When’s the last time you took a long, hard look at the state of your CV? Most of us generally only dig it out at the last minute on the verge of an application deadline for a new job, leaving us little or no time to give it a thorough overhaul. Whether or not you’re on the hunt for pastures greener, we recommend blowing the dust off and following some of our key tips for polishing up a winning healthcare CV. Who knows when you’ll need it next!
Fresh Eyes – Take your current ‘masterpiece’ and look at it anew, this time from the perspective of a potential employer. Would you hire you? Have you managed to grab your own attention on the first page? What would set you apart from another candidate?
2. Clean Design – It is possible for a CV to be detailed and comprehensive whilst also being clean and simple. Using a cleverly designed template will help you to achieve this. With a multitude of attractive templates to choose from online, many designed especially for healthcare professionals, you have no excuse for submitting an unengaging word version that will hardly help you stand out from the crowd. Avoid wildly colourful or overly complicated templates, however, that might be suitable for other professions – use common sense here.
3. Out with the Old – Everyone knows it, but it’s worth repeating: Tailor your CV to the role for which you are applying. There’s no need to include every professional position all the way back to your first summer job as a student – keep it current and relevant. This includes scanning it for out-of-date skills or software that may no longer be of interest.
4. Blow your Trumpet – Just this once, it’s okay. What’s the point of a CV if not to highlight your personal bests and elevate you above your competition? Make sure you weave some of these into the first page of your CV. Pepper your professional background with facts, figures, and achievements. It shouldn’t be a dull chronology of previous employments - you want that recruiter to flip to page 2.
5. Highlight Your Healthcare Strengths – Consider the common attributes for healthcare professionals: caring; compassion; working as part of a team; good communicator; leadership. Don’t forget to frame your CV to highlight these characteristics which are so intrinsic to any healthcare role.
6. Healthcare Terminology – Candidates often deliberately avoid using healthcare jargon on their CV. Why? You’re applying for a healthcare position. If it’s relevant, use it.
7. The Social You – Include a link to your LinkedIn profile, as it allows an interested recruiter to delve a little deeper, read any publications you might have, and view recommendations from previous employers and colleagues. Tread carefully if you are including links to other social networks, such as Twitter, etc. – advisable only if your activity is relevant to your work.
8. Get the Basics Right – It’s surprising the amount of people who get the small but essential details of a CV wrong:
Name and address should be front and centre
Include a phone number and email address
Include a physical address
9. Proof is in the Pudding - Here you are selling your attention to detail and love of precision, and your CV is littered with typos, awkward phrasing, and dodgy formatting – take our advice and ask a colleague or two to proof-read it before you submit that application. You can thank us later!
10. A Killer Cover Letter – What’s a winning CV without a cover letter to catch the recruiter’s undivided attention. Read our tips on how to write a cover letter that will blow the competition away.
Even with plentiful jobs in the healthcare industry these days, there’s no reason not to set out your stall in the best way possible with a CV that will give your application a leading edge. All that’s left for us to say is good luck with your next career move!
See yourself in a new role with Ireland’s leading healthcare recruiter? Contact us today to hear about our current career opportunities!
Writer
Evelyn Moriarty, Content Specialist
Evelyn Moriarty is a Content Specialist at TTM Healthcare, based in at our Irish headquarters. Joining the company in 2016, Evelyn specialises in both on and offline content creation for the health and social care market.
Company Bio
TTM Healthcare is a specialist health and care recruitment company established by Brian Crowley in Ennis, Co. Clare in 2002. Now recruiting highly skilled medical professionals from all over the world, TTM has offices in Ennis, Dublin and the UK. Selected as Ireland’s No 1 Healthcare Agency by the National Recruitment Federation, TTM is also the UK’s Recruiter Awards Public Sector Agency (2016) and Professional Services Agency of the Year (2016 & 2017), as well as a Gold Standard Deloitte Best Managed Company (2016 & 2017.)
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