Must Read!! What Do Employers Look For In CVs?

By Florence Mukunya

I know you have probably read a thousand articles on how to write a good CV on what to include and what you cannot dare include. But have you ever asked yourself what employers actually look for in a CV?

In any given application an employer is likely to receive from around 500 CVs, says Carolyne Kariuki a Recruitment Manager at Corporate Staffing Services .

“Out of these applications the employer only needs to meet around 15 candidates to determine who is best suited for the job,” She adds

So what do employers really look for in a CV to determine whether you are qualified for the position?

5 Things Employers Look For in a CVs

1. Relevant experience

The first thing that an employer looks for in your CV is relevant work experience. This refers to any past or current hands on experience. Now, the mistake many job seekers make is failing to include some of their past experiences as some tend to favor what they are currently doing either because it pays better or just because they like the company. The number of years you have worked also matters as it’s used to measure the amount of expertise you possess.

Remember, employers are looking for experienced candidates as it saves them time to train and also they know the candidate is likely to bring in some expertise from the companies they are coming from.

2. Companies you have worked for

You might find this not very important, but employers are actually interested on companies you have previous worked with. For example say an employer is in the banking industry, if they are looking for a Sales Representative, they are mostly likely to go with a person who has previously worked as a sales person in the banking industry.

Reason being, the candidates in the industry already possess the knowledge of how the banking industry works.

So the next time you are writing your CV make sure you include the names of the companies you have worked with

3. Consistency

There is no employer who is looking to employ a candidate whose CV does not portray consistency. Now, if you keep changing jobs after every few months the employer might not have confidence in you, Says Ms. Kariuki.

She advises that when writing a CV, candidates should ensure that they point out clearly on the duration they have worked on different companies, that is inclusive of years and months.

For the jobs where one has worked for short periods, for example a contract, she says that one should note in brackets that it was a contract.

4. Age

Well, this might be a point to debate about, but employers are also keen on a candidate’s age. Some positions especially the senior ones are looking for mature people, same goes with entry level jobs, where employers will mostly be looking for young graduates.
When writing your CV ensure you include your age.

5. The CV format

You might agree with me that a good CV may include all the above but then it needs to be put in a neat professional format. Ms Kariuki says that every time she concentrates on well formatted CVs she is sure to get qualified candidates from the batch as opposed to badly done CVs.

She concludes by advising job seekers on keenly scrutinizing their CVs and the jobs they are applying for before making an application. Failure to include details that are relevant to the job will cost you.

She further and gives an example of an employer who is looking for a sage accountant, well, even if you have the experience working with Sage and have not included that on the CV, then employer will just skip your CV to the next.