CV tips
Planning and presentation
Think of your CV as your sales brochure. It should be designed to make potential employers sit up, take an interest in you and invite you in for an interview to find out more.
In terms of your presentation:
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Keep the layout as simple as possible - don't put text in boxes or tables
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Keep it concise – 2 to 4 pages preferably
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It should look clean and sharp, black ink on white A4 paper
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Avoid fancy fonts and images
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Presentation counts -
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Make it easy to navigate round and pick up relevant information
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Use headings so the reader can go straight to points of interest
Remember!!
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Tailor your CV and covering letter to each job
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Write an outline first, think about what you want to ‘sell’ before you begin
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Check your spelling and grammar
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Avoid over-lapping dates or gaps in work history - travelling or a career break is fine
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Be honest and factual
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Use positive words and phrases and avoid negativity/criticism of former employers
What to include
Contact details
Include address, telephone numbers and email address.
Profile (optional)
Employers like to see a statement detailing what your career aspirations are or a summary of your biggest career achievements to date (quantified with figures).
Qualifications
List your academic achievements. Include dates, names of institution & types of qualifications. List your highest qualifications first, along with any professional bodies or memberships.
Skills & knowledge
A bullet point list of the technical skills you possess and have been trained in will allow the prospective employer to see immediately that you have the skills to match the vacancy.
Career history
Provide a list (with the most recent first) of all the companies you have worked for, along with a summary of their area of business and what your duties/responsibilities were at each. Include your achievements and quantify e.g. the new sales campaign increased profits by £xx and margin by xx%.
Include technical terms associated with the role, and any computer systems experience as well.
Other responsible positions
If you have held any other responsible positions in professional organisations, whether related to your technical background or not, list these here. An employer will like to see you have commanded the respect of your peers.
Leisure interests
List a few of your leisure interests so that the employer can get an idea of what sort of person you are. Too many though and it might seem like leisure is more important than work!
Referees
At this stage of your application it is not necessary to state full contact details, instead state that ‘referees are available on request’ which will allow you to provide referees suitable to the application.
