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5 IT Contractor CV Tips to Get Fast Results

Your CV must stand out! This is not negotiable. You only have a
limited amount of time to grab the recruiters attention- the way you fill out
the A4 to represent you can make or break your career.

Companies don’t just hire people just for the sake of having a
large number of people to add to their workforce anymore. Gone are the days
where applying for a job as a contractor was just a cellphone call, followed up
by an interview that determines your fate.

The curriculum vitae, or CV as it more commonly known,  is a document that not only serves the purpose of signalling that you want a job, it is now the yard stick which your competence is measured with.

You can be a qualified and highly professional contractor, and still get it wrong when it comes to how you use your CV to represent your service to the employer.

With opportunities in IT becoming more accessible to everyone, the
competition for career positions in companies is getting harder by the day.

Recruiters have to deal with multitudes of CVs submitted to their inboxes or
physical address. You have to capture their attention with your application.
They literally go through heaps to find a perfect candidate. Here is a stress
reliever for every contractor on the hunt:

Here are The 5 IT Contractor CV Tips to Get Fast Results

01. Personal Information must stand out

This is your name and your contact information, preferably your phone number, website, email address and other communication channels you use.

Adding social media is not really best practice. Your name must be used as a bolded headline at the top of the page. Highlighting the name by either bolding, italicising or underling is a very effective method of getting it noticed and remembered by the recruiter.

The font must be complementary to the size, this is a recommended to be set at
14 to 16 points on average. Capitalizing your name is just as effective as the
currently mentioned guides.

02. State your role in your profile to make an offer they can’t refuse

This is where most contractors fail to communicate their offer. Be as explicit as possible in detailing what you want to do for the client or company in a brief paragraph and what you have already done for other clients.

03. Highlight your skills as much as possible without sounding irrelevant

Highlighting your functional skills is very important to make an impression on your CV. The need to add a lot of information just for the sake of filling up the page must be avoided.

Employees and recruiters look through your resume for a very short amount of time, so you must make an impact. 

The section that involves your work history, education, and your achievements must not be stuffed with irrelevant information. Adding very detailed and recent information helps the employer scanning through your CV understand exactly what it is that you can do for their establishment.

Job roles must be explained thoroughly by the candidate to show aptitude in the field of interest. 

This is done by mentioning the daily tasks or recurring requirements of the work
environment that the subject has operated in. Using as many verbs as you can to detail the tasks as they were respectfully carried out.

There is no substitute for this, the recruiter needs to only see you in a positive light. You need to include not only your skills but how those skills are or were used in your project. For instance, mentioning your role in the IT company you worked for.

Including tasks, for example, like, how you were the web-based Test Lead for a large retail company, responsible for overseeing a team of 10 automated Test Analysts, using loadrunner... and so on.

04. Give an eye-catching presentation that gets attention

The layout of your CV must be attractive to improve the chances of the recruiters scanning effectively over it. You must adopt a CV template that
is easily scannable and reader-friendly.

The format of your CV must be well organized in neat and orderly sections that embody their respective fields and must be labeled accordingly.

There are many fonts that are enlisted in typography that vary in degree of readability to each individual. The use of the font is paramount in increasing your visual appeal to allow for familiarity and "scan-ability" by the recruiter. 

A font like The Times New Roman is the most frequently used format
in most CVs and does little to make your CV standout.

Using a traditional font style like Serif is an important factor in increasing the likelihood of your CV getting noticed by capturing the reader because of it’s stylish appeal. This font also has enough traditional implications attached to it to still deem it fit to adhere to a traditional format.

Serif format styles include Georgie, Old style and many more that you can easily find by using this reference.

Use visual aids like bullets and numbering to draw attention to key points about your expertise and other information that is relevant to the job you are applying for.

05. Keep the pages at a maximum of two pages

The need to outshine the competition is natural, but keeping your
information as brief and tactful as possible improves the chances of
communicating your value to the employer.

Include only information and details that is important to the give the company a clear picture of who they are reading about.

Watch Your Tone

Literally, don’t use jargon on your CV. it paints a certain character to the reader that suggests that you are not ready for the workforce or that you have a way of not adhering to a civilized manner or lacking in professionalism

Conclusion

Creating a valuable CV is not rocket science, but it is very easy to get it wrong, use these simple tips to get the head start on your competition.

Talented Tester Support
 

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