Optimum CV Layout
An IT recruiter lets us know what he sees as the optimum CV layout. He believes that this layout is most likely to get the contractor put forward for interviews.
Top of Page
Top of first page should have your name and the specialty you work in at the top and centred i.e
John Smith
SAP BW SEM Consultant
Then, you should then have a brief synopsis of your career highlighting the skills for the job you are applying. So a rewrite for every job you apply for should take no longer than 5 mins a time.
Career History
Then you should have your career history. This should be succinct and precise and not war and peace for each role. It should have the team size you were part of and what the project was trying to achieve as whole.
After this you should have your skills, training and certifications.
Then your education and some personal information such as age, marital status and any languages you speak at business level (not basic French etc).
Therefore, if you have been in the business for 15 years with lots of projects your CV should state the number and types in the synopsis.
Most Recent Experience
Only flesh out your last 2-3 years experience. You should paraphrase the rest. Clients don‘t tend to pay much attention to what contractors did 5 years ago.
So, it should be no more than 3-4 pages max.
If it is for perm work the same but less paraphrasing and add your hobbies and interests as well as a bit of personal information to make you sound interesting to the client.
Hope this helps.
IT Contractor Comment
What about other IT recruiters out there? Do you believe that this is the optimum CV layout?
Will it get contractors more interviews with the resultant more opportunities for getting contracts?
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