Is your CV Fit for Purpose?

December 2015

It’s hard enough getting your CV and cover letter right for a job application, let alone when you’re a technical communicator and you know every word you write is an advertisement for your skills.

So how do you get it right? To find out, we polled a number of prominent tech comm hirers.

Proofread for errors

There’s nothing worse than a red flag on attention to detail. It could be the maker or the breaker if the manager assessing your CV and cover letter is on the fence when it comes to your industry knowledge or technical communication experience.

“I don’t look for a perfect CV anymore, but it is funny how many times people make an error in the very bullet point where they’re saying they have exceptional writing/language/communication skills.”

Design the CV as you would for a client

All too often, technical communicators' CVs look like builders’ houses. A builder often doesn’t get time to work on their own house, and a technical communicator often doesn’t think to apply the same principles they use for their clients on their own documentation.

“When shortlisting for technical writing positions, the design of the CV and grammatical errors is definitely something that I shortlist on, as well as relevant experience. A well designed CV with minimal errors really stands out!”

Good grammar opens doors

Your CV may contain more accolades than Clint Eastwood’s Oscar cabinet, but that won’t matter if the grammar isn’t up to scratch.

“If I get a well laid-out, grammatically correct CV which uses styles, I’m going to want to interview the person even if they have no TC experience. Whereas, if I get a CV from someone who says they’ve been a TC for 15 years, but their CV is messily formatted, I’m probably not going to give them the time of day.”

Manage your social media

A CV and cover letter is never the complete package. LinkedIn profiles, public Facebook profiles, blogs, Twitter accounts - they’re all checked by recruiters to build a more rounded profile of applicants.

Think about how consistent your messaging and content is between your LinkedIn profile and job applications, and whether any personal opinions expressed in public forums are presenting an unprofessional picture.

“I check social media posts too, just to get a feel for what the person’s like. A lot of our CVs are from overseas applicants, so I look at all the info I can find. Last year I rejected someone with promising writer qualifications because his blog was really sexist. I was very glad his CV had a link to his blog!”

Focus on industry knowledge and technical communication experience

Think about two contexts of experience – technical communication and industry. A hirer will be looking for both as an ideal, but will often settle for one or the other if the missing piece of the puzzle can be efficiently provided as part of the job.

A fairly green technical communicator, for example, could boost their CV if they can display above average knowledge of the industry they want to work in, such as Agile knowledge for working in software development.

“We’ll take people from related industries, but I look for either industry knowledge or tech comms. We’re prepared to train people in either of these, but not both. At the short-list stage, I look at a mix of experience and qualifications to see how they look on these. At interview stage, I look for aptitude in both.”

Check the CV used by the recruitment agency before its sent out

If you’re applying for jobs through a recruitment agency it’s a fair assumption to think they know what a good CV looks like. While that may or may not be the case in general, they might not have the eye for structure and detail looked for in a technical communicator’s CV.

“We don’t use online application forms, so we still get CVs, although some of them come from recruiters and have minimal formatting.”

Photo Credit: Flazingo Photos