How to write a killer tech CV

The do’s and don’ts of a tech CV, using my real life example.

Have you ever fired off your CV to a bunch of job openings, only to receive no response?

If you’re struggling to get interviews for tech roles after a number of applications, then the first thing you should be evaluating is your CV.

According to leading tech recruitment firm Next Ventures, “Most employers are extremely busy and have tons of CV’s to get through, so it isn’t too surprising to learn that the average person spends a mere 6-7 seconds scanning each resume.”

SEVEN SECONDS. 

Let that sink in for a moment.

That’s less time than you’ve probably spent reading the first few sentences of this article. However, your CV is pretty much your only tool for getting through to the interview stage. It’s a critical first step of conveying your value proposition to the potential employer and enticing them to want to meet you - aka inviting you to interview.

So how exactly do you stand out from the crowd and make those seven seconds count? 

It may feel impossible if you are looking to transition your career, or have no previous experience in tech, for example if you are a recent graduate or school leaver. But there’s actually lots of ways that you can create a killer CV that is impactful, maximises your skills and positions you as a stand out candidate for the interview.

This is the last blog post in this round of ‘How to land your dream job in tech’ series. This theme will be back soon with more tips, tricks and advice on how to get into tech, but next week we’re going to mix it up a bit 😉

This week, we’ll cover top tips for how to structure your CV from both Verve Women and Next Ventures, what to include (and what to avoid!) and provide a real life example of my CV when I transitioned into tech from a sales background.

Keep it to one page…two if you must.

If you’re following the seven second principle of ensuring your CV is concise and to-the-point, it’s unlikely that the second page would add to the punchy, impactful power that should be included in your first page.

I would only include a second page in one of two sets of circumstances:

1. You have been working in the relevant field for >10 years

2. You are an academic writing details of various studies, research papers you have taken part in

Either way, if you’re reading this blog you’re unlikely to be in either of the above camps. Cut it down.

You may come up against spacing challenges, but this forces you to be cut-throat with irrelevant information, and also to choose your words wisely.

Be specific and use facts and figures, 100% of the time

Your CV should always be tailored to the job description and include keywords specific to the role. Often the job spec contains a bullet point list of responsibilities or skills required; each of these should be illustrated in turn through your experiences on your CV.

For example, if the role asks for ‘data analysis’ as a responsibility or required skill, include a sentence beginning with ‘Analysed data for XXX, resulting in XX% business growth’. 

Each sentence should ideally begin with a verb, adding impact and highlighting that you were the driving force, and end with a demonstrable positive business result that can be quantifiable and backs up your accomplishments. 

Ideally, you should have multiple versions of your CV which you can adapt for each role and each company. It might take longer to adapt each CV, however ask yourself what’s better: sending a highly targeted CV to 2 companies which results in interviews at both, or spending the same time sending a generic version to 20 companies and getting no response?

Group your experience

Cramming all of your key points onto a single page can make for a busy page, which is why it’s important to “make sure the visual layout is aesthetic and interesting, the information is easy to find, by sectioning the information off with clear headings), and the most relevant skills or examples appear first”, according to Next Ventures.

Using my CV I used to transition into tech, here are the categories I’d recommend, in order: 

1. Name & Contact details - seems a no-brainer, but this should always be clear at the top

2. Short (2-3 sentences tops) intro/personal statement - this needs to be snappy, powerful and brimming with keywords relating to skills needed for the job. For example, mine begins with highlighting my certification, immediately establishing that I'm qualified. This means as soon as the hiring manager starts reading they know I have a minimum level of technical knowledge needed for the role. I choose to include this section over a longer cover letter, which can often be skipped completely.

3. Bulletpoint top 3-5 key skills - This isn’t in my example, but can provide the reader with a quick indicator of where your core skill set lies. Of course these need to be heavily aligned with the skills needed for the role, and be prepared to back these up in an interview using examples.

4. Relevant Experience - Grouping my tech experience (in my case, Salesforce, but replace this with whatever role you’re going for e.g. project manager, developer, product manager etc.) from my various roles and highlighting it in its own section not only gives prominence to the relevant information, but amplifies the amount of experience you have, especially if you don’t have a background in tech.

5. ‘Other’ Relevant Work Experience - this is where you can highlight your achievements not necessarily directly related to the role, but transferable skills in each previous role you’ve worked in. For example, if you’ve come from a teaching role, your skills at managing conflict, having difficult situations, or analysing and checking others' work are worth highlighting here. Despite each of my previous roles not being related to the role I was applying for (i.e. going from sales to tech) I picked out experiences from each role where my skills are transferable and/or relevant to the role I'm applying for.  Also notice how each bullet point begins with a verb.

6. Education - many tech roles don’t require a degree, so I would place this section under any work experience, and only key points such as where, when, and what grade are needed.

7. Other key skills/qualifications - by this point you’re probably low on space, so list out relevant qualifications and experience with professional tools/systems in bullet point format to make for easy reading

Kill your darlings

Here are a few things you shouldn’t include in your CV:

• Gaps in your CV - If you really feel it’s important to mention, add no more than a line, but personally I’d advise against drawing attention to it, and instead addressing any questions about gaps in your interview.

• Any work experience that is more than 5 years old – keep it relevant and punchy

• Irrelevant hobbies - If you do coding courses in your spare time as a hobby, great. If you support a not-for-profit with pro bono tech related work or it gives you exposure to managing customers, certainly include. If you run a blog to support women getting into the tech industry, don’t omit it 😉 However it’s not going to be relevant to go into detail on your ‘socialising’ hobby, or that you recently got a new dog (don’t get me wrong, I love my dog, but he won’t be appearing in my CV for a serious application anytime soon 😄 )

• A photo - It’s not common practice in the UK (although more frequent in the US) as it opens up your CV to bias. If you want to learn more about breaking the bias you can read a recent blog post we wrote on it.

• Lies - If you do, you’re opening yourself up to unnecessary scrutiny in the interview, not to mention it’s immoral 😉

For goodness sake, proofread.

Even better, have a friend or family member proof read. Or best of all, have Verve proofread. All your effort working on the layout, content and detailing your skills in ‘attention to detail’ is going to go to waste if you have a glaring typo. Asking someone already in the industry with knowledge of the role will also likely yield more useful suggestions in addition to a regular screening for grammatical errors.

Conclusion

As I alluded to in the introduction, the goal of a CV is to get you to interview. Once you have your foot in the door, you can charm them with your intellect, charm and the various details of your background. 

Kill your darlings. If it doesn’t add to your story, connect to the job description or fit on the page, remove it. It can be really difficult to have the discipline to do this with your own work, so a second pair of eyes can bring an objective perspective to review. 

If you’re not sure if your mum, lovely as she may be, can be cut-throat enough with your CV to edit out the waffle, Verve Women are more than happy to support, as well as providing you with career advice, information on opportunities, and coaching to help you land your dream job in tech.