As we approach the end of 2021, many of us will be taking stock and beginning to think about our career development goals for 2022. Your CV is an essential part of the hiring process, but are you aware that:

Hiring managers and recruiters spend an average of 5-7 seconds looking at your CV
These days, many businesses and recruitment agencies rely on automation and AI screening tools to filter the right candidates through, saving time and filling positions faster
An estimated 30% of UK employees (9.8 million) actively seek a new role at any given time

Coupled with a record high of 1.17 million job vacancies recorded in the UK in the 3 months to October 2021, getting your CV up-to-date is crucial to future-proofing your career opportunities in 2022 and beyond.

So, without further ado, it’s time to discover how to optimise your CV with these top CV tips tailored to 2022.

How should a CV look like in 2022?

The UK recruitment market has undergone a radical transformation since 2020, so it’s important to consider the following points to bring your CV in line with current trends to pique the interest of potential employers on the lookout for new recruits.

Tailor your CV to the job description
Use keywords from the job description
Create a compelling introduction
Remove irrelevant information e.g., scrap your career objective
Only cover the last 10 years of employment
If you graduated over 15 years ago, avoid age discrimination by removing education dates
Make sure your CV looks professional, e.g., clean & simple spacing, clear & consistent font & font size, highlight job specific info in bold…
List your skills in convenient bullet points
Summarise your qualifications & personal details
Unless specifically requested, exclude any references as these are irrelevant until a job offer is made.

Your CV is a subtle marketing tool that aims to reveal your commercial value to prospective employers. So, if you follow our list above, your CV is sure to look professional, attractive, and modern.

How can I make my CV stand out in 2022?

Work from home experience

With the amount of UK employees working from home increasing to 37% (on average) in 2020 from 27% in 2019, the future looks flexible for home working. Increased competition indicates that employers will have to provide more attractive offers and salaries for remote workers in 2022. So, if you’ve gained work from home experience over the past two years, don’t forget to add it to your CV. Hiring remote workers is particularly beneficial to professional industries such as digital marketing and website development, cutting costs and absenteeism, widening the talent pool, and increasing productivity.

Being comfortable in a virtual environment is also an asset to employers looking to hire remotely, so don’t forget to include any experience using remote working platforms and tools that you can bring to the role. Of course, this all depends on the type of employment you’re looking for and will not apply to all industries or vacancies. Remember, personalising your CV to the job requirements is key.

Add online courses

If you’ve completed any online courses that are relevant to the job requirements, make sure you add these to your CV too. These will show prospective employers that you value personal professional development, whilst demonstrating key traits such as self-motivation, an ambition to develop new skills, and the ability to learn unsupervised.

You may wish to add a Personal Development area or simply include it in your education section, it’s up to you.

Reiterate results rather than responsibilities

Rather than just listing your previous duties, emphasizing specific results to highlight your accomplishments will really make your CV stand out from the crowd. If possible, try to use measurable data as this will distinctly demonstrate your capabilities – e.g., I increased website sales conversion rates by 45%. This could also be re-organising something to make it work better, coming up with new ideas that achieved specific results or receiving awards applicable to the vacancy.

Technical recruitment agencies near me

Whether you’re looking for temporary, fixed-term, or permanent positions or placements, progress your career with PPR Recruitment by uploading your CV today. If you require further support, don’t hesitate to contact us for a specialist CV review from our experienced team of recruitment experts.