How To Write a CV
Your CV is often the first insight an employer has into your career experience so it is your window of opportunity to really showcase your skills, knowledge and expertise. It is also a reference tool for interviews, so be prepared to elaborate on anything you put in it.
What to include on your CV?
As individual as you are, so too might your CV format be different from other applicants, but as a general layout, it is advisable to include the following information:
- Your Full Name and Contact Details
- Your Qualifications, Training and Courses (most recent first)
- Your Key Skills and Expertise
- Profile – use this personalised profile as a way of explaining why you are different from other applicants. Restrict this to a single paragraph, focusing on your skills and abilities.
- Your Employment History (most recent role first) – here you can provide a breakdown of your current and previous role and your responsibilities for each position. If possible, detail quantifiable achievements, i.e. those you can put a figure to. This could be sales figures, cost savings, increases in efficiency, reduction of wastage etc. If they are not quantifiable, still highlight your achievements but be prepared to talk about these in depth in an interview.
- The format we like to use is to breakdown what you actually do and products you are involved with. Therefore you may like to list the products or services you provide and who to, include customer names where possible. You can include the area in which you cover if you are in a sales or commercial role, your turnover, and level of responsibility should you have any.
- References – list the contact details for two referees or if you prefer not to put them on your CV, state that ‘References are available on request’.
THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD AND SHOW THAT YOU ARE THE MOST SUITABLE CANDIDATE FOR THE JOB!
- Be positive in your language
- Show evidence of your responsibilities and achievements
- Demonstrate your variety of skills
- Pay attention to detail and check for spellings and grammatical errors
- Do not waffle! Be concise and clearly impart the information
- Avoid using unusual fonts or writing that is too small / large and hard to read
- Do not leave unexplained gaps in your career history
- Do not fabricate any responsibilities or achievements – any ‘lies’ that help you to secure the job, will certainly not help you if your new employer finds out.
For further assistance in writing your CV, please click here for an example CV template. Alternatively, for more help and advice on this and any other part of the recruitment process, please give us a call today on 0161 443 0000.
