On average, a hiring manager spends about 6 to 7 seconds reviewing a CV initially. This glance is often used to assess whether the candidate’s experience, skills, and qualifications align with the job requirements.
If your CV makes it through this initial screening, it could receive a more detailed review, which, for a mortgage adviser or financial adviser CV might last for about 10 minutes.
This guide is designed to help your CV pass the initial scan and then offer the detailed information a hiring manager needs to move your application to the next stage.
1. Your Name and Job Title:
- Start by entering your name and most recent job title. If your latest job title is unconventional, use a standard industry title instead.
- For example, if you are a mortgage broker but your title is “Financial Adviser”, use “Mortgage Broker” to ensure your CV passes the initial scan
2. Contact Details:
- Include your phone number, email address, location, and LinkedIn profile on your CV. For your location, if you prefer not to share your full address, at least mention your nearest town so employers can estimate travel time.
- Tip: If you subsequently change your name on LinkedIn to include or remove qualifications, update the link on your CV as it will change.
3. Your professional profile:
- Think of your personal profile as an “executive summary”. It should provide the reader with a clear understanding of your level of experience, the highest relevant qualifications achieved, and the type of role you’re seeking, all without requiring them to read further.
- Avoid using generic phrases like “work well as part of a team or as an individual”—these add unnecessary bulk to your CV and make it harder for the hiring manager to grasp who you really are.
- Example: I’ve worked within the financial services industry for over 15 years, with 10 years of this being spent as a financial adviser spent across two financial advisory practices. I’m keen to use the skills I’ve acquired and to develop further by moving into UHNW financial advice.
4. Education:
- Detail your educational background, especially your professional financial advice or mortgage exams, but also include degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework.
- Put your professional qualifications first – they are most relevant for the hiring manager.
- Highlight academic achievements or projects that demonstrate your skills and dedication.
5. Skills:
- In the Skills section, it’s crucial to list your key competencies, as this area is often reviewed during the initial glance at your CV.
- For Financial Advisers, you want to list the main types of advice you provide that are relevant for the role. If you also generate your own leads, own your client bank, complete paraplanning duties such as research and report writing, or handle administration duties too then state them.
- Types of advice to consider including: GIA / ISA investments, at retirement pension advice, pre retirement advice, IHT planning, trusts, offshore advice, DB transfers, VCT / EIS / SEIS
- For Mortgage brokers, you want to list the main types of advice you provide that are relevant for the role. If you also generate your own leads, or manage your case work post application then state it.
- Types of advice to consider including: “Adverse credit”, “bridging loans”, “buy to let”, “commercial mortgages”, “equity release”, “first time buyers”, “HMOs”, “let to buy”, “new build”, “portfolio landlords”, “purchase”, “remortgage”, “second charge”, “life, critical, and income protection”.
- Tailor this section to match the job description, ordering skills relevant to the role.
6. Work Experience:
- List your work history in reverse chronological order (most recent first). N.B. Remember those first 7 seconds? Checking the title of the latest role and the dates of the role are likely to be the last parts of the initial check!
- For roles that are irrelevant, either because they fall outside the financial services industry or are from over 20 years ago, it’s sufficient to list just the job title, company, and dates.
- For each relevant role within this section you want to expand upon the skills and key achievements you listed previously.
- Include the type of clients you speak to, what your business mix looks like, the parts of the advice process you are involved in and if you do it, what business prospecting / marketing you do.
- Let the business know how many clients you look after, for financial advice it’s good to include the assets under management.
- Most businesses would like a prospective candidate to own their clients, but don’t worry, majority of candidates don’t own the clients they support. Instead, it’s important for hiring managers to know what you walked in to when you joined a business, the steps you took to improve the business and what it looked like when you left / current position.
8. Customisation for Each Job Application:
- Tailor your CV for each job application. Adjust keywords, skills, and experiences to align with the specific job requirements and company culture.
9. Formatting and Proofreading:
- Ensure consistency in font style, size, and formatting throughout your CV. Use bullet points and white space to improve readability.
- Proofread meticulously and use spell and grammar check to eliminate typos and grammatical errors.
10. References:
- Optionally, mention that references are available upon request. Avoid listing specific references on your CV unless explicitly asked.
11. CV Length:
- Aim for a concise CV that succinctly presents your most relevant information. Ideally, keep it to two page, trying to limit to a maximum of three pages unless you have extensive experience.
12. Conclusion:
By tailoring your CV for each application and following these steps, you’ll craft a strong document that highlights your qualifications and experiences effectively. A well-crafted CV is key to making a lasting impression on potential employers and securing opportunities.
If you’d like additional help or want us to review your CV, just fill out the form, and we’ll get in touch with you.