A CV is a marketing tool and it's normally the first thing a prospective employer will see about you. As such remember "first impressions count". A good CV should be an accurate reflection of your experience to date and the skills you offer. Its aim is to ensure that you get through to the next stage of the recruitment process - the interview.
- A CV should ideally be no longer than 2 - 3 sides of A4
- It should be structured clearly in chronological order, starting with the most recent position and working backwards. Employers are generally interested in the last 5 -7 years. Previous experience is often dated and irrelevant
- Include achievements, strengths and key skills
- Tailor to suit each position applied for if possible
- Check carefully for spelling and grammatical errors, don't rely on the spell check
- Use bullet points wherever possible and try to leave white space
- Use different styles such as bold, underlined, italics, UPPER and lower case, sub-headings etc, but stick with one font
- Explain any gaps in employment, e.g. travelling
- Don't exaggerate about experience or qualifications
Sample CV
Page 1
| Personal details : |
Name, address, contact telephone numbers, e-mail address. |
| Qualifications : |
Start with most recent professional qualifications.
|
Systems
experience : |
List systems used and level of competency. |
| Profile : |
A short paragraph summarising key features of your career to date and highlighting immediate ambitions.
Ideally this should be precise, punchy and relate to the position you're applying for. |
Page 2/3
Covering employment history, starting with most recent:
| Company : |
Description of company, size, turnover, number of employees.
Don't assume everyone will have heard of your company. |
| Job Title : |
Give the title and if possible show where this fits into the structure, remember different titles mean different things in different companies. |
| Supervisory : |
Include details of number of staff reporting to you. |
| Responsibilities : |
Outline key areas of responsibility, use bullet points and avoid unnecessary detail and any company jargon. |
| Achievements : |
List key achievements in role and remember to qualify any statements made. |
| Education : |
List university, degree gained and class.
List schools/colleges relevant to A' levels and GCSE/O' levels. Give number of exams gained e.g.
- 3 A' levels grades A, B & C
- 10 GCE O' levels, all grades A-C. |
Remember the purpose of your CV. You want it to interest the reader sufficiently for them to want to meet you, and you have approximately 30 seconds in which to do this.