Why Was My CV Rejected?

by Stephanie Blye

There are various reasons for which an employer rejects a CV. The following are places among the most encountered causes:

1. First impression

Just like in any other situation, the first impression upon your CV is very important as well. If your resume doesn't catch the employer's eye in the first 20-30 seconds, your chances of getting an interview are minimum. The employer has more than a hundred CVs to read in just a couple of hours in order to make a good selection. So The first thing after the personal information area in your CV should definitely be the experience area.

The employer needs to see what you can do for him and what could he obtain from you if he calls you for an interview.



This is the reason for which a short summary of abilities and qualifications is a very good idea. The summary of qualifications should make the employer call you for that interview, but be careful not to exaggerate!

2. Bad organization

Your CV presentation is very important. Even if you consider that the language you have used and the modality of organization is good, if the interviewer has difficulties in locating that relevant information, he will get to the next resume in the pile. You should use enough empty spaces in your CV, the titles should be in the same tone and you should have pauses between major sections in your resume.

Always use a spell checker. Never use a typing machine... it's old and out of use. Use an A4 sheet of paper, of great quality (100gr would be ideal) for your CV as well as for your cover letter.

3. CV length

It is advised that you do not go over two pages for your CV; this is the case when the profile of the job doesn't ask for more). If you don't manage to restrain yourself to two pages the it means that you might have not understood the requirements of the employers correctly. They are not interested in knowing every aspect of your life, they only want to know the relevant information to the job.

4. Too little information

Ok, too much is not good, but too little information is worse. Some job seekers choose not to include essential information about some of their previous work places, just because they believe that info would place them in a bad light. But if you don't include this information about your experience, the employer will not be able to make himself an opinion about you and this is why your CV might get rejected.

5. You are not result oriented

You MUST include your past achievements and results. Don't forget that you are a product and the CV is the selling ticket. If the ticket doesn't tell the employer why he should hire you, then you have failed. An employer is primarily interested in your achievements and accomplishments because it is in these that he can predict his benefits from you. So tell him what his benefits are!

6. The CV makes you look too young/too old for the job

The age issue might always become a problem and if your CV makes you look too young or too old for a specific job, this may prevent you from even getting the chance of an interview in which you would have the possibility to show your true age. There are some ways to avoid this problem, but everything depends on the individual circumstances and on the profile of the job you apply for.

7. Spelling, grammatical or editing mistakes

If there's one thing you want to do three or four times when it comes to your CV, this is CHECK UP. Never send a resume to an employer without having checked it up for spelling, grammar and editing mistakes. Small errors in your resume might cost you the opportunity of an interview! Also, a negligent and superficial look of the CV might prevent you from being selected as well. So check your resume twice yourself and then give it to someone else as well to have a look at it. You'd be surprised to find a small error at the third or fourth check up.