How You Can Make Your CV and Cover Letter Caught Employers Attention by Striving for Readability.

This write up discusses such readability factors as appearance, organizational format, delivery format, page-length, and elimination of typos and misspellings

·         Appearance. The first impression of your CV -- and of you as a job-seeker -- comes from your CV's appearance. Your CV should be well-organized with consistent headings, fonts, bullets, and style. Never overcrowd the CV. Leave some "white space" so that important points can stand out; and try to make your margins between .75" and 1" on all sides. Avoid Typos/Misspellings, yet a lot of job applicants do make this mistake. CVs with errors get filed in the trashcan. Take the time to carefully write, rewrite, and edit your CV. Remember that it's not enough to spell-check your documents because you may have used a perfectly spelled word  but it wasn't the word you wanted. For example, a word frequently seen on CVs and cover letter is "possess," but some job-seekers accidentally spell it "posses," which is the plural of "posse." Be sure to meticulously proofread your CV for misspellings and typos. Proofread your CV and cover letter. Put them down for a few hours, come back, and proofread again. Then get a friend or family member with a good eye to proof them for you.

·         Contact information. Surefire CVs and cover letters do no good if the employer can't reach you. Most college students wisely list both their campus and home addresses and phone numbers on their CVs. A surprising number of the CVs omitted an e-mail address; these days, an e-mail address on your CV is a must, so if you don’t have email address, go and open one with any of the free email address website like Yahoo, Google, aol, etc. Don't forget your cell phone number, if you have one. In fact, don't overlook any way an employer could reach you. For print CVs, use subdued color paper, such as white, ivory, beige, light gray.

·         Contact Information. Since your goal is for an employer to contact you -- either for a first interview or for a follow-up interview, you must give employers as many ways to reach you as possible, including postal mailing address, email address, home phone number, cell phone, etc.

·         Accomplishments. Focus the descriptions of your experiences on accomplishments, not duties and responsibilities. Accomplishments, especially those you can quantify, will sell you to a potential employer

·         Education/Training. Include all the pertinent information regarding education, degrees, training, and certifications. Spell out names of degrees. List your major(s) and minor(s). Include the educational institution's name and location. If currently enrolled in an educational program, list expected graduation month and year. List your GPA if 3.0 or above. If your major GPA is higher than your overall GPA, you can list your major GPA separately.

Targeted and focused. Tailor your basic CV to specific jobs and specific employers. There is simply no excuse for having one generic CV anymore. Tweak each CV you submit to the specific job you are seeking or to the specific employer.