Writing a CV for housing professionals

Friday, February 19, 2021
In managing housing within either the public or private sector you play a vital role in enabling sometimes vulnerable people to gain access to suitable accommodation and shelter. Follow our tips below to make sure your housing CV enables you to stand out from the crowd and provides the right information on why you should be called to interview.

Keep your housing CV to two pages

It is important to understand how people read CVs. Less than 30 seconds is spent, on average reading a CV. You therefore have a truly short window of opportunity to impress. There is simply no point in including lots of detail. In fact, in doing so, you are likely to lose the interest of the reader. A two page format is ideal as it provides just enough space to provide sufficient detail, without overwhelming the reader with too much information.

Tailor your CV for each job

Your housing CV will work much better the more closely aligned it is to what an employer is looking for. The secret is to carefully read the job description – and most importantly the person specification – and to mirror these requirements in your CV. Not all job descriptions are the same so do not rely on one generic version of your CV to apply for multiple roles. This often leads to frustration when it yields very little positive results.

Think achievements: facts and figures

Many people simply recite a list of duties in their career history. Some even copy and paste information straight from their job description. Yet, you don’t need to tell the recruiter what a ‘housing officer’ does, they are recruiting for one after all. What they want to know is why they should interview you. So, you need to show yourself performing well. Include specific examples of your achievements and support these with facts and figures.

ATS Systems

Many organisations use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to filter CVs which then ranking them in order of preference. They work by analysing key terms and phrases in applicant CVs against those in the job description. It is estimated ATS filter out 70% of CVs before they are ever read by a human. The best way of helping your CV to get through ATS filters is – you guessed it – tailor your CV to the specific requirements of that role. By mirroring the key terms and skills from the job description into your CV you stand the best chance of your CV passing through unscathed.

Following the above steps will help to ensure your housing CV works as hard as it can to secure you the interviews you deserve. Happy job seeking.

This article is written by Neville Rose, Director of CV Writers.

Original Article @ https://jobs.theguardian.com/article/writing-a-cv-for-housing-professionals/?s=44