Designing CVs and cover letters
September 2022
How to optimise a CV and application
Since 202, I have occasionally optimised CVs and applications for friends and acquaintances. These were both for job searches and applications for university admission. It's just a personal interest of mine since I enjoy reading applications and CVs, and I think it is important to learn how to better design and construct them. Knowing how much it helped me after a course during my retail education, I want to help others land their dream job. Due to giving a hand to different people, word spread around, leading to an acquaintance writing to me on Facebook asking for my advice (as seen below).​ So, in this portfolio, I will use this example to show how I optimised his CV and profile to help him change his career from pharmacist to laboratory employee.
An impressive, but very chaotic and long CV
So what did the Word docs files contain? His CV was made in Word with a layout that is simple, straightforward, and actually can be very ATS-friendly. And a very short and generalised cover letter. Because recruiters skim through CVs, I suggested it be cut down to two pages. I also thought there was too much spacing in general, and while that is tough to avoid in a Word file, I decided to make some changes in Adobe InDesign.
Original CV and cover letter
Optimized CV and cover letter
So what has changed? While his previous image was great, showcasing his great smile, his appearance had changed, and there was some "noise" in the background regarding a chair and a door. I added less padding and divided some of the content into two columns to cram the information into two pages. I know some recruiters might view this setup I created as less ATS-friendly, but I believe, first and foremost, that it should be pleasant and easy to read before anything else. I added some additional details by asking my client some questions. For instance, I wrote on the second page "non-smoker", as I think it wise to add since he aimed to get a job in the laboratory and the company might want to hire a healthy non-smoker. I am a big fan of colour themes and picked this dark green, which he said was perfect since it is the typical colour used within the pharmacy and medicine industry. Lastly, on the cover letter, I added the same colour theme to match his CV and the company logo where he wanted to apply. I also advised him to write a bit more text, and I added a footer with his contact information.
Result and future work
This help I provided started in August and ended a month later in 2022. It turns out that he received the offer for a job and was told by more than one recruiter that they were impressed by the CV and application. Therefore, at least based on my client's messages, the changes I made had a positive effect. The year after, he asked for my help again, and I was very touched by how much my help was appreciated and useful, so I helped him again in 2023.
Message from september 2022
Message from May 2023