If you want to stand out this year, you’ll need to change your approach a little and make sure your CV is adapted to the 2017 job market.

It’s 2017 and many of us have made New Year’s resolutions to improve our personal or professional lives. We set goals like getting a promotion, learning new skills or focussing more on our work-life balance. There is one thing however we often forget doing in the New Year: making sure our CV is up to date. You never know you’ll finally be making that career change this year.

Especially in Tech, recruiters are complaining about having to read the same old stuff over and over again. So if you want to stand out this year, you’ll need to change your approach a little and make sure your CV is adapted to the 2017 job market.

Here’s what you need to change, if you haven’t already.

Get human

You are a human person, not a computer, so include your human side in your CV. Don’t just state what programs you work with and what results you’ve achieved. Include how you addressed problems, how you worked together with other people and include some non-technical achievements like leadership, for example.

Use the first person

In 2017 it will be completely acceptable to use the first person in your CV. You need to give the recruiter an insight into your personality. However, not all recruiters in all sectors are as modern as you may be. Try testing it by only using the first person in your opening summary when applying to new age tech companies (and not old school finance corporates), and see how it goes.

Include job-related extracurricular activities

You don’t need to add your secret circle meet-ups, but if you have done non-profit work or have gained any experience abroad you will be a step ahead of other applicants. If your sabbaticals prove that you engaged with diverse audiences and gained flexible thinking skills, to name something, you might just be the candidate Tech companies are looking for.

Let go of the past

In your CV you need to mention your relevant certifications and skills, and showcase your technical abilities. The more languages and tools you know the better, right?

Wrong.

Especially in the fast-developing Tech industry you can and should delete all the outdated and no-longer-used skills. Stick with what’s relevant for today’s Tech jobs.  

Your objective

In modern day CV’s it’s not enough to add an paragraph that states “Objective”. Throughout your whole CV you need to make clear what your career objectives are. Are you looking to change roles, do you want more responsibilities or do you want to change industries? The overall look and feel should be aligned with what you are looking for.

Your layout

If you haven’t changed your CV for a while, make sure you update your layout. Your degree and dated qualifications should no longer be your greatest professional accomplishment and listed first. Fast forward to today and add the relevant work experience you gained in the past months or years. Depending on the role or industry you are in, you might want to other facts on top of your CV, like “skills and training” for instance. Your layout should immediately show off your strong points.

Your impact

A typical Tech CV consists of a list of duties and skills. However, if you want to be the ideal candidate on paper in 2017, you need to make sure your CV shows off the impact you have made in your job. Look at how you added value to the business and make sure you seem to have a great track record. 

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