After all, this is the first impression a recruiter or potential employer will have of you, so you want it to be a good one.  

To help you achieve this, we’ve pulled together the following tips that will guide you through how to sell yourself on CV so that you can grab the recruiter’s attention and beat out the competition.  

Make a good first impression 

Your personal profile is the first thing a recruiter will see when scanning through your CV, and with only a few seconds to grab their attention, this needs to be great.  

Although your profile should be short and snappy (no more than 150-200 words), it should contain the most important and impressive facts about you. This could be your years of professional experience, your key skills, your qualifications, your biggest achievements or your career goals.  

Either way, you need to carefully select a few points to include that are going to show you off in the best light and make the biggest impact.  

Quantify your achievements  

One of the best ways to sell yourself on your CV is to not only outline your past achievements but to quantify these where possible as well.  

This means using facts and figures to show how you’ve made a difference in the past. The achievements you include will, of course, depend on your industry and job role, however, a few examples of this could be: 

• Increased email click-through rates by 26% in a year  
• Exceeded monthly sales targets by a minimum of 15% every month  
• Managed a team of 20 people at relevant industry events  
• Managed 15 client accounts, overseeing the sale of more than 120 lots each week  

By quantifying your achievements rather than simply saying that you ‘oversaw a team’ or ‘hit your monthly targets’, it is much quicker and easier for recruiters to understand how you could be an asset to the business.  

Link to your social media profiles   

And social media isn’t just good for finding jobs either. By including information of your social media accounts on your CV, you can help recruiters to build a bigger picture of who you are.  

But if you’re going to do this, you need to ensure that you’re posting content that will impress them.   

For example, by including details of your LinkedIn profile where you have shared interesting opinions on the latest industry trends or where you have written interesting articles that have received a lot of engagement from other professionals.  

Use keywords throughout

One of the most effective ways to sell yourself on your CV and show why you’re a great match for the role is to use keywords from the job description or company website. Again, this helps the recruiter to quickly recognise that you match their requirements and are a good fit for the role.  

So take some time to carefully read through the job description and highlight any keywords for experience, skills, qualifications, etc., that you possess.  

You can then pepper these throughout your CV.  

Use persuasive language  

Finally, throughout your CV, you need to use persuasive language to outline your responsibilities and achievements. Strong, powerful words help to engage recruiters and potential employers and make them want to keep reading.  

Some persuasive words you might wish to use include self-motivated, qualified, capable, competent, delivered, exceeded and positive. 

Sell yourself on your CV 

So, if you’re currently on the job hunt and hoping to impress, then you need to make sure you’re really selling yourself on your CV.  

By using our five top tips above, you can create a persuasive application that showcases exactly why you would be a great fit for the role.