Reasons why we might be resistant to CV writing
There are some common barriers to good CV writing that need to be overcome if a strong CV is to be written. What are these hurdles that stop people from writing a hard-hitting CV, one that will get them an interview?
Well, there are some obvious ones such as not knowing what to put on the CV and how to express this information but, it seems from my CV writing experience that often there is a resistance to the whole notion of the CV, and hence to the process of writing a CV, and that this can be strong enough – whether it is conscious or not – that a CV worthy of the job hunter’s skills and experience doesn’t ever get written. The critical information remains locked in the memory banks, never committed to the page, and thus unshared with potential employers.
We are resistant to the promise and we are hence resistant to the process!
The promise is that if the jobseeker fulfils all of the steps demanded of a jobseeker then there will be a job there to meet his/her requirements. This of course IS difficult to trust and believe in, particularly at a time when one may be feeling vulnerable and-or unsure. The two biggest mistakes job seekers make here are 1) to look outwards, listening to the daily news, researching the jobs market via “jobs” websites etc and 2) sending out hundreds of uninspired and thus uninspiring CVs (translate to “being very busy”), all the while becoming more and more disillusioned and convinced that they were right to not trust the promise. The promise will not hold true for everyone, but, if you want it to hold true for you then you need to write a CV that gets the attention of the person reading it so that you get to the interview and are in a strong position when you get there. You need to separate yourself from other job hunters. To do this, focus on your job hunt and your CV. If you have a great CV, which paints a picture of you in a way that a potential employer can imagine you helping their organisation, then the promise should hold true for you.
With the above in mind, it might be apparent why the process of actually writing your CV might seem difficult… The jobseeker can hold a multitude of negative thoughts about the whole concept of the CV and thus fail to create a fully representative picture of him/herself as an employee. If the job seeker thinks about his/her CV from the perspective of the employer rather than from his/her own perspective then the process should become much easier.
Yes, “everything is easy when you know how” and, simply not knowing what to write and how to write it is at least an equal – and often the only – stumbling block but, if the above does hold true for you, then naming it will hopefully benefit you, allow you to recognise it, and help ease you into the process.
