Here are just a few reasons that your CV/Resume is not getting you those hallowed non-executive director job interviews:
The bane of a hiring manager's (including headhunters) life is the “formatted CV”. Trust us when we say “plain is better”! Use a word doc or pdf. Plain is good.
If it takes the recruiter or hiring manager more than a few seconds to identify your relevant skills for the role, you’re already making your way through the metaphorical shredder!
Your CV should follow a basic and proven format which includes: Bio, Education, Career history (reverse chronological order). Career history should have a number of “responsibilities” and “Achievements” separated into two sections. That’s it.
This is not your executive CV. The focus of the CV should be those that match the non-executive director job specification. Pull out relevant information into both the career history section and the biography at the very front of the CV.
A CV with a “War & Peace” cover letter is as bad as a CV with no cover letter.
Be succinct and draw out your relevant experience in this short two paragraph document.
Use a “tick box” approach to sell your experience and relevance to the reader even before they get to the main CV document. Use a short form bullet point list of “Reasons why I match the non-executive director specification”. Anything that makes a recruiter’s job easier will see your chances of getting an interview increase.
The quickest way to turn off a potential hirer is by making statements in the CV that will prove difficult to back up in a real life interview. “I won a £1bn contract single handedly etc”. If it is true, fine – but we all get carried away and make some pretty fanciful boasts on CVs.