I have read many CVs that don’t include a profile and my first thought is always, take a deep breath, ok, this one is going to be hard work. The reason? Well, it’s because I have no idea who you are, what you do, what you’re good at or even what you want to do next.
I have to read through the entire CV to start to get an idea of what you are about. In truth though, this can, on occasion, mean that I may just go onto the next CV as this one goes into the ‘too hard’ bucket. With so many great CVs to get through and so little time, you need to find an efficient way of getting through applications.
Have a profile in the first place
It’s important that you make it easy for hiring tech startup managers and recruiters to know about you and what you want to do. Put all of the key information into your profile so they don’t have to go off on a scavenger hunt, and read between the lines, or even worse, give up altogether and move onto the next CV. This, unfortunately, is the hard reality. After all, recruiters are often seeing 100s of CV applications a day, so, if you want to be seen, then you need to help them out by having a strong profile.
In order to help you create an effective profile for your CV and help it stand out, here are some tips and advice on what you should include, and how.
First sentence: What you are, how long have you been doing it, and where?
In the opening sentence, you should outline what you are, how long you’ve been doing it for and where. You should try and include the following:
What: Provide your job title, although remember that this doesn’t have to reflect all the job titles that you have had, but instead must reflect the type of work that you typically do e.g. Customer Success Exec, Operations Manager, Finance Assistant, Data Analyst. Decide what you want to be known as. Be savvy though, if you’re applying for a Head of Customer Success role and you’re calling yourself an Operations Manager but have the required skills and experience for the role, then you can change your job title.
How long: How long have you had experience in this job role or industry sector? The duration that you provide, can imply that you have a certain level of experience and capability (although not always!) within a role and a level of assumed ability. The number of years you choose to refer to could be related to the industry, the job role or the function. Whatever you choose to decide it simply needs to be clearly explained.
Where: What type of company have you worked in? Is it a startup, an SME, a Blue Chip or a charity? Providing information on this will give the recruiter or hiring manager a greater insight into the kind of culture you have been working in.
Who For: If you have worked for a well-known company, do include this as it can go a long way to strengthen your CV and impress.
Here are a few examples that illustrate how this can be done:
A first-class Business graduate and hockey captain from the University of Birmingham.
Marketing Exec with 18 months’ experience within a fast-growing food startup, Gousto.
Operations Manager with 5 years of experience in industry-leading health-tech startups, Thriva and Babylon Health.
Second Sentence: What have you been doing? Include 3 - 5 items
In this sentence, you need to focus on the key impressive tasks related to your job function and level, and ideally the tasks that you enjoy doing the most. It’s also important to focus on size where you can as this can provide some tangible information to a recruiter on your capabilities and the true level of your experience. Using this advice, here are a few examples for our hypothetical candidates:
First-class Business graduate from the University of Birmingham. Experienced in customer service as bar staff, acting as a student ambassador for RedBull and running my own club events nights at University.
Marketing Exec with 18 months’ experience within a fast-growing food startup, Gousto. Experienced in writing consumer blogs, social media posts and email marketing.
Operations Manager with 5 years of experience in industry-leading health-tech startups, Thriva and Babylon Health. Experience in leading a team of 10, including Operations and Customer Service Execs, managing a £250K budget and driving KPI performance.
Third Sentence: Who are you? Include 3 - 5 personal characteristics
Here, you should focus on the key areas where you shine and highlight in particular where you excel in terms of ability and performance.
To illustrate how this can be done, check out these examples below:
First class Business graduate from the University of Birmingham. Experienced in customer service as bar staff, acting as a student ambassador for RedBull and running my own club events nights at University. Passionate about organising events, creating social media videos and motivating others. I am driven, with an entrepreneurial mindset and strong attention to detail.
Marketing Exec with 18 months’ experience within a fast-growing food startup, Gousto. Experienced in writing consumer blogs, social media posts and email marketing. Specialist in HubSpot, written communication and generating innovative ideas. I am creative, ambitious, and positive.
Operations Manager with 5 years of experience in industry-leading health-tech startups, Thriva and Babylon Health. Experience in leading a team of 10, including Operations and Customer Service Execs, managing a £250K budget and spearheading KPI performance. Specialist in Relationship Management, Customer Success principles and Project Management.
Fourth Sentence: What you’re looking for next and where?
This is where you should help the recruiter understand what you’re looking for next. You should focus in particular on job skills, the level of the role and the industry sector. This, of course, is a sentence that you can tweak a little according to the job advert that you are applying for.
Try to avoid any clichéd statements such as “I am now looking for my next move where my skills can be best utilised’ - the more specific and tailored this statement can be, the better.
The examples below outline how such a statement can be worded:
A first-class business graduate from the University of Birmingham. Experienced in customer service as bar staff, acting as a student ambassador for RedBull and running my own club events nights at University. Passionate about organising events, creating social media videos and motivating others. I am driven, with an entrepreneurial mindset and strong attention to detail. I am now looking for my first professional career step into a career in Marketing.
Marketing Exec with 18 months’ experience within a fast-growing food startup, Gousto. Experienced in writing consumer blogs, social media posts and email marketing for both the UK and European markets. Specialist in HubSpot, Google Analytics and generating innovative ideas. I am creative, ambitious, and positive. I am now looking for a Marketing Manager’s role ideally within a consumer-facing brand.
Operations Manager with 5 years of experience in industry-leading health-tech startups, Thriva and Babylon Health. Experience in performance management of a team of 10, including Operations and Customer Service Execs, managing a £250K budget and driving KPI performance. Specialist in Relationship Management, Customer Success principles, Project Management and a whizz at Excel. I am now seeking a new role within Operations and Customer Success functions within the Health and Wellness space.
And Finally…
If you have a professional or accredited qualification in an area such as accountancy, or with the CIM, or you hold any positions of responsibility within the community, or in a sports capacity, then definitely add these in, or if there is something of particular note regarding one of your hobbies or interests. These will all serve to differentiate your CV from others and further strengthen the good impression you are aiming to make.
When you get to the end of this profile paragraph, you should be able to declare yep, that is me and what I am looking for in a nutshell. And a recruiter or hiring manager should be able to do just that too! Although this is a process that tends to make us feel a bit “yucky”, it’s important to remember that once it’s done, you'll not have to do it again - you’ll only ever have to tweak it.
Who we are
Offering personalised, consultative service, at TableCrowd Talent we’re a specialist recruitment agency with our finger on the pulse of the startup and scaleup scene. We are committed to matching graduates, professionals and C-level executives to exciting startup and scaleup jobs across London, the UK and Europe.
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