CV Top Tips

There are many useful tips and guidance available online and particularly if you are creating your CV for the first time then you may want to do some research in this area.

Your CV is your personal document providing an overview of you, your educational and professional attributes and aspirations. It should be concise, informative and factual and highlight your particular skills and abilities to ideally match the particular employer and job you are applying to.

Whilst there is no “standard” CV format, most employers will expect and require some key elements in any CV. Recruiters can often be dealing with literally hundreds of CVs in some cases for the same job …… what will make yours stand out? Spelling and grammatical errors could quickly rule you out so check it thoroughly and then do it again. Your recruitment consultant will be more than happy to cast their professional eye over it and it would do no harm to let friends and family also give their opinion.

Layout

Ideally, no more than would fit on two sheets of paper.  A standard typeface with bold subheadings and relevant bullet points. No fancy borders or photos. It is recommended that the following order be used:

Contact Details

Name, address, telephone number and email address on all numbered pages. (If posting directly online you are advised not to include personal details e.g. address, date or place of birth or marital status).

Personal Statement

This is your chance to “showcase” your particular skills and abilities and this section should be changed as required to suit the employer and job being applied for.

Key Skills

Ideally in bullet point layout, highlighting your particular skills.

Employment History

Start with the most recent employment. In each job/position provide dates and bullet points of your responsibilities and achievements.

Education

Again list these with the most recent first. Record name of schools/colleges together with relevant dates attended. Provide a bullet points list of subjects and grades achieved.

Hobbies & Interests

Often viewed as optional. Generalisations such as “Reading” will probably do more harm than good. However, if you have little or no Employment History but some fascinating hobby then it may help!

(Perhaps one last spellcheck wouldn’t go amiss!)