In March 2023, Adzuna analysed more than 267,000 CV’s on its UK database, and the situation is getting worse, with candidates not checking the content, grammar or spelling.
There were almost 100,000 CV’s with over 5 errors!

Some of the headline mistakes were a simple spelling mistake, we always advise our candidates to at least get their CV spell checked, let someone else read it and, then check it again before they send it off.
As a matter of course we always proof read CV’s prior to sending to our clients.

Over 30% of CV’s had no personal statement, this means an employer is unable to hear about a candidates strengths and that can impact when there is a CV with all of the relevant information.
The most worrying mistake were gaps in the career history, with 29% not completing this fully. At Axiom Personnel we place hundreds of security candidates in permanent and temporary roles over the year and we require a 5-year checkable work history, we need this for referencing and often have to send back CVs to candidates to complete missing months or years!
Even things like creating a readable file name so a recruiter or HR manager can easily identify the candidates name and that it’s a CV e.g. GaryStrongCVMarch2023.

There is also a recommended CV length, anything under a full page, the candidates experience isn’t considered and anything over 2 pages would go into the virtual bin.

The most important thing to remember is to be honest on your CV, we have to reference all of our candidates for any job. Only today one of the recruiters spoke to a previous employer for a reference and the company wasn’t even established when the applicant said they worked there. All employers or agencies are having to carry out increasing levels of background checks, so honesty is definitely the best policy.

Our teams of recruiters carry out thorough checks for all applications, we can take that strain from your HR teams, get in touch for a discussion about rates and how we can help.