Last month, I shared my less than satisfactory experience working with a career coach. Fortunately I managed to get a new coach and I have been following my coach’s advice. I felt like I achieved much more in one hour with the current coach than 4 weeks with the previous.

The coach reviewed my cv or resume. This term is used interchangeably in Singapore so whichever works.

Updating it was tedious and tiring and I thought of just using the old version and mass applying for jobs but I have not been successful so far. Plus, a kind recruiter from Adecco gave me feedback that I should condense my work experience into one or 1.5 page maximum. The coach was fine with 2 pages. I chose the latter because I have so much to share but so little space!

There are many templates online so I will not be sharing but general rule of thumb is avoid table formats because before a human reads your cv, a machine does the filtering first. The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) may not pick up key words the other column, so avoid tables and customise your cv using as many key words as possible using the job description provided by the potential employer.

I struggled in the career overview and highlight key skills section. This is the first section hiring managers and recruiters read for less than 10 seconds before they decide to continue reading or archive your cv. Effort is required. It is not easy but I am sure it will be worth it in time to come.