These points are repeated over and over, and yet job seekers don't take them seriously. Seriously, take these tips very seriously. I have done a lot of hiring and it takes me just a few seconds looking at a CV to make out whether I'm looking at a generic CV blasted out to every job opening, or a well-thought out tailored one catering to the job description I posted. Generic CVs almost always get rejected. Tailored ones are always singled out for further review. If you blast out a generic CV, you'll be rejected at most places with a few seconds.
Spelling and grammatical mistakes are always a turn off. If you can't take the effort to correct with all the spell and grammar check tools available these days, I would expect the same sloppiness from you on the job.
The mistake most people make is that they try to apply to 100 jobs a day. You'll get rejected with a few seconds in 95 of them. 5 might review your CV a little further, but will most likely still reject them.
Apply to only 5 a day. You only need 1 job to fill:
- Find 5 jobs that suit your skillset (never apply to jobs that don't match your skillset, no matter how tempting they feel)
- Read their job descriptions carefully
- Write a cover letter explaining how you your skills can match the requirements for the job. In most cases, you won't need to match all the skills - just the few top ones will do. I'd rather hire matches just the main required skill but is consistent with their job, rather than one who matches them all but is sloppy
- Tailer your CV to describe how you match the job description. Don't lie. Just focus on your experiences and skills that match the job description, remove the irrelevant details.
- Send out the CV with the cover letter stapled together (or email). I personally prefer just plain paper without any packaging. It's easier for me to manage.
- Wait 4-5 days, then follow up. It's ok to follow up once, but don't annoy the people you intend to work with.
Do this and I guarantee you that all your CVs will at least get properly read by someone rather than just scanned and discarded.