Maintenance engineers; How to improve your CV today (plus an insider secret tip)

Are you thinking about a new maintenance engineer role - do you feel its time to move on to a job nearer your home or with more responsibilities? Perhaps you're fed up with your work colleagues or your boss's attitude?

Time to locate your CV from your computer and give it a refresh.  Whether your CV is fairly up to date or needs some real time spent on it, It's important to remember, your CV is what consultants and your prospective employers are using to make their first impression of you, so make sure it looks professional and includes all the right content.

Using these proven seven top tips you can ensure your CV is identified and remembered by key engineering recruiters and employers.

1. Check and check again for typos
An alarmingly high number of CV's contain grammatical mistakes. Remember, this is an important document and it will appear unprofessional if you haven't spent time correcting typos. If your grammar is not your strongest point, ask a friend or partner to read through it or use free software such as Grammarly to check everything is spelt correctly and you've used the right punctuation.

2. Keywords are key! 
Engineering recruitment consultants search for your CV using specific industry related keywords. So it's important to think about what keywords you have on your CV. If your job were field-based for example, make sure you put this in the title of your jobs along with any systems you have worked with, list them all.  This way you will come up in the searches which will increase your chances of being contacted about opportunities right for you. Think keywords! 

3. Key information at the top
When looking for specialist maintenance engineering candidates, many CVs will be looked at by consultants. Therefore, CV's that don't look professional or are missing key information from the top are dismissed. Make sure your key information is clear and at the top of your CV. This means putting your contact information and current job role right at the top, making it easy for recruiters to see who you are, your main skills and how to contact you quickly.

4. Use Linked-in as a good reference tool 
Make sure your once you have updated your CV that your LinkedIn profile mirrors your CV to ensure continuity. Many engineering recruitment consultants use LinkedIn as well as potential employers.

It's also a clever tip to look at LinkedIn profiles for key people within your industry sector. See what skills they have and how they've used them to their advantage, try to mirror this on your own CV. 

5. List the key skills of your job in your CV 
When applying for a specific service engineering role, look at the job brief and what key skills they are looking for in the candidate. Try to include these key skills on your CV and provide evidence of how you've done them.

This will not only show the employer that you have researched the role but also that you have everything they're looking for in a candidate. If this means you have to tweak your CV for several different job applications, then do it! It's about tailoring your skills to meet the job requirements.

6. Make your CV easy to access 
Make sure it is saved under a professional name so employers can find your CV easily on their own computer systems (eg not UPDATED COPY OF CV but A.Jones - CV) It is also best to save it as a .doc document, this type of file is able to be viewed by all word processing programs. If you have a smartphone, it is also a good idea to save a copy your CV on your phone. This means you can apply for jobs quickly and easily as you see them. If you have Gmail you can use google drive or drop box. If your CV is on the job site Indeed, you can simply apply using the Indeed button. 

7. And finally....insider secret tip....

The more recently you have updated your CV, the higher it will be up a search engine and job posting board results. By making very small changes about once a week to your CV and then updating it online, it will appear nearer the top of search engine results and therefore, you will be far easier for maintenance engineering recruiters to find! (You're welcome!) Why not set a reminder on your phone once a week? It will take you just 30 seconds and could dramatically increase your chances.

Remember, your CV is a very important document and it should represent all the reasons employers should want to work with you. Providing you follow these seven key tips you will be able to create a CV that is easy to find, looks professional and has all the right content to make service engineer specialist consultants identify you and contact you.

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