Top 5 CV Mistakes to Avoid!

One of the topics we get asked for help with most frequently at MusicLeader London is CVs. A CV should be your sales pitch, a chance to show how your fantastic and unique skills and experiences could benefit a project or an organisation. Personally I think there’s no such thing as a perfect CV as the content and format should depend on your audience. There are, however, a few pitfalls that can easily be avoided – here are my top five:

1.    Too long
It’s highly likely that whoever is reading your CV will not have a great deal of time to spend on it, so help them out by including only the information that is relevant. If you are applying for a teaching post may not want to list every single concert you’ve performed in, but a summary of your diverse work as a performer may be useful. As a general rule, try to keep it to two sides of A4.

2.    Unsupported claims
It’s no good just saying your problem solving skills are excellent, you need to show why! A clear example relevant to the position/project shows you understand what the job entails. For example "I have excellent problem solving skills, as demonstrated when I arrived to lead a year 6 music class following the theft of all their percussion instruments. By teaching the group the basics of beatboxing I achieved the objectives of the lesson and inspired them in a new genre of music."

3.    Unnecessary personal details

Don’t include unnecessary personal details such as date of birth, marital status and how many children you have. These do not (or should not!) affect your ability to do the job. Discrimination on grounds of age, marital status or other factors is illegal so best to avoid giving this information at all unless you are asked for it on a separate monitoring form (which is fairly common).


4.    Style over substance
Presentation should be clear and simple – let the content speak for itself! Stick to standard fonts such as Arial or Helvetica (as these are allegedly the clearest to read) in size 10 or 11. Pictures are best avoided – if you want to show how and where you’ve worked, these can be included in a separate portfolio document. To avoid any differences in formatting, it’s always best to convert your CV to a pdf. There are many free programmes available to download that do this, such as Primo PDF. 


5.    Going it alone

MusicLeader runs subsidised CV workshops around the country offering expert advice and guidance on your CV. To find out when and where these will be taking place visit the MusicLeader Training Directory and search for ‘CV’. There are many free tools and example CVs available online. Use them for inspiration and guidance but beware of copying and pasting! Make sure you check the country of origin of any materials as all will have different conventions and terminology. The Next Step website is also good place to start.

Do you agree with these tips? What are your biggest challenges when writing your CV? We’d love to hear what you think! You can comment directly onto our blog, or email your comments to London@musicleader.net.

Happy writing!

Anne
MusicLeader London Manager