top CV howlers

hopefully you'll avoid these pitfalls...

top CV howlers

Some of these howlers might sound a bit implausible, but in our time at ecm we have seen some truly creative mistakes in CVs. Hopefully you’ll avoid these pitfalls...

getting off on the wrong foot

Most people think it’s not necessary to put "CV" or "Curriculum Vitae" at the top of the CV. But if you do choose to do so, for heaven’s sake don’t (as applicants to ecm have) put "Curriculam" or "Vita". And please, please, don’t mistype your own surname (it has happened).

job titles

Your job title won’t be Principle Engineer, it’ll be Principal Engineer. This is another one where a spell checker won’t help, I’m afraid, although a dictionary might.

hostages to fortune

You might get away with the odd mistake – we’re all human after all – but try not to compound the error, or set yourself up for a fall. At ecm we’ve been particularly struck by one CV littered with typos, where at the end the author listed his hobbies as including "proofreading”, and another where the applicant claimed “excellent attention to detrail”.

some crackers

• "I was a qualified meths and science teacher..."
• "I understand the concepts of object oriented programming including massage passing..."
• "I have excellent social kills..."

bottom line

OK, there are some amusing mistakes here, but the bottom line is this: We know you are a great candidate. You know you are a great candidate. But you still need to convince the hiring company. Or at least give them enough evidence to invite you to interview. Some companies might not care too much about grammar, spelling, punctuation and consistency – but why give them a reason to reject your application when all that’s needed is a little extra care?

and finally...

In conclusion, if you remember nothing else, remember this: do not rely on a spell checker.