Writing your CV

This is the time of year when your thoughts may turn to applying for a new job. The purpose of this article is to provide some tips for writing a CV for job success.

Managing the first impression

The first impression really matters as your personal CV is your marketing tool and it must attract the readers attention otherwise your chances of getting even a screening interview may be limited.

Starting your CV

You should start your CV with a profile summary of your experience and competencies. This should take up no more than four lines of text. This profile summary should always be tailored to the role that you are interested in – as should your CV in general! The next most important section is career history…….

Career History

Put your current or previous job first not education details or your very first job. 

The visual layout of your CV is very important. It always amazes me how little care some applicants take with the presentation of their CV and application. Even if the wording used is correct, if your CV is not well organised then the reader will find it hard to follow and will not build up a picture of you quickly. If the reader cannot find what they want they may not bother to read the CV any further….

The career summary should always summarise your job history in reverse chronological order (starting with your most recent job and working backwards). 

Make sure that the CV covers the job title, organisation, dates of employment and if appropriate current remuneration. It is also important that you highlight your achievements and your responsibilities – but remember at a senior level an employer will be more interested in your outputs and added value that you bring.    

Try and give a brief overview of the company or organisation you worked for, for example its size, turnover (£) and number of people employed.

Follow the career history section on with information about your training and education.

Training

You should only include the most important and relevant training courses. Again it is not uncommon for some applicants to write pages and pages about training courses they have attended.  

This section of the CV could also be combined with a section on education and qualifications depending on the available space.

Education and Qualifications

Make sure that you list your most important qualifications. For example:

• if you are graduate you may not need to list all your GCSEs just indicate the number gained;
• unless you have just completed an MBA or degree, this should still go after your career history;
• if you have qualified recently you could mention your recent qualifications in your covering letter.

Personal Details

The personal details such as name, address, telephone contacts should be covered next. If you have a clean driving licence, say so.

Finally, you could cover INTERESTS but keep this short and be sure to cover any current positions of responsibility such as Board membership.

Covering Letter

The CV should always be accompanied by a covering letter and if possible this should be addressed to a named person. The covering letter should very succinctly demonstrate why you have the experience, achievements and competencies for the role you are applying for.

Some Final Tips………..

Make sure that you use plenty of space in your CV and appropriate headings and section breakers;

Always use a good printer and good quality A4 paper;  

Your CV should be no more than 3 to 4 pages long. Remember recruiters do not want to know your life history – they just want to know whether they should interview you;

Try to avoid long paragraphs and sentences;

Avoid falling into the ‘too little information’ category; and,

Make sure that you avoid misspellings, typographical errors and poor grammar.