Great news:  90% of job-seekers still use generic CVs. So, if you’re in the 10% minority who take the time to adapt for each employer, you stand a great chance of success. Truth be told it’s hard work creating a tailored CV.

Most job seekers have a CV documenting a series of responsibilities (“managed a team of 5”, “responsible for delivering a sales target of £1m pa” or “reconciled accounts on a monthly basis”). Some go on to offer a profile highlighting the key skills and perhaps weave in a few examples to back this up. Very few compose their CVs according to the specific requirements of a company.

A very simple method to make your CV specific is to analyse the job description and ensure you use similar language and meet each requirement. This is a good starting point, however, there are many other tips that work just as well.

The more specific the CV is to the employer you apply to, the greater the success you have of being invited to interview.

Take the test – each of the below criteria are good examples of how you can make your CV specific to an employer. How many points does your CV currently have for each example?

1. General job role (sales, engineer, marketing, IT, HR, finance, research, consultant)?
2. Function (management, new business, account management, online or offline marketing, technical specialist, project manager, director)?
3. Industry (travel, FMCG, media, consulting, finance)?
4. Type of company (small, medium, large, multinational, disparate, high growth, mature, fledgling, conglomerate)?
5. Core skills needed (influence & communication, leadership & team-working, commercial awareness, creativity, analysis & decision making, customer focus)?
6. Specific job description (evidence to support your case matched against the job specifications)?
7. Specific employer (exactly what can you bring to company x, are you a good cultural fit, what challenge does company x face you can help with)

How did you perform?
Under 5 points: your CV is unlikely to secure you an interview
5-7 points: borderline, with a good cover letter you may be asked in for interview
Over 7 points: very good, count yourself in the top 10% and expect to be interviewed.
 If you have less than 7 points, take time to reconsider your content.  It’s not necessary to cover every point above, just be sure enough material exists to demonstrate to a specific employer why you offer more than the next applicant for their specific company.
Remember; success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.

 Take Away Points

1: Review the job description in detail and copy the language
2: Check you make specific reference at least 7 times to a mixture of the points above
3: Re-read your CV before each application to ensure it explains why the specific employer should employ you.