Why a CV is Still as Important as the Interview

There are various stages of clinching a job – and it is ultimately your performance at the interview which an employer will judge to determine whether they should give you that coveted job. However, you will only have secured that interview in the first place on the strength of your initial application, including your CV.

Here, we go further into why you mustn’t overlook your CV.

Competition is fierce

That particular job you are eyeing up could be appealing to many other people – and they will all be sending their CVs to the employer. Hence, your CV needs to be in utterly tip-top shape to stand out from the crowd. An employer will have limited time to spend sifting through CVs and so one that does not easily impress could be quickly binned.

First impressions last

The employer has relatively little time to get to know you before they even consider offering you an interview, so they are going to judge you from a variety of little details. Therefore, some spelling errors in your CV could suggest carelessness – and the employer will probably be able to tell if you have rushed putting together the CV, rather than took time to make sure that every little bit of it is perfect. So, it’s worth preparing thoroughly for a positive first impression.

Your CV can be a great advertisement

You might have scored top marks in difficult courses, ascended through the ranks at major companies and be amazingly adept in the field that you are applying to work in… but you can’t expect any of this to help you if the employer you want work from never learns about this. Key to the beauty of a CV is that it is an excellent tool for advertising yourself. Of course, this is true of the interview, too – but that arrives later than sending the CV, if it arrives at all.

It can give you a crucial head start

Some schools and universities can be so preoccupied with boosting academic performance and practical skills that they spend too little time teaching how to put together a good CV. Hence, especially if you are a school leaver, a good CV could give you a valuable head start over many other similarly-positioned people seeking jobs.

If you don’t know where to start with CV writing, our website is a great source of information!