How to optimise your CV for the job boards

Job boards are an incredibly useful tool if you’re looking for a job. You can search through thousands of the latest vacancies and apply for jobs via the site. Plus, you have the opportunity to be headhunted by top recruiters and employers once you’ve uploaded your CV. Here’s how to optimise your CV to make sure you get the best out of the job boards.

Include relevant keywords

Keywords are an extremely important component of your CV. Recruiters also use keywords when searching job boards’ CV databases to identify the most relevant candidates for their vacancies.

For example, if a recruiter is looking for someone to fill a Java Developer, they might use the keywords “Software Engineer”, “software developer” and “Java Developer”. They are also likely to search via requirements listed in the job description, such as “full development lifecycle”, “testing”, or supporting skills or associated technologies such as struts, Java beans, SQL etc.

Therefore, to make sure that your CV crops up in recruiters’ searches, you must inject keywords related to your ideal role and industry. Simply use relevant job descriptions for inspiration.

Highlight your skills and experience

Now that you’ve peppered your CV with keywords and caught the recruiter’s attention, it’s time to make your abilities zing.

To make sure that you stand above other applicants with similar experience, you must quantify your abilities with examples of your work.   List the skills used in each position as well as perhaps having a key skills section or skills matrix. The more times “Java” appears in your CV, the higher up the search you will come.

On-point CV formatting

Your CV’s formatting needs to be slick and professional to ensure recruiters can identify the information they’re looking for as efficiently as possible. Click here for our guide on how to write a technical cv.

Up-to-date contact information

This point almost sounds too obvious. However, there is a staggering amount of job hunters that fail to give up-to-date contact information or include details with typos and errors.

If you’re actively job hunting, make sure that you double check your contact details before you click submit, or it could cost you your dream opportunity.

If you have any questions regarding job boards or CVs drop us a line or give us a call on 0844 8794523