How to sneak achievements into your CV…
Job seeking is becoming more and more competitive, so you’ve also got to differentiate yourself from the hundreds of other job applications you might be up against.
The best way to do this is by personalising your CV and listing your achievements instead of just describing your job responsibilities. This way, the hiring manager will see how good you really are in comparison to other people in similar roles. They’ll also now imagine you can deliver similar great results for their business too.
I’ll bet you’re now wondering which achievements you should include and where to include them! The tips below will give any reader of your CV a better insight into your performance and potential in the job they’re considering you for…
Listing your promotions clearly:
How you present a summary of your professional experience will change how people perceive your experience. It’s better to include where you’ve been promoted making sure your CV clearly states this. It will set an expectation that you will continue to be a great employee with potential for future promotions too.
If you are currently SEO Manager at a company, you might list it on your CV like this:
But, if you joined the company as SEO Executive and have since been promoted to SEO Manager during your employment, it’s better to list it like this:
This second example presents a better picture of your career progression. It sets a different level of expectation and shows you’ve been a great employee worthy of promotion, rather than someone who potentially stagnated in the same role. Listing each job you’ve undertaken through promotions under the one company header like this will also avoid confusing the reader into thinking you’ve ‘job hopped’.
How to describe your job, without being boring:
Explaining your role with details to set the scene you work in is incredibly valuable on a CV. As we know job titles mean everything and nothing. For instance, an SEO Manager role can look very different in different companies. You’ll want to try and get across the depth of your responsibilities while avoiding long job descriptions. Things to include might be:
- People management
- Regional/geographical responsibility
- Product/service/industry worked in
For example, below is an ‘okay’ description. It doesn’t have ‘fluff’ and gets to the point. But, no matter the company, we all know an SEO Manager will be implementing the SEO Strategy!
Instead, why not make a couple of quick points about what you actually did in the role, that will make you stand out. For example:
Providing this detail will give a better insight into the depth of your responsibility and by adding achievements you will further accentuate your value. I mean, everyone knows that an SEO Manager is likely to conduct audits and implement a strategy but what we don’t know is what your actual remit is what have you done as opposed to every other SEO out there. Hence the extra detail.
The detail. Think KPI’s:
Every person’s achievements are going to differ even if they’re in the same job, so it’s sensible to list the Key Performance Indicators (KPI)’s which will support the depth of your skills. These could include:
- Performance against monthly/annual targets
- ROI for campaigns
- Website traffic increases
- Engagement increases on social media
- Newsletter subscriber numbers/open rates
- Click-through rates
- Successful website migrations
Projects:
Listing projects you’ve been involved in is another way to accentuate your candidature for a job. The more relevant they are to the job you’re applying for the better as the employer can imagine what you could do for them. It might have been a new idea which you made happen or a challenging project you took responsibility for.
Proudest professional moments:
Adding details of the achievements you’re most proud of is important. These are things you’ll be able to confidently discuss in an interview and not seem like you’re bragging.
Things you’ve had published:
Whether it’s your personal blog, website, article, white paper, research, case study or anything you’re directly responsible for. Make sure you detail it on your CV. These showcase your expertise, passion, abilities in a way like no other and employers love seeing where you’ve put yourself out there, going beyond the 9-5 of work practising your craft or showcasing your talent. You can also add hyperlinks to this work within the text of your CV.
After adding your achievements, each of your jobs listed on your CV will end up looking something like this:
To see what the rest of your CV should look like, check out our ultimate guide and free template!
Looking for more job seeking tips? We’ve got you covered:
💡 How to Find a New Job Without Your Boss Finding Out
💡 Think you’re under-qualified? So what!
💡 How To Find A New Job on TikTok
If you’re looking for help in finding a new job in digital marketing, get in touch! You can email me directly on natasha@clockworktalent.com or call 02037514108.
