CV WRITING GUIDE
How to Write a World-Class CV
More job starts with an application and sitting to write a CV can be daunting. So we have broken down how best to showcase yourself in some very easy steps.
Your CV should be focussed on 4 main sections:
Personal Details
Profile
Work Experience
Education and Skills
The information you provide throughout the whole of your CV should showcase your skills but also be to the point and simple to read.
Personal Details
This section is usually found at the top of CVs. It should contain your:
Name – bold and in a larger font, that is clear and easy to read
Contact details – this should be your email address (keep it professional), your phone number and your address/city/postcode in a smaller font. You can add here if you are wiling to travel/work remotely/relocate etc.
Profile
This section should be a summary of your key skills and what type of role you are looking for. You should try and keep the profile to only a few sentences. If you aren’t looking for a specific type of role/s, then it may be beneficial to have several bespoke CVs for each role type, to show that you have tailored your CV to each role. You can also do this on an individual role basis.
Work Experience
This should be a very clear and easy-to-read section, as this is likely to be the most important part for any future employer. This section should:
Show your most recent role first and work backwards.
Show your job title, the company you worked for and months and years of employment. Follow this with a list of duties you undertook, limit these to the most important duties to keep the information succinct. Add achievements, responsibility level, facts and figures about your impact if you can and if they are relevant.
If you have had a variety of roles that would carry your CV into several pages, we would recommend that you only showcase the more relevant roles. For the less relevant roles, you can also state just the Title, Dates of employment and Employer.
If you haven’t had much working experience, you may wish to add a list of skills you have at the bottom of your CV. This shows that you have skills that you can apply to the job role you are applying for.
Consider framing gaps in employment with learning, development and what you did, especially if they are for fair and positive reasons. Gaps not explained can be seen as naturally concerning.
Education and Skills
As per the job listings, the newest education comes first.
Add dates, grades and locations.
Add any courses, especially if relevant.
List skills i.e. software skills, the systems you have used. These are great for keywords as users searching on websites and also automated computer systems which may filter your application for suitability and keywords (don’t overdo the same keyword - this can have a negative effect).
General
Avoid lines, graphics and photos (although they may have be useful for certain roles) as this can produce formatting errors on the reader’s interface or could cause issues with ATS (applicant tracking systems) which may filter your application.
Feel free to add interests, voluntary work, extracurricular groups etc, especially if relevant.
Consider Word or PDF versions as preferable. Having both is better. Consider that a recruiter may need to make slight adjustments to the document.
There are plenty of templates online that you can use or on most word processing programmes.
GOOD LUCK and get in contact if you would like free advice or a review of your CV.