21.01.2019

Tailoring Your FM CV

Despite the current trend for recruitment “thought leaders” and tech proponents to claim that the CV is dead 99.9% of employers still expect to see a document outlining your experience at some point during the recruitment process. Initial assessments are made off the back of it, interview questions are formulated around its content and, when done correctly, a CV can go a long way towards showcasing your technical skills and personality.

And yet so often CVs are dry, generic cardboard cut-outs which give no indication about what you as an author are truly like, what makes you tick professionally and why you’re right for the job you’re applying to.

That’s stops now. With a few simple tweaks you can make your CV accurately reflect you and in turn stand out from the pile of cookie cutter resumes on that hiring manager’s desk.

Profile – the introduction to you and your experience and often the most overlooked aspect of any resume, when done right a good profile sets the tone for the rest of the document. Remember, you’re not writing a job description, you’re advertising yourself to a potential employer. Steer clear of clichés and avoid referring to yourself in the third person. Instead describe yourself professionally, what type of manager you are, the sort of projects you enjoy working on and what work-based challenges you’re looking for in your next role.

Quantitative data – your CV shouldn’t look like a spreadsheet but a few well-distributed numbers in your content illustrates your points quickly and effective. Quantifying the size of the team you managed, CAPEX budgets you controlled or percentage of downtime you reduced gives employers a direct comparison to their business and is a big indicator of the value you will add.

Achievements - achievements are examples of times you have exceeded expectations in your role. They are not your job description, anybody with the necessary background could perform the duties outlined in a description - only you have gotten the results mentioned in the achievements. Again, the more specific quantitative values in terms of £, % etc. you can show, the more impressive it looks.

Interests - lots of employers now value work/life balance and the personalities of their employees. A few sentences outlining what you do in your spare time, how you contribute to a community outside of work and any projects you’re working on will make you come across as more human. As an added bonus topics you’ve raised in your interests section can act as a good ice breaker during interviews too, particularly if the interviewer shares a passion.

Social media - professional (cannot stress this word enough!) social media links on your CV give a good insight into your personality and how you interact with your peers. Platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter also provide an insight into how engaged you are with your sector and wider networks. Posting articles, contributing to discussion boards and providing industry commentary all establish you as an authority in your area whilst making you appear more human.

These techniques will ensure your CV is an accurate representation of who you are professionally. It’ll be more engaging for recruiters and hiring managers to read and in return you’ll get more responses from your applications. It pays to stand out.

Alexandra Hewitt leads the FM division within CRG TEC (www.crgtec.uk.com) a recruitment consultancy who specialises in technical vacancies across the UK. You can get in touch with her on ah@crgtec.uk.com