Applying for a new role is always a difficult time. Not necessarily for the same reason someone else finds it difficult, but it’s almost guaranteed you’ll find something about the whole process at least relatively complicated.
However, one such aspect that seems to cause at least a couple of headaches to most is your CV.
With questions ranging from “How far do I need to go back with my work and education history?” through to “Do I actually need to submit a CV?”, the questions can seem much more numerous when we’re looking at the hospitality industry, as it’s often thought your success is based on you as an individual, rather than any paperwork. As such, a CV may not be given a huge amount of attention.
But should this be the case? Can you get by with just a single-side of A4 compiling your entire work history in brief or should you be investing a considerable amount of time ensuring your CV reads more like an autobiography than anything else?
Depends on you as an individual and the position you’re applying for
Generally speaking, it depends on you as an individual and the position you’re applying for. However, it’s almost guaranteed a CV will play a more important role than you believe.
If you’re submitting your CV for an entry-level role, for example, it wouldn’t be surprising if you felt a CV wasn’t overly necessary. As long as it gives your personal details and a summary of your recent work and educational history, that’s all that matters, right?
Unfortunately, the answer to that is no. With entry-level jobs in particular, competition is so often extremely high and you therefore need to do as much as you can to ensure you stand out from the crowd, something a sub-par CV simply won’t help with.
If we look at the other end of the scale – let’s say Head Chef positions – then it can be felt a CV is paramount to their success when applying for the role; the more in-depth, the better.
And in some ways, this can be perfectly true.
But whilst there’s little doubt your CV has to be up to scratch, it is important to remember that you shouldn’t be bombarding your potential employers with information.
Your CV needs to be concise
Your CV needs to be concise, give the key points of any positions you’ve held and ensure anyone reading it can get a good understanding of you as an individual instantly.
Provide too much information and you’ll risk the reader skimming over the important parts. Conversely, provide too few details and you won’t give enough information to make the potential employer feel you’re suitable for the role and therefore risk not getting contacted further.
Although a CV is a particularly traditional way of applying for a position, the truth is they’re just as important today as they ever have been – if not more so – and when it comes to positions within the hospitality industry, you need to feel confident your CV is perfectly suited to those vacancies you’re applying for and the individuals who’ll potentially be employing you in the near future.