How to End a CV: Expert Tips for a Polished CV
Crafting the perfect CV takes a lot of thought and effort. However, it’s common to concentrate on the main sections of your CV and neglect the end of the document. Thinking about how you sign off your CV can leave a positive impression on the reader and increase your chances of success. In this article, we’ll discuss techniques and approaches for ending a CV that make an impact with employers and help you to stand out from the crowd.
Why Ending a CV Strongly Matters
Giving your CV a strong, positive ending can ensure that you hold the attention of the reader right through to the end of the document. It’s easy to let your CV peter out after you include the main sections, with various disparate pieces of additional information that add little to your prospects of success. With employers often receiving hundreds of CVs for every job opening, a CV that ends with a whimper could be off-putting and temper their opinion of you as a candidate.
Admittedly, the conclusion of a CV is less important than the preceding sections, which include your CV objective and outline the skills and achievements you most want to highlight. However, it can still play a key role in your progression to the interview stage. In a competitive field of candidates, an interesting and engaging CV ending that gives the reader something new and helps them decide your suitability for the role can be extremely valuable.
Psychological studies indicate that people best remember the first and last things they read. This is known as the ‘serial position effect’, and illustrates how memory is affected by the position of information in a sequence (1). According to the theory, when people are presented with information in a list, they find it easier to recall the first and last items, while the middle details become harder to remember. This suggests that for a CV, it’s important to save some useful, impactful information for the end, rather than filling the lower parts of your CV with less critical additional details.
Choosing the Right Final Section
Choosing the right final section for your CV will depend on various decisions and circumstances. If you’re a senior applicant with plenty of experience, you might wish to end your CV with some extra nuggets of information that will help you to stand out from other candidates, such as certifications or publications. For more junior candidates, you may wish to add some additional information that helps to prove your skills and achievements beyond your limited work experience.
Another factor that might affect how you end your CV is the CV format you choose. If you’re using a traditional, reverse-chronological CV, you could end your CV with your educational achievements or a list of skills and core competencies. For a functional, skills-based CV, the last item in your CV could be the final entry to your work experience section.
The ending of your CV may also be dictated by the job advert. Some employers ask candidates to add references to their CV (though unless this is specifically requested by the employer, it’s usually best to leave references off your CV).
Possibly the least impactful way to end a CV is by adding disparate, irrelevant information such as personal details that add nothing to your chances of success. You’ll want the employer to finish reading your CV by committing to memory some key details about your qualities and credentials, not getting bogged down by unnecessary additional information.
Expert tip:
Save some useful information to close out your CV that shows a valuable skill, experience or achievement. The last thing a person reads is more likely to stay in the mind than content from the middle of a document or list. As such, the tone you set at the end of your CV can go a long way to helping employers make a decision on your credentials.
How to End a CV with a Strong Final Section
Take a look at these suggestions for ending your CV with a strong final section:
Qualifications
Using your education, training and certifications to close out your CV can be a strong way of signing off. This is especially relevant if the role requires a specific degree, certification or professional qualification.
Skills
Providing a list of your key skills can be a great way to summarise the details included throughout your CV and leave the reader with some simple takeaways that stay in their memory. Be mindful of ensuring any skills you list reflect those in the job description, and avoid exaggerating your skills or lying on your CV.
Achievements
Listing your key career achievements is a concise and impactful way of ending a CV. This section can provide a useful summary of what you’ve achieved to date, whether in your career, in education or in wider activities such as volunteer work.
Hobbies or volunteer work
Additional sections such as hobbies or volunteer work can be a useful way to round off a CV if you’re short on relevant work experience. These sections can help you to show some valuable experiences, achievements and skills that you want the employer to know about, but which you can’t attribute to paid work.
Professional Sign-off for a Cover Letter
Your cover letter usually goes hand-in-hand with your CV. As such, it’s a good idea to also think about how to close this document and create a cover letter ending that leaves a positive impression on hiring managers.
A strong closing paragraph for your cover letter is an important step in setting the tone for the next steps in the application process. Adding a call to action to encourage the hiring manager to open a dialogue with you, or invite you for interview, shows a certain level of confidence and assertiveness. It’s also important to express enthusiasm for the role and thank the employer for considering your application.
When it comes to signing off your cover letter, different cover letter templates will offer different professional sign-offs. For an email cover letter, a more casual sign-off is often suitable, such as ‘best regards, ‘regards’ or even ‘thank you’. For formal cover letters, a more traditional letter sign-off such as ‘yours sincerely’ or ‘yours faithfully’ is usually most appropriate.
Tips for a Polished Finishing Touch to Your CV
Finalising your CV means more than just finishing writing the document. There are various other things you can do to polish and refine your document before sending it. Follow these tips to ensure you leave your CV in the best possible state to impress employers:
- Proofread your document for errors in spelling and grammar, as well as the general flow and cohesion of the text.
- Make sure you send your CV to the right people. If you’re sending your CV via traditional mail or email, try to find a named contact to send your CV to.
- Use the correct document format. Some employers might request your CV in PDF format, so export your document in this format before sending it.
- Keep your CV concise and to the point, to keep it readable and engaging for employers. Concentrate on highlighting your most relevant qualifications, strengths and achievements to help you stand out from other candidates.
How to Optimise Your CV for ATS Software
One of the most important things you can do before sending your CV to employers is checking it for compatibility with ATS software. ATS stands for ‘applicant tracking system’, and many employers use these software applications to help manage applications and screen and rank CVs. An ATS CV is tailored to maximise the chances of your application passing this first stage of the recruitment process. Follow these tips to create a CV that ranks as highly as possible with ATS software:
- Use keywords and phrases from the job description to optimise your CV for ATS software. ATS software will carry out basic screening by scanning your CV for mentions of various relevant keywords and phrases. Ensuring you have relevant keywords embedded throughout your CV will help you pass this stage.
- Highlight your relevant skills, achievements and experience. Concentrate on creating a concise CV that outlines the most relevant details from your career for the specific job you’re applying for.
- Use a clear and concise format to present your document. Choose from CV templates with clearly labelled headings to mark each section, and a structure and layout that makes the document easier to read and scan.
In a competitive field of candidates, an interesting and engaging CV ending that gives the reader something new and helps them decide your suitability for the role can be extremely valuable.
Key Takeaways for Ending Your CV
Finishing your CV with some important information that stays in the mind of the employer will help your CV to stand out and differentiate you from other candidates. Avoid finishing your CV with irrelevant or unnecessary information, and before you send your application, check and amend your CV’s content, layout and structure for maximum impact. Jobseeker’s CV examples and templates can help you to create a professional CV that makes a strong impression with employers. Sign up to get started with creating your perfect CV today.
Sources:
(1) The Decision Lab: Why do we better remember items at the beginning or end of a list?
