In the last surgery advice I shared with you the secrets of how a recruiting manager sifts CV’s for interview.
Here I’ll reveal what they are looking for and what exactly the ’15 second WOW test’ is.
Take a copy of your printed CV and fold the bottom third of the page back on itself (so you only have the first two-thirds showing). Now read the job description and the person specification for the job you want to apply for, to ensure you have a picture in your mind of the person they want (skills, experience, personality traits, competencies etc).
You have 15 seconds to read the two-thirds of a page and decide whether you match what they are looking for. Do they think ‘WOW’ this candidate seems to have what we need? If yes, your CV will be placed on the ‘definitely’ pile. And if not, you’ll go straight on the reject pile (see last week’s surgery advice for clarification here).
It doesn’t matter that your 2nd page might demonstrate all the skills, experience and personality you think they need, that won’t get read during the ’15 second WOW test’.
So the aim is to get your front page looking like a ‘sweet shop window’ – full of enticing goodies!! Your CV has to grab their attention at this point and make them want to read on.
In next week’s surgery advice I’ll show you how this is done, very easily.
If you need a quick question answering – please don’t hesitate to get in touch!