Why am I not even getting through to the interview stage? I was asked this question by a few frustrated doctors during the Diverse Careers Summit last Saturday.
They showed me their CVs and I can immediately tell them the reason why. Straightaway I geleng kepala inside my head.
First the CV is too long. 6 pages? No way. We are all inherently a bit lazy. Hetal Doshi wrote last week that 95% of our thoughts today are the same as yesterday. Therefore dont make the HR person work hard when reading your CV to find your key achievements. If I see a 6-page CV I gave a big sigh already even before reading it. Keep it short. 2 pages max. 1 page even better. For a nice simple template, can check Eric Sim’s post from last week.
Second is listing too much stuff. Berjela-jela. It’s related to the first point. Indiscriminate listings of things you have done, skills that you have picked up make it really hard for the HR team to pick out what’s relevant and what’s not. CV should be tailored to the role that you are applying for therefore only put skills and achievements that would be relevant for this new role. For example, phlebotomy (taking blood) is not a skill that I need from my MSL. Writing a newsletter on the other hand is a skill that would be advantageous for a potential MSL.
Third is about not providing a good summary. Imagine you nak beli buku. Do you buy a book without reading the summary first? Exactly! You read the summary and if you like the summary you then might read a few pages of the book and then you make a decision to buy it or not. So a CV with a good summary puts the reader in a good happy place which makes them want to discover more about you, to keep reading your CV till the end. Entice them with a good opening summary. Baru la best!
So please keep your CV short, tailor it to the job and include an enticing summary. Your CV will be more better.
If you still tak paham what I’ve written then can send me an SOS message and I’ll see what I can do with your CV.
