Recently, quite a number of interested parties have dropped their emails into my inbox, asking me to help them vet. I receive each email with great enthusiasm and thoroughly enjoy the process of looking through each CV line by line, working through my thoughts to see how to make these CV's better. Thank you for sending your CV to me!

Your CV is an extension of you. It is where recruiters sieve out potential candidates from the 'No, thanks' pile. A well written CV will definitely put your foot through the interview door. Here, I'd like to share some of the most common boo-boo's that job applicants make in their CV.

1) Spelling & Language
    The most common mis-typed word in CV's is 'manager'. Many people type it as 'manger' and MS Word  
    does not pick this up because 'manger' is also a real word.

    Also check your apostrophe's and make sure they're in the right places. "It's" and "its" are often mixed up
    with each other. For example:
    "Responsible for managing department and it's operations"

2) Information Overload
    The only personal information that you need to provide in your CV are:
    - Name
    - Address 
    - Email
    - Contact Number

    Job applicants tend to include their age, I/C number, height, weight, birthday, marital status, NS status, 
    and hobbies. Save My CV explains why these information aren't necessary.
    - I/C number: This is actually a very private detail and only used when identifying yourself to lawful bodies.
      Your CV may be read by a recruitment agent or a manager who's not in HR and you'd be subjecting
      yourself to identity fraud if your CV is picked up by anyone within the office.
    - height & weight: It's discriminatory for employers/recruiters to reject an application based on physical
      statistics, unless the job ad states so (e.g. air stewardesses have to be of a certain height)
    - birthday: There isn't any need for the recruiter to know this. Dates of our births have absolutely no
      bearing on our ability to perform!
    - NS status: Recruiters do not require this information when shortlisting you. And when you are finally hired
      and fill up the company's internal employee details form, there'll be a section for this.
    - Hobbies: Again, hobbies have no bearing on your work competencies. Taking this bit of information out
      will help you save more space in your CV.

3) Personalised Email Addresses
    Trust me, recruiters can be sensitive towards email addresses. Anything that does not sound professional
    implies maturity, like [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
    [email protected]

    A proper email address that should be used for CV's should include your name and/or up to 4 numbers.
    Anything above 4 numbers and recruiters find it a chore to type them out and make sure they're correct.
    Email addresses should look like [email protected], [email protected],
    [email protected], [email protected]

    So, if you don't have a professional sounding email address, start looking at getting one soon.

Just very recently, a reader gave me good advice on creating PayPal payment buttons so that it'd be convenient for people to make payments to me. I did a quick check at PayPal's commissions and found out that PayPal deducts a fixed fee and a certain % off the total charges.

And because of that, I decided not to use the PayPal button. Save My CV's charges are really very minimal, so I figured it isn't worth it.  But the great news is, PayPal payments are still possible! For those who wish to use PayPal to pay, simply select log into your PayPal account, click on the Send Money tab, select Send Money Online and click Personal.

Alternatively, payments can be also made via internet banking or ATM transfer, to DBS / POSB / UOB bank account. :)

For the pure purpose of sharing my CV tips and tricks, I've created a Facebook page! I'm really stoked by it and can't wait to share my page with everyone out there.

Here's my page! Please click on the 'Like' button so that you can receive all the CV writing secrets that I'll be frequently posting up from time to time. And if you have any questions, suggestions or feedback, post it on Facebook! I take all questions / suggestions / feedback earnestly, so don't be shy. Ask me anything, like "Should I attach my photograph to my CV?"

Hi, I'm Tracy, and this is my first post on Save My CV! 

This post refers back to my previous experiences while performing HR duties the past 3 years. While not directly in charge of recruitment, I have noticed and observed that many HR personnel are an unfriendly bunch. Now how many of you will agree with me? When I see other departmental colleagues coming in to ask my HR colleague questions, I sense (and see) a high level of impatience. Questions relating to leave, workmen's compensation, salary issues...were all met with short abrupt answers and end up with a mini-lecture.

I asked the colleague why she talks in that manner to them. Her reply was HR has rules and guidelines to follow (this is a classic case of a 'C' in the DISC personality profiling) and we can't be too nice to them otherwise they'll step all over us. 

I accept her point but I don't agree. I hold a different view. I feel that HR should be a caring, nurturing department. At the point of recruitment, we act as the company's Ambassadors. An understanding, nurturing HR personnel will give off the impression that the company is a great and wonderful place to work in. (In the marketing world, we call this Employer Branding.) This doesn't mean I encourage rules to be broken. But if certain matters need explaining, we explain in a calm, clear and understanding manner. We don't bark at the employees and brush them away. But of course, when it comes to matters such as staff terminations due to failure to perform or trouble-maker employees, we definitely should take a very firm, no-nonsense approach.

I can only hope that the general attitudes of HR personnel will see a nice improvement in the years to come.