Writing an English CV for the Israeli job market

I’m no stranger to CV writing. Having written and edited over 30 CVs for the Israeli market in the past year (with all clients so far getting jobs within 6 months, woo hoo!) I would say that I’ve got pretty good at writing resumes for Israeli jobs. Now I’m facing my biggest test yet, as I’m sending my own CV out to the Israeli job market. For those of you joining me on the job hunting journey here are my top five tips for writing an English CV in Israel.

1. Keep it short

Israeli CVs should be 1 page long. It doesn’t matter if you have 20 years worth of experience or speak 20 languages, if you can’t get your CV down to one page most Israeli companies just won’t take the time to read it.

2. Keep it simple, stupid

Work on the basis that the person reading your CV is not a native English speaker, and even if they are, they simply don’t have a lot of time on their hands. Get rid of any long words or complicated phrases, and try to keep your CV down to your experience, education, skills and languages. All those wonderful descriptive adjectives you want to use about yourself will look lovely on your cover letter, but will just take up precious space on your CV.

3. Check your format

Give your CV over to everyone you know to look over. Is the font clear and easy to read? Is your CV cluttered or can they easily find the relevant information? This can be the difference between your CV making the interview pile, so take the time to get it right.

4. Keep it relevant

Took a course or won an award that you plan on boasting about in your cover letter? Get it in your CV. Spend most of your day on Facebook and Twitter? Get that in your CV too. Conversely, any irrelevant material should be left out. If your age, marital status, location or hobbies are irrelevant to the job you are applying for then there is no reason to include them in your Israeli resume.

5. Check your spelling and grammar. Then check them again.

When your biggest selling point is your mastery of the English language nothing says “I suck” like a spelling mistake in the middle of your English CV. Yes, there’s a chance your Israeli potential boss might not spot it, but if he does you’ve lost out, to a more careful speller. This rule is especially important if you are applying for any type of job involving English writing.  You would not believe how many LinkedIn pages I’ve seen belonging to International Marketing professionals with spelling and grammar mistakes all over the place. Check your work people!

Sending your CV off and not getting call-backs? Be in touch and I’ll do my best to raise your chances. Got any other CV tips? Please feel free to share below.