Giving your CV a Glow-Up – What to Know
Posted on 8th April 2025 at 12:36
Your CV is one of the most powerful tools in your job search. It is your first opportunity to impress recruiters and hiring managers, so making it effective and engaging is essential. With most recruiters spending just 10–20 seconds scanning a CV, it is crucial to present your skills, experience, and achievements clearly and concisely – while keeping it personal to you as well.
Over the years, our Founder - Rachel has worked behind the scenes with countless executives, turning the daunting task of CV writing into a career breakthrough. Whether you’re suddenly in the job market without a CV, have one that’s hopelessly outdated, or need help trimming an 18-pager down to a snappy, attention-grabbing document (yes, it really happens!), she can help. Here are a few of her tips for giving that CV a glow-up that’s fit for your next great step on the ladder....
Rachel’s CV Must-Knows
Last year alone, I optimised hundreds of CVs, empowering professionals to showcase their value with confidence and clarity. Yet time and again, I see common traps that people fall into with their CV, that hold them back from landing their dream opportunities.
There’s so much to cover when it comes to a CV makeover, so in this post I’m going to keep it simple: the most common pitfalls I’ve seen over the years, and the single most important tip I can give you to make your CV sell you to the best of its ability.
So let’s start by diving into those pitfalls….
Common CV Pitfalls
Length Matters
An 18-page CV might be an epic read, but it’s not what employers want because they simply don’t have the time. Keep it to two pages - unless you're in a specialised field like research or academia. Less is more, and you risk them skim-reading the good bits or just passing you over altogether if it’s too long.
Tense Troubles
Current roles = present tense. Previous roles = past tense. It’s a small detail, but it makes a big difference in clarity and professionalism.
Essential Info Alert
Believe it or not, I’ve seen CVs missing basics like contact details, education, or current roles. Before you hit send, double-check those essentials!
Capitalisation Chaos
Random capitalisation is the visual equivalent of shouting. Keep it clean and professional - reserve capitals for proper nouns and the first word of a sentence.
The Big One: The Power of Your Accomplishments
Here it is - the one biggest traps people fall into. Your CV shouldn’t just be a list of tasks and responsibilities: it should be your personal highlight reel.
Employers don’t just want to know what you did; they want to know how well you did it, and one of the best ways to stand out is to showcase your achievements with quantifiable results that give some real context to what you did. Employers want to see what impact you’ve had on the organisations you’ve worked for - so instead of just listing responsibilities, highlight the results.
For example:
Before: Managed customer complaints.
After: Resolved 300-500 customer complaints per week, improving satisfaction scores by 20%.
Before: Trained new employees.
After: Designed and delivered training for 28 staff members, increasing productivity and saving the company £51,000 annually.
How to Craft Winning Accomplishment Statements
Your achievements should answer three key questions:
1. What did you do?
2. How did you do it?
3. What was the result?
Using the SOAR method can help when crafting these:
• Situation: What was the context?
• Obstacles: What challenges did you face?
• Action: What did you do?
• Result: What was the outcome?
Example:
Weak statement: Implemented a new billing system.
SOAR statement: Implemented a new billing system, improving efficiency by 25% and reducing invoice errors by 40%.
This is the power of what you’ve accomplished vs what you’ve done – and it’s giving them the evidence they need to move you (and all your amazing achievements) onto the next stage of the recruitment process.
I really could spend all day writing about how to give your CV the makeover it deserves, from how to structure it to whether you should include hobbies – far too much to cover in one blog post! So if you’ve got a taste for CV transformation, Haus of Coaching can help.
We have stacks of resources and best practice knowledge to help you create the very best representation of your skills and expertise, to give you the best chance of passing that crucial first step in the recruitment process – and before you know it, you’ll be walking through the door on the first day of your new dream job. Get in touch with us today.
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