PART 3
Male or female recruitment consultants: Who should hold your CV in their hands? In the past 2 weeks, we interviewed Stefan Pirpamer and Edina Petersen, 2 of Annapurna’s consultants, to find out whether men and women interpret your CV differently. Here are the results:
1. What is the first thing you look at when you read a CV?
Stefan: Layout, then relevant experience
Edina: Relevant experience
It’s the looks that matter for men. Both Stefan and Edina pay close attention to the content of your CV, but the presentation is just as important for our male consultant.
2. Is the layout of a CV important to you?
Stefan: Very important, it says a lot about the person
Edina: Not too important as long as it’s structured
Again, the opinions split on this question. You can score with a creative and structured layout with male recruiters. Should your CV end up in the hands of a female recruiter however, your creative input could cause the opposite effect.
3. Is the company, which the applicant previously worked for, important for you? (Size of the company etc.)
Stefan: Not really, the experience is more important
Edina: It depends on the client
Well-known company names won’t impress neither male nor female consultants. The experience you’ve gained with a company and the instructions from the client are the determining factors here.
4. Name 3 things, which make a CV stand out for you.
Stefan: Relevant experience, continuous development, good layout
Edina: No gaps, relevant experience, creative layout
Our consultants agree on this question. Therefore, follow those 3 points and convince every recruiter- no matter if male or female.
5. What’s the one piece of advice you give all your candidates?
Stefan: Less is more
Edina: Stay true to yourself
The advice from men: Be concise. Recruitment consultants don’t want to go through pages and pages of your CV until finding relevant information. From a female perspective the advice is: Be yourself, know your goals and show those things on your CV as well.
Both pieces of advice are equally important and will definitely assist you in your job search, regardless of whether you’re dealing with male or female consultants.
Even though Edina and Stefan are not representative of all the recruiters you’ll ever come in contact with, their answers were nonetheless very insightful.
