How to Get Your CV in Front of the Right People

Guest Writer

21 February, 2019

After putting care, attention and time into crafting a tailored CV for recruiters, the last thing you want is for all of your hard work to go unnoticed. Furthermore, you want your CV to be seen by the top dogs, the hiring managers and recruiters, who make the decisions. It’s these people who will ensure you receive a call for an interview. So, how can you make sure to put your CV in front of the people who have the power to actually hire you?

Head with a punchy profile

Make your CV grab the attention of recruiters with a bold, eye-catching, punchy profile. Your profile should sit at the top of your CV and give recruiters a quick, captivating sales pitch that makes them want to read the rest.

Your profile shouldn’t necessarily be a summary of your CV but more like an advert that encourages recruiters to continue reading. Sell yourself.

To keep your profile punchy, try to limit it to a paragraph, with a maximum of five lines. Provide the high-level detail that will make sure recruiters remember you.

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Add impressive facts and figures

Whatever role you are applying for, you are likely to have a similar career history to many other applicants. With this in mind, your work experience won’t necessarily stand out by itself. It is unlikely that a CV with a full, detailed work history, much the same as other candidates, will be successful in today’s job market. Instead, you need to give your CV an edge with memorable details through impressive facts and figures.

Get rid of any outlandish claims or boring clichés and replace with facts, figures and statistics of your abilities. From saving money, increasing sales, improving efficiency or winning awards, make sure these details are easy to find in your CV, backed up with real numbers and results. Your CV should not be longer than two pages, so only include information that will make an impact.

Similarly, add figures to your previous roles such as how many people you were responsible for or the amount of budget you controlled. This helps recruiters build up a picture of your previous employment.

Use LinkedIn

LinkedIn can give you invaluable access to the people you want to attract. However, if you’re using LinkedIn to make connections with the top recruiters, you need to make sure that your profile looks as sharp and impactful as your CV. Once you are happy with your LinkedIn profile, use the platform to follow companies you are interested in and find those responsible for recruiting new staff.

If you find that you have a mutual connection that links you to the right person, ask them to introduce you on LinkedIn, or be bold and introduce yourself. This can help your CV stand out in a pile and make you a memorable candidate.

Cv in front of the right people - network on LinkedIn — Let your mutual connections on LinkedIn introduce you to hiring managers or key recruitment people

Write a strong cover letter

Without a strong cover letter, your CV may never get opened. Your cover letter is the gateway to your CV, and without a compelling cover letter, you reduce the likelihood that your CV will be given the attention it deserves. Make sure you start your cover letter in the right way by directly addressing it to the person that you want to attract. Get rid of ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ and instead do some research on the names and contact details of the recruiter.

Follow up with non-responders

Whether you are applying directly or through a recruitment portal, technical glitches may happen which means your CV does not get seen. Make sure to give your CV as much exposure as possible by following up with any recruiters that do not respond to you. You need to make sure your CV is at the top of the pile, not lingering away at the bottom of their inbox.

Following up doesn’t have to be pushy. Be polite and respectful of their time, but without asking, you won’t know if your CV has reached its target. Furthermore, following up shows your keen interest in the role which will be looked on favourably.

CV in front - follow up if you've sent your CV out — Follow up if you've had no response after sending out your CV

Andrew Fennell is the founder of CV writing advice website StandOut CV – he is a former recruitment consultant and contributes careers advice to websites like Business Insider, The Guardian and Fast Company.