Research suggests that as an employer or recruiter, you will only spend around six seconds looking at any CV you receive – which means a potential candidate has less time than it takes to read this sentence to impress you. A CV is a snapshot of career history and essentially gives a first impression to you, their new potential employer. So, what should you be looking for in a CV if they are applying for a digital role?

What are the main skills you should be looking for?

You will be aware of the common components that a CV should consist of; a personal profile, skills, work history and education. However, these days you can expect more from a digital CV. The principle of digital is that everything we do is traceable, measured and analysed – and your CV is no exception.
Measure the candidate’s ability, success and personality, to see if they are a suitable fit for your organisation. The first thing people look for when analysing data or looking for statistics to back up claims, are numbers. Check if the potential candidate has included statistics as evidence to demonstrate achievements from previous job roles. For example, look out for details around audience numbers in campaigns, increased engagement, traffic and subscriptions, improved CTR, budgets, revenue and ROI, from any work they have been involved in previously. 
This validates their achievements and gives you as a potential employer, a true sense of their ability and the impact they could have on your business should you invite them to join the team. 

Experience with digital tools

The more specifics you are presented with throughout a CV will mean a more credible and experienced candidate. Regardless of whether or not they are moving across sectors or targeting an unfamiliar audience, if they are presenting to you an array of useful digital platforms then the scope of the role is more quantifiable and so are any commonalities. 

How to spot stand out CVs

Any CV that you are reading should be tailored to the job that is being applied for. Check they have matched any skills to include any specifics from the job specification, if they have, you can be confident that they are serious about applying for your role. Also, paying close attention to the personal profile of candidates can set them apart; a short, succinct and relevant personal profile is good to get an initial impression of the candidate.
Envisioning the ideal candidate to fill your vacancy may be counterproductive – have an open mind when reading through CVs that are given to you. A candidate with a diverse set of transferrable skills can add more to your team and overall business culture.

What content should they be including in their CV? 

Make sure the tone, format and font of their CV is professional and consistent. If they are using keywords and industry terms through their CV then this can be a good indication of their experience in the sector, however, if they have included terminology that doesn’t make sense or use abbreviations this can be a sign of a CV that isn’t polished.
Candidates should be focusing on demonstrating their skills through their career history. For example, looking at their achievements, they may have described a project that required you to collaborate with multiple stakeholders, consider the challenges involved here and how they were able to overcome them to achieve great results.

Conduct a check

Watch out for any typos, grammatical or spelling mistakes on a CV. This is a reflection of their attention to detail and commitment in applying to your organisation. Make sure all dates of previous employment are consistent and make sense throughout the application, a gap in employment history usually isn’t an issue, but it can be good to know why a potential employee has been out of work.
If you are hiring in the digital sector browse our available jobs here. Alternatively get in touch with one of our expert recruitment consultants now.
Dannielle Khalique
Consultant, Michael Page Digital
T: +441932264150