What computer skills should you show on your CV?
Employment is a subject at the heart of all our modern news. A real social issue, finding a job and keeping it can be a real obstacle course. Faced with the volume of applications received for a single position, many companies do not hesitate to outsource the recruitment, or at least the selection of relevant applications.
In order to hope to attract the attention of a recruiter, it is therefore necessary to put together a concrete application file , which will make you stand out from the crowd. The CV is an essential document of this procedure. A bad CV can undermine any prospect of landing an interview . No chance then of being able to defend your case in front of the people concerned. You must therefore pay particular attention to the writing and final layout of your CV.
Many sites provide you with important indications and golden rules to follow in order to submit a valid document. However, this remains only indications, and the balance can be delicate to find between too much content and not enough, too dull and too colorful, too daring and too “like everyone else”.
This which is greatly appreciated by recruiters, is that the content of the CV that you present to them has been selected according to the offer to which you are responding . If you decide to write a one-page resume that you send out, regardless of the position you are looking for, you are clearly not putting all the chances on your side. Too bad if it takes you time, it’s not a waste. With regard to the “skills” block, for example, there is no point in stating that you speak German in the first place, if the position involves exchanges with South America. Select and organize your strengths in such a way that they best match the recruiter’s expectations for the position .
A rather tricky area is computer skills. Modern computing has only been around for a few decades, and yet it is a staple in the day-to-day life of many jobs. It is commonly accepted, in particular for the younger generations, that software such as spreadsheets, word processing, presentation, are known and, in general, mastered. Should we then specify on his CV that these are mastered? The answer is yes. But what will interest a recruiter most is to know your level of proficiency . Indeed, most users know how to use the basic functions of this software, but will be helpless when faced with a demand for pivot tables, direct mail, and other advanced functions. If these are things that you know and know how to use, specify them. This will set you apart from most applications that only state “proficiency in …”.
Depending on the ad you are responding to and the position in the play, other types of software may be of interest to your application. Photo editing software, video editing for example, can be in high demand in positions related to marketing or advertising. If you have, during your previous professional experiences, had the opportunity to work on management software such as CMMS, accounting, do not hesitate to indicate it, provided that they are related to the position in question. If it is internal software, specify the role played by this software, what it allowed you to achieve.
This will allow the recruiter to perhaps make the link with equivalent software used by his company . This will help them know that you will certainly have an easier time familiarizing yourself with this new tool than another candidate who does not have the same experience.
The place that should occupy the block “computer skills” really depends on the type of position you are applying for. If you are applying for a fishmonger position, stating that you are proficient in Photoshop may not seem relevant. If on the other hand in a CV for a commercial does not appear this heading, it can be perceived as a real lack in your file.
In any case, do not venture to invent yourself computer skills where you don’t have them. Some recruiters do not hesitate to pass a few simple computer tests before interviews in order to make an initial selection of candidates. The many resources available online and the training sessions can easily help you develop your skills in this area . Including these skills on your CV may in some cases be the minimum required, in others be a real asset. So to your mouse, get set, click!