A few days before, in my organisation, I was given the task to collect CVs’ from the individuals who are interested in an Actuarial internship opportunity. Without any wonder, I received a good number. I am not a HR guy but since this was my first opportunity to do a task like this, I was excited about watching the talent that our generation possess. And seriously What’s wrong with your Actuarial CV or Actuarial Resume?
I won’t deny but there were few CVs’ which were really good like you’d hire those candidates just by looking at their Actuarial CV (if it is all honest). Real problem was that there were only ‘a Few good’ and I am in no position to judge (since this is not my real job) but there were CVs’ which I didn’t forward because honestly speaking, they didn’t deserve.
Also Read: How to prepare for an Actuarial Job?
Problems in Actuarial CV’s:
- Grammar: I am no ‘Grammar Nazi’ but honestly speaking you cannot make a grammatical error at least in your Actuarial CV and there were few with this kind of mistake. Please, don’t hurry while making your CV because you are in the end reliable on your CV to get the calls and if you’ll make this error then it will be a huge mistake on your side. You can take help from your relatives or friends while finalizing it.
- Typo: I can admit that once I can ignore the grammatical errors because as humans we are liable to make mistakes like them. But how can I not ignore spelling of Address written as ‘Adress’? Not only this, few CVs’ had typo mistakes which were clearly visible. So, please I would recommend you to take a moment to atleast ‘Review’ your CV.
- Photograph: I am not a big fan of using photograph in CV but since I am no master, it’s your judgement to whether use it or not. To my amazement, there was one CV of the guy having mirror selfie (and the phone was not even an iPhone!). Kindly, use your professional photograph if you are applying for a professional job or don’t use it at all!
- Font Size: Here I am not going to talk about which font size to use but can you imagine a CV of 3 pages in which the first page only covered name and objective with a font size of 48. This type of Actuarial CV or Actuarial resume was a personal shocker as it contained only name, objective, educational qualifications and interests in 3 pages. I would recommend to make your CV as precise as possible and if you don’t have any work experience to show then I recommend that you use 1 page only. Also, make it properly aligned.
- Job Criteria: Just because you have an email ID where you can send your CV doesn’t mean you have to when you don’t meet the job criteria. If you are really interested in that kind of job, then first go and make yourself relevant accordingly because otherwise this will only waste time of both the parties.
- DO NOT LIE: Why would you lie in your CV? There were few candidates who got the call because their CV matched the job criteria but what happened next was shocking! Candidates couldn’t even speak about the things they wrote in their CV and else is history!
Conclusion for Actuarial CV:
These were few of the problems I came across to when what I received was handful of CVs’. I couldn’t even think what kind of things HR department come across to when they receive it in Bulk and then we are the only ones complaining that HR department is not doing their job by not responding. Believe me, they are doing their best and they call the suitable and deserving candidates. Just make your Actuarial Resume attractive and relevant to them.
Also Read: Linkedin Profile in Actuarial Science. How does it help?
Do not hurry and take all of your time in the world while making your CV because if you are serious about the occupation then having a good quality Actuarial CV is the first step towards it.
Do not hurry and take all of your time in the world while making yourActuarial Resume because if you are serious about the occupation then having a good quality Resume is the first step towards it.
Written By: Akshun Gettesh