Why your CV isn't getting an interview!

Why your CV isn’t getting you an interview, from a professional recruiter.


If you’ve ever applied for a job in your lifetime, you will most likely have a CV, a standard A4 document listing your work history and essentially selling yourself to a recruiter. And although the creation of a CV sounds simple, yours COULD be putting off recruiters with it’s literacy, formatting, over-exaggerating and lack of updating. But don’t worry, you’ve landed in the right place. Here is 5 reasons your CV isn’t bringing in the interviews, from a professional recruiter..

​You have spelling mistakes

Your CV may not be converting due to something extremely obvious, like pesky, little spelling mistakes. In a world of spell-check, there really isn’t an excuse for having typos, especially in a professional document such as a CV. The last thing a recruiter wants to spot is a document filled with blatant, lazy mishaps in literacy. That’s why having someone to give a good old-fashioned proof read shall never be a bad idea! 

You haven’t written a covering note

Your recruiter may have a huge pile of CV’s, much like yours, waiting to be seen. In order to stand out and get your CV read, a certain foundation must be laid before hand. Writing a covering letter act as a nice introductory to your recruiter, which will incise to want to know more, and essentially read your CV. A lot of candidates forget this step, and this could be a factor into why recruiters or recruitment agencies aren’t picking up!

Irrelevant job history

So you’ve written a decent introductory cover note, and the recruiter has picked up your CV. Great! Unless of course it is filled with irrelevant job history and achievements, then they’ve switched off at the first skim… 
A common misconception of CV format is that you should create a large list of every single inch of employment history, but this just isn’t true. For example, if you’re applying to a HR firm to be a diligence consultant, the employer simply does not need to know about your babysitting gig between GSCES at 16, or your part-time barista experience at 17. Of course, if this is the entirety of your job history, not much else can be listed. However, if you’re 35 and have had 2 HR jobs prior, perhaps miss out the previous teenage career choices!

You’re formatting is.. well.. ‘off’

From experience, candidates go either one of three ways with regards to formatting their CV, 2 of which ‘aren’t ideal’ and one that is preferred. They will either pull up a word document, type free-style and leave nothing inline or formatted to be easily read (a huge put off for recruiters!) Or go completely crazy with photos, colours and maximalist design (another big no-go!). Both of these extreme formatting styles shall limited the conversion of your CV, therefore if you fit either description, it may be time for a switch up of formatting. Meet somewhere in the middle and create a simple, clear, inline text document and avoid photos and luminous colours.

You’re exaggerating, and it’s obvious!

Recruiters have been trained to specifically sniff out any ‘slight exaggerations’ from your resume, believe me! So your little white lies could be the reason your CV isn’t sailing into the interview stage. Whether you’re slightly over-selling your responsibilities or completely plucking a job title from thin air, remember that honesty is always the best policy!