I recently worked with a group of women tech leaders and spent some time reviewing their CVs, writes Matt Craven, personal branding expert at The CV & Interview Advisors.
Several of the group sought feedback, and it was interesting to see the common pitfalls that these extremely talented tech women had fallen into. In many cases, the CV was just a pale shadow of the individual it represented.
On your CV, modesty and humility can have a limiting effect
Interestingly, this is all too common, especially with people with positive characteristics such as modesty and humility – it’s almost like being a jolly nice person is the thing that is holding them back from selling themselves effectively!
In this article, exclusively for Women in Tech, we’ll walk through the common mistakes that we see on female technologists’ CVs and offer some solutions.
Why CV modesty holds women in tech back
Do you want me to read your CV or not?
Let’s warm up with something minor but still worthy of comment.
One of the common practices I encountered is placing a LinkedIn hyperlink as the very second line of the CV.
I understand why this happens – it’s usual to put contact details at the top of the CV, but if we think about it a little more deeply, it’s strange to ask the reader to navigate away from your CV by line two to go and read your LinkedIn profile instead.
Not a biggy, but nevertheless, not the best tactic.
CV tips for women in tech applying online
ATS Optimisation
Another common issue, which is probably less relevant for more senior women in tech, is that nearly all the CVs I reviewed were completely unoptimised for recruitment software.
This isn’t a problem if you are exclusively networking into roles or being headhunted. But if you are making online applications, there is likely to be some kind of Applicant Tracking System (ATS) in play. Or some other version of recruitment software.
In their current format, many of the CVs I cast my eye over would struggle to perform well. In some cases, the data might fail to parse into the ATS entirely.
My advice is that regardless of how you are targeting roles, you may as well make sure your CV is ATS-optimised.
The pitfalls of ambiguity
Moving onto slightly more significant issues, many of the talented tech executives in the room wore multiple hats and therefore did not necessarily fit into one particular job function. So, they could be a CIO, CTO, Head of Innovation or even a tech-focused NED.
The temptation on a CV is to try and create a catch-all description of oneself, when what’s really required is multiple versions of the CV that are hyper-targeted to different types of roles.
CV inexperience = ‘experienced senior board-level IT leader’
But what I observed, is that instead of providing multiple targeted descriptions of themselves, the women tech leaders had written vague, catch-all phrases like “highly experienced senior board-level IT leader.”
This phrase unfortunately means very little to a tech talent acquisition professional or headhunter. What’s really required is a much more specific description that aligns with the job description.
How to write a strong value proposition on your CV
Where’s the value?
One of the top two deficiencies that I observed, and this applies to most CVs that we see, is an inability to articulate a ‘value proposition.’
By ‘value proposition,’ I mean a clear description of the value one is proposing to offer to a future employer (or end-client if you’re an IT contractor).
How to structure a value proposition
The best way to structure a value proposition is by creating a sentence that has three fundamental parts:
- Starts with what you are
- Moves on to what you do (not one of the things you do, but the thing you do)
- Finishes with how this benefits a future employer.
The rest of the opening paragraph on a CV should focus on the three key requirements of the role which you’re applying for (full-time) or going forward for (freelance). Think about what you are really good at and align that with what the employer /end-user clearly wants.
Modesty and imposter syndrome
At the very top of the list of fatal CV errors is where imposter syndrome and modesty come into play.
When modesty takes over, people tend to focus their CVs on tasks rather than outcomes.
There’s something quite visceral and exposing about having to hang your hat on the achievements and business benefits that you personally brought about. And that often holds people back from doing so.
CV must-do for women in tech: Ditch the ‘list of tasks’ approach
The average executive’s barometer is set far too low when it comes to selling themselves on paper and many CVs end up reading like a list of tasks, with barely any evidence to suggest the individual might actually be good at their job!
In the situation where I was assisting as a professional CV writer, the candidates were leading women executives who were incredibly talented but whose CVs failed to communicate these talents because modesty, and in some cases, imposter syndrome held them back.
Professional CV help for women in tech
What's the solution?
As I said to one of these awesome tech leaders, writing your own CV is actually a very flawed concept because your own psychology, insecurities and thought processes hold you back from creating something that truly does you justice.
This is why many professionals and executives turn to high-end personal branding specialists to help them with this task.
‘Festival of CVs’ week: Have you got your ticket?
At the very least, I would recommend registering for our upcoming webinar as part of our ‘Festival of CVs’ week here.
There are multiple workshops for women working as or aspiring to be executives, portfolio career professionals, contractors, interims, career changers and early career professionals.
You can also request a free and confidential 1-2-1 CV appraisal here.
Matt Craven
Matt is the Founder of The CV & Interview Advisors and Incredibly Linked. He is considered to be a thought-leader in Personal Branding and is regularly engaged as a public speaker to deliver advice and guidance to global audiences on all things related to CV authoring, career advancement, LinkedIn, personal branding and thought leadership.
