Tips To Make Your Swiss CV And Swiss Cover Letter Foolproof
It's an oft-repeated statistic in the world of resumes: HR personnel or employers only spend 30 seconds scanning each resume.
So, what should that tell you?
Wherever you are located in the world, and in Switzerland particularly, being accurate, brief yet clear, matters more to the quality of your CV (or Swiss CV I should say) than anything else - and it will make your job search in Switzerland all that more effective. And effective means that you will find the job faster which is truly important given how high the cost of living in Switzerland is and hence how difficult it may be to make ends meet if one does not have work.
Keeping that in mind, the first question that might crop up in the Swiss jobseeker's mind is whether there is a particular Swiss CV format to follow and whether this applies to the proverbial Swiss cover letter too.
As tempting as it might be to jump into the answer about the format and other specificities of the Swiss resume, there are certain generic aspects of presenting yourself that almost any employer will pay attention to. Let's first examine these generic aspects before then moving on to explain how to build a Swiss resume.
As pointed out earlier, there are certain things that are common to all CVs or cover letters no matter where you are in the world. Let's start with the CV first.
There are six aspects of a CV that are scrutinized during the 30 seconds that an average recruiter takes before deciding if to toss your CV away or if to keep it. These factors include names of former employers, employment dates, job titles, degrees, job responsibilities and accomplishments, and finally your education background. And so, you must make sure that each and single of these items make it on your Swiss CV. But these are just the basics and more is needed:
Presentation is absolutely key, make no mistake of creating a sloppy-looking CV or one that is really hard to read
Understand the description of the job you apply for and then write or model your CV so it looks like you are a 100% match
Include your key skills and competencies in the Summary section, right at the top of your CV on the first page
Use positive and active vocabulary pointing to you being not a passive but rather a very accomplished professional
Leave out anything out of your CV that is not relevant to the job e.g. your interests
Here are additional practical tips that you can consider in order to not only make your CV Switzerland and cover letter Switzerland foolproof and ultimately increasing your chances of getting the job you are after.
So, what should that tell you?
Wherever you are located in the world, and in Switzerland particularly, being accurate, brief yet clear, matters more to the quality of your CV (or Swiss CV I should say) than anything else - and it will make your job search in Switzerland all that more effective. And effective means that you will find the job faster which is truly important given how high the cost of living in Switzerland is and hence how difficult it may be to make ends meet if one does not have work.
Keeping that in mind, the first question that might crop up in the Swiss jobseeker's mind is whether there is a particular Swiss CV format to follow and whether this applies to the proverbial Swiss cover letter too.
As tempting as it might be to jump into the answer about the format and other specificities of the Swiss resume, there are certain generic aspects of presenting yourself that almost any employer will pay attention to. Let's first examine these generic aspects before then moving on to explain how to build a Swiss resume.
As pointed out earlier, there are certain things that are common to all CVs or cover letters no matter where you are in the world. Let's start with the CV first.
There are six aspects of a CV that are scrutinized during the 30 seconds that an average recruiter takes before deciding if to toss your CV away or if to keep it. These factors include names of former employers, employment dates, job titles, degrees, job responsibilities and accomplishments, and finally your education background. And so, you must make sure that each and single of these items make it on your Swiss CV. But these are just the basics and more is needed:
Presentation is absolutely key, make no mistake of creating a sloppy-looking CV or one that is really hard to read
Understand the description of the job you apply for and then write or model your CV so it looks like you are a 100% match
Include your key skills and competencies in the Summary section, right at the top of your CV on the first page
Use positive and active vocabulary pointing to you being not a passive but rather a very accomplished professional
Leave out anything out of your CV that is not relevant to the job e.g. your interests
Here are additional practical tips that you can consider in order to not only make your CV Switzerland and cover letter Switzerland foolproof and ultimately increasing your chances of getting the job you are after.