Your CV must be as clear as possible to garner interest and make reading easier. Pay attention to the visual presentation:
- Well spaced, homogeneous and coherent in style
- Graphical hierarchy in titles and sub-titles
- Clearly identified headings (underlines, frames, capitals, etc.)
- 3 pages maximum
- 2-cm margins minimum
- 10-point font size minimum (Arial and Tahoma are the most popular)
The wording must also be clear and understandable. Use short formulations and get rid of unnecessary words. Say what you mean, while avoiding flowery prose:
- Give your CV a title: “Senior Manager,” “Credit Analyst,” “Experienced Tax Accountant”, etc.
- Use bullet lists rather than complete sentences: write “In charge of preparing budgets and variance analyses” rather than “I prepared budgets and variances analyses.”
- Observe the “one idea per sentence” rule.
- Try to use strong action verbs:
- Contract, save, recommend, invest, etc.
- Validate, design, implement, etc.
- Use technical terms: “financial statements,” “strategic planning”, “budget models,” “institutional portfolios,” etc.
- Clarify the dates. It is unnecessary to specify the days, and months are not relevant in the case of long-term jobs.
- Leave out unnecessary details: unrelated job experience, languages you don’t master, non-relevant software, student work experience if you already have other finance/accounting experience, etc.