Top tips for keeping your CV up to date

You wouldn’t buy an expensive car and then never get it serviced; why? because it’s an investment and you want it to perform well over time. The same applies to your CV – if you want it to work hard consistently and get you that perfect job you need to invest time ensuring that it sells you and the skills you possess.

Most people only update their CV when they are looking to change roles, so if you have been in the same job for a few years you may be looking at re-writing your CV from scratch which can take hours. The best way to ensure that your CV stays current and relevant is to revisit it often; it’s easy to forget when you have undertaken a training course, finished a successful project or received praise for a job well done.

Acorn recommends that you revisit your CV at least twice a year and if you follow our tips below you will save yourself a lot of time and stress:

• Ask yourself what major milestones, goals, or projects have you been involved with – use your last appraisal or current objectives to help you summarise the main points
• Include what you did, how you did it and what the impact was on the company
• Remember that technology has moved on – so add those all-important key words to ensure your CV will be found on-line
• As you add new information cut out or summarise any old material
• Make sure that your references current and if you are using contacts from previous roles, check they are still obtainable
• Each time you revisit your CV don’t forget to look at your personal statement; make those first 30 words count. 
• Remember employers and recruitment consultants will make a decision about you in the first 10 or 20 seconds of reading your CV so ensure your most recent and relevant skills appear first

Once you have updated your CV remember to re-submit it to your recruitment consultant; if your details haven’t been updated for a while they may assume you are no longer looking for a new job.

Your CV will be in competition with hundreds of others so make it work for you!