Students applying for internships or their first job often find the job market very competitive. It’s critical that every job application contains a CV that clearly shows the student has the right skills, experience and personality to bring value to a company.
Employers receive numerous CVs from students that do not showcase the skills and experience that the candidate can bring to a technology team.
Here’s the Top 5 CV mistakes that computing students make.
- Neglecting to Highlight Projects and Achievements
- Using Generic or Vague Language
- Overlooking Soft Skills
- Ignoring Keywords and Tailoring
- Neglecting Formatting and Readability
1. Neglecting to Highlight Projects and Achievements
Many computing students focus too heavily on modules studied and neglect to showcase hands-on projects they completed and the achievements they experienced during these projects.
Employers are not only interested in academic performance but also in practical application of skills in real-world scenarios. They want to hear about what each project achieved and how you contributed to its success.
How to Avoid It:
Use projects to highlight your technical skills but do not just list the programming languages that you used. Instead, give examples of what you built using these skills. Be specific; if you built a REST API using C# and deployed it to AWS EC2, then include those details on your CV.
Highlight achievements from the project. Assess the performance and scalability of the software application you built, or the feedback it received from users, and include these achievements on your CV.
By highlighting what you built and what was achieved, you are giving a clearer picture of your abilities and contributions.
2. Using Generic or Vague Language
The use of generic or vague language in CVs is common among students. Phrases such as “I worked on a project” or “I have good communication skills” provide little insight into the skills you used and the contributions you made to a project.
Employers are interested in CVs that more accurately describe how your technical skills were applied to build software components, and how your soft skills were used to collaborate with team members.
How to Avoid It:
Be specific when describing the actions that took place during a project. Give details on the technologies, tools, and methodologies that were used and the components that were built. For example, mention that you “developed REST API using Java and Spring Boot to provide realtime communication and secure data transfer”. Use Action Verbs to increase the impact of your contributions.
By highlighted exactly what was built and how it was built, your CV is more compelling and employers will understand your skillset more clearly.
3. Overlooking Soft Skills
While technical skills are essential to a CV, many computing students overlook the importance of soft skills. Today, technology teams rely on effective communication and excellent teamwork to complete projects.
Employers value candidates who can work collaboratively and adapt to dynamic work environments. Your CV must showcase the non-technical skills you have with examples of how you have developed them.
How to Avoid It:
Ensure that your CV has a balance of technical and soft skills. Effective soft skills for computing students include communication, leadership, problem-solving and teamwork.
Examine your part-time work experiences and college projects for examples of when you have used these skills. Include two or three of these examples on your CV. For example, you can mention how you “”collaborated within team of four using Slack to prioritise tasks and problem-solve AWS deployment issues”
4. Ignoring Keywords and Tailoring
Using a generic CV for every job application is one of the most common mistakes a student will make. Many students fail to tailor their CVs to the specific requirements of each job they apply for, missing out on the opportunity to align their skills with the needs of the employer.
Employers, along with applicant tracking systems (ATS), will scan every CV for keywords to see which candidates meet the requirements in the job description. Those candidates that have tailored their CV have a much higher chance of securing an interview.
How to Avoid It:
Customize your CV for each job application by including keywords from the job description. To start this process, examine the job description for the technologies and tools that the employer requires. Then look for the soft skills mentioned on the job description.
Give examples of how you have used these technical and non-technical skills in college projects and part-time work.
For more impact, include the results you achieved when using these technologies. For example, you can say “reduced deployment times by 25% using Github Actions CI/CD pipelines”.
5. Neglecting Formatting and Readability
A CV that is cluttered or poorly formatted can be hard to scan for keywords, and more likely to be rejected by an employer. Readability and proper formatting are key, to allow the most important information to stand out and to make sure your CV looks professional.
How to Avoid It:
Use consistent formatting, bullet points, and headings to make your CV easy to read. Ensure that important information such as your key skills and education stand out. Avoid excessive text, keeping each bullet point to one or two lines.
A student’s CV should be no longer than one or two pages. Make sure the most important information is on the first page.
