JOBS IN GAMES: Craft that perfect CV

As part of our month-long Jobs In Games special, in association with OPM, the recruitment agency offers advice on how to create a strong Curriculum Vitae.

Read on to find OPM’s expert Dos and Don’ts. Got anything to add? Email James.Batchelor@intentmedia.co.uk and we’ll publish the best suggestions later this month.

ONE CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION
byMax Hurd and Catherine Cope, OPM

Over the years we have seen thousands of CVs from people and no matter whom you talk to about how a CV should look, you will always get a thousand different answers.

Our clients receive hundreds of CVs every day and struggle to read them all. Since your CV is no more than a means to an end – getting that interview – it must be easy to read and concise.

What you have to remember is you only get one chance to make a first impression. Your CV is the only thing that you have representing you to the employer at the initial application stage.

Below are some key points that anyone can, and should, apply to their CV before sending it out.

Clear and easy to read
Keep the flow of the CV at a constant, don’t change font size, use italics or bold half way through a paragraph. Don’t use fancy fonts where others are easier to read.

Don’t set up your CV in boxes or tables. They waste recruiters’ time reformatting them into their own corporate style or uploading them into their internal recruitment portal.

Don’t waste half the page with just dates and company name, leaving only the other half for your actual job role/responsibilities, use the whole page.Make sure the text is of a size that is easy to read and all text is well spaced.

Do not add pictures and, personally, we would stay away from adding portrait pictures too. Don’t fill it with irrelevant information such as height, weight, blood type (yes, we have seen that).

Your details
Your name and address and phone number must all be at the top of page one and ensure there are no errors, one mistyped digit on your phone number means you may not get the call you are hoping to receive.

Email address
Always use a sensible email address. While it’s fine to have a ‘fun’ and ‘funky’ email address, it is unprofessional to apply to future employers with email addresses like ‘CrazyChickLOL@mail.com’ or ‘SatanicSteve@darkkiller.com’ for example.

Does it work?
If you are adding links or URLs to your CV, make sure they actually work. Sounds obvious but the amount of CVs we receive whe