Superheroes and Superpowers - CV keywords

Your CV and cover letter template is like your superhero costume. Branding and content-wise, it should reflect you and your professional expertise. Flash’s main superpower is speed, his color is red and his logo is a thunderbolt. Do you know your superpowers and keywords? Online tests and feedback from others can help you there. And you can also check job offers on the qualifications needed. However, do not bend the truth.

My first page is a summary for the human eye - THE CATCHY one-pager. It includes the job title I am applying to, the summary, key skills and 3 success stories. Then 3 pages follow with the details; my biggest successes and job experience for each position, my education and further experiences. In total, 4 pages might seem long, but hey you are a superhero with many years of experience. And superheroes have many superpowers, which do not fit on one page! 🦸🏻‍♀️😉 If companies want to read more about a specific job success, they can turn to page 2 and following. To save time, I have several versions for different job types with customised keywords and success stories. Here comes one of the biggest challenges in the process - the qualification keywords or in other words:

Speak the language of the company you are applying to.

Here’s a big wish to the hiring companies: Please do NOT invent your own fancy keywords like i.e. Marketing Ninja. Seriously, who wants to be a turtle?🤔

Use the exact keywords (avoid typos) from the job description for your (of course existing) qualifications. If there are very few skills required, try the homepage and search for their company values. Once you have a good CV, you can easily exchange i.e. “Implementation” with “Execution”. And don’t forget to choose the relevant success stories for page 1.

Tipp: Note down the keywords, you will need them at a later point for your Social Media profile.

Your success stories should answer two questions. What was your contribution? I.e. you did lead the development of a customer loyalty concept. And what was the outcome/success? I.e. The employees had +30% more loyal customers.

If you are a project leader, you can also make a separate page, listing your project success stories. Only add this to applications, where it supports your qualifications.

You are done now with the CV. Congrats.