201cmaybe\u201d and \u201csorry\u201d. Say what you say with confidence. Don\u2019t start a cover letter with phrases like \u201cif you wouldn\u2019t mind\u201d and \u201cI hope\u201d and \u201cI would really appreciate\u201d. This is submissive language and tells people that you are not confident in what you have to offer. Be friendly and direct, instead.
\nHave you ever had an intuition about someone? Have you ever had a strong gut feel about a person\u2019s character that later turned out to be accurate? Often times, we are communicating plenty of information that we may not even be aware of, but others nevertheless respond to it. Employers are human and will unconsciously respond to the language you use. Take the time to \u201cread between the lines\u201d of your CV and make sure that your message is confident and flattering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Time really is money, and when it comes to approaching employers with your CV, you need to make a powerful impression in as few words as possible. When reading what amounts to a summary of who you are as an employee, the words you use matter, so it pays to make sure that you\u2019re writing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66482"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66482"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171747,"href":"https:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66482\/revisions\/171747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joblife.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}