As the world has changed over the past year, and many more are working from home, there has been a growing trend to produce CVs that include no address details at all. You may well get a mobile number and an email address, but nothing else.

Of course you have used a covering email, stating exactly where you are, or what areas you would like to find working, and how you can be contacted.

But by omitting any address information, and I have seen some CV writers out there suggest that this information is irrelevant, then recruiters simply do not know where you are located. And those that are fortunate enough to work in sectors that are recruiting, are inundated with people.

So if in the automatic processing of your CV no location can be picked up, then you are likely to go into a “hold” pile, to be returned to when they have time. Which might be next June.

So while the chief executive of a major corporation could probably live almost anywhere, because the company will relocate them, for your average worker it is quite important where you are based. And given the choice, most employers will choose employees close to them rather than at the other end of the country.

In a competitive job market, the first job of the recruiter is to reject quickly those who are not right. If they are not sure of your location, will they give you the benefit of the doubt? If they are struggling to find the right person then maybe, if they are not then you probably haven’t got a hope of getting onto the shortlist.

We know that some people worry about security and identity theft, but with the prevalence of online information, your CV is not going to be the first place they look to do this. And so long you don’t add your passport number, driving licence, wife’s name and so on, they will not have much to go on they can’t get from the electoral register.

So give them the information they need. A postcode at the very minimum, your post town and even your address just to complete the picture.

So they know where you are.

Imagine being on immigration control at Heathrow airport, especially post Brexit.

You will need to look at thousands of passports every day, quickly turn to the right page and work out who this person is in front of you. Do they look like their photo, where they have come from and are they eligible to enter the country?

A boring and repetitive job. But made much easier because most passports conform to an international standard. They can be scanned electronically and by a human quickly and easily.

Now imagine that the same person standing in front of your immigration desk had got creative. They had decided to add a few more photos and put all of their information in a different order. And made it difficult to be scanned by a machine. How quickly do you think they would get through?

Now think about your CV. In a world where there may be hundreds of applications for the same position, how quickly will your CV get through if it is in an unusual layout. Or if the information that recruiters need to find is difficult to pull out of it.

How quickly do you think you will get through their queues? How often do you think you will get rejected?

Instinctively I think you know the answer.

Which is why we get really boring with CV layouts. Make sure they are logical, clear and concise. And contain all of the information that recruiters expect to see. Because if they don’t, then very quickly you can find yourself being rejected for a job you have the perfect background for.

How frustrating is that?

Your CV needs to be written in plain English, people need to be able to understand what you do and not misunderstand it.

So quite a useful test (and I do realise I am making an assumption that you are married and have in-laws) is to give your CV to the in-laws, or failing that to an aunt or uncle or someone slightly disconnected from you. Ask them to scan your CV for 10-20 seconds and tell you what you do.

Now some of them may have a head start, and already understand exactly what your job is. But try and choose someone who doesn’t, because in reality it will be somebody who does not know you at all who will be picking up your document and trying to decipher it. And if they cannot do so easily and quickly you may quickly get rejected.

Sadly the world today is all about instant impact. And if you cannot make that, then you fall behind others in the queue.

So a CV that is well laid out, simple to navigate and clear is essential. It is not about flashy colours, good illustrations and so on, because recruiters want to find the information they need to know in the places they expect them to be.

So try the in-laws test. How quickly does your CV tell them what they need to know?

Finding your next role can be tricky. And you are bound to get rejected a lot of the time. But how much work have you put into it?

We have all seen the headlines – those job seekers who have made 2,000 applications and not had a single reply. Which is fine, but with the click of a mouse I can make multiple applications to an agency for multiple jobs. A simple as that.

But is that really looking for a job? For agencies that are deluged with candidates and under serious pressure. If they see somebody apply for a Managing Director and a Receptionist role, are they going to treat any of those applications seriously?

So how hard do you work at your job search? 

• Do you draw up a list of roles that you think you would be suited for, and then a list of employers you would ideally like to work for? 
• Do you approach those employers directly, or even find people who work there, connect with them and ask for their help? 
• Once you have submitted an application, do you ever follow up?

It is competitive out there. Unless you treat your search for a job as a job, and something that you need to work as hard as you ever worked for your previous employer, then it may be difficult.

It is why some people find it so easy to get into another role, where others struggle for months. Roll up your sleeves, get professional about it and sooner or later the tide will turn.

Or contact us and see if we can put you on the right road. 

I see it many times. 

People have put together their CV quite badly but they have spent ages agonising over their personal profile, before starting on the CV proper. 

The profile is not that important, but the contents of the CV are. So get that part fixed to begin with. The personal profile, on the other hand, is the part of your CV that can be adapted to various different situations. And certainly can be adapted to ensure it matches the needs of any job role you are looking at.

The reason for this is that recruiters and artificial intelligence will often scan through personal profiles to check whether they match job requirements and specifications. 

The personal profile does not need to be fixed, and while we would not recommend producing 26 different CVs for 26 different job applications, this small part of your CV can easily be adapted. 

So do not fret about it to begin with, you’re probably going to change it later in any case. 

Plenty of jobseekers do not show their age on their CV. And there is no reason for them to do so.

So we looked through a CV a few weeks ago that was actually quite well laid out. There was some decent qualifications there, although they gave no hint as to when schools and colleges were attended, so we turned to the job history.

Again this stopped in the year 2000, nothing earlier than that was shown. We have no problem with any of this, as I say any jobseeker is perfectly entitled to take any reference to their age off the CV to prevent age discrimination.

Except, having so carefully covered their tracks I look at their email address: joebloggs1957@gmail.com (apologies to the real Joe Bloggs, I have changed the name). I did not need Hercule Poirot to help me out, but I reckon John was born before 1958.

It is amazing how careful you can be and then miss the blindingly obvious isn’t it?

Of course I realise it’s a tough market, and of course there are millions of people looking for work.

But we work with lots of people, and we know that many have poor CVs, are looking for jobs in the wrong places, and are putting themselves at the back of the queue when it comes to their job search.

The problem is, most of us panic when we are out of work. And most of us think we know better than anyone else about their career.

We work with individuals at all levels. And do you know what? Few have a high enough opinion of their own experience and their own abilities. So they rarely communicate just what a positive effect they have had on their previous employers. If you don’t tell people how good you are, no one will guess it.

There’s a whole load of technology that sifts and filters applications, especially when those recruiting are receiving 1000s of them. Most of it is common sense and a great help to sift through potential candidates.

But if you do not realise it is there, if you do not know how it works, then you might think a friendly human face is going to make an inspired choice and choose your CV. Computers won’t do that, especially if you don’t play their game.

And employers are now using remote technology to interview and shortlist. You won’t understand how a poor online interview can make you look terrible. Some simple steps can make you look far better than anyone else. But if you have not been told, then you don’t have much of a chance.

We see this the whole time, and we can change people’s chances in just a few weeks. As plenty of testimonials will show.

It doesn’t cost much, but talk to the professionals. We really can make a difference.