Physicians have the monumental task of creating their CV before applying to opportunities. Your CV will be read and judged before any hiring institution has the good fortune to meet you and learn who you are as a person. If you want to secure more interviews, here are the top 7 things we suggest you stop doing on your CV.
1. Titling your CV
Your CV does not need to be titled, "Curriculum Vitae" or "Last Name's CV" because your CV is a noticeable document. Recruiters or organizations that will review your CV know what that document is. This just takes up space on your CV.
2. Including unnecessary information
Even though you may want to include when and where you were born, or all your children's personal information this is unnecessary information on your CV. Even if you are applying to an opportunity for a visa sponsorship, you do not need to put on your CV, "Seeking J-1 Visa" or "U.S. Citizen".
3. Overexplaining
As a physician applying to an opportunity you may feel obligated to include every small detail about your previous experience. The descriptions of current or previous opportunities should range from 2-3 sentences, not paragraphs. Having large descriptions that turn into paragraphs can add length to your CV and look cumbersome to those reading.
4. Not including key information for opportunities
On your CV, you should list out your past opportunities. Make sure that you are not leaving out key information such as: organization name(s), location(s) (city, state), or dates. Omitting this information can insinuate that you do not pay attention to detail, or that you are leaving out key details on purpose.
5. Excluding contact information
I have been told by physicians in the past that they do not want to add their contact information to their CV because they do not want to be excessively contacted. This can backfire though and result in employers not being able to contact you at all. Make sure that you are including a phone number and email address that you feel comfortable being contacted at. Do not only list one form of contact information incase there is an issue getting in touch with you through that.
6. Using inconsistent formatting
You need to make sure that as you are creating your CV that you are keeping the format throughout. This means that if you are bolding dates in one section, it needs to be consistent in other sections. This is a small detail that some do not consider, but having all opportunities listed in the same format makes it easy for whomever is reading your CV to find the information without having to search for it.
7. Using unique fonts
Your CV will either be fed through a computer to read or parse for key information or given to a person to read. If you choose a font style that is difficult to read through this can create problems. Make sure that you are not choosing font styles like "Script" or "Mistral" and opt for more traditional fonts like "Calibri" or "Times New Roman".
Looking for more CV help? Check out the PracticeMatch Career Center for more articles and examples.
Hayley Woszczynski - Physician & Program Relations Manager. You can stay connected with me on LinkedIn for all of the latest PracticeMatch articles and upcoming events.