JobSeekerCoach

Step Two - Preparing a CV

We have lots of hints, tips and suggestions about how to write a CV; about what goes into a CV and what not to put in; about CV do's and don'ts. The advice here is very general and cannot be comprehensive as different industries and different job types need CVs to contain different kinds of information and, possibly, a different type of presentation.  For more specific help with your own CV, please contact us.

General guidelines:

·        Information should be concise – that is, brief but relevant.  Keep it to 2 pages if at all possible but spread comfortably over 3 is better than squashed into 2.  Faced with reading a large heap of CVs, a Manager will very quickly discard any that are too long or too wordy.  You have about 10 seconds to grab the hirer's attention before the CV is filed under P13 (the bin).

·        You do not need to use fancy artwork and especially avoid any animation – in fact this often makes CVs more difficult to read.  Add some colour if preferred but not too contrasting and be careful not to over-do it.  The only exception to this is, perhaps, if you are in marketing, graphic art or similar.

·        Avoid tables, text boxes and columns.  This is especially important when working with agencies.  Formatting can go horribly wrong when an agency adds their logo or interview notes at the head.

·        Believe it or not, some employers do not like ‘Curriculum Vitae’ or (worse) ‘Resumé’ at the head as it could be seen as ‘an insult to the intelligence’ - they presumably know what it is.

·        Use a clear font like Arial or Verdana and avoid italics.  Keep your font to a reasonable and even size (you could put your name in a larger font if you wish) and use bold face to highlight important points or different areas of your CV.

Content:

Remember - you have about 10 seconds to grab someone's attention so keep the most important information at the top and the less relevant towards the end.

·         Name, address telephone numbers and email address.  Indicate which is the best method of contacting you and do not put your work number/email address on your CV if you do not want to be contacted at work.

·         Personal information is optional and depends on what is important for your kind of job.  Your marital status, age, father's occupation etc are all irrelevant and best left out altogether.  Your nationality is important however and, possibly your driving status. These could go in towards the end if preferred.

·         Profile: a paragraph describing type of job sought and outlining the particular expertise/attributes you can bring to such a role.

·         Educational background/qualifications (which only needs to go back to your secondary school) - just the names of school/college/university and the qualifications gained.  If your academic qualifications are not totally relevant (or, perhaps, not as good as you would like) put them towards the end. Including dates is optional but be prepared for questions at interview.

·         Working history: How this is displayed depends on whether you go for a skills-based CV or an employmen-based CV.

      'Traditional' CV

• last job first and work backwards.  Give dates (including months), name of employer and a brief description of their business, your job title and bullet-point your main duties, highlighting any particular achievements and using eye-catching words such as: increased, reduced, implemented, designed, improved, developed, organised, influenced etc..

      'Functional' CV

• List your skills and attributes in bulleted format and try to begin each point with eye-catching words such as: increased, reduced, implemented, designed, improved, developed, organised, influenced etc.
• Then list your various job titles alongside the names of the companies for whom you have worked and a brief description of what the Company does
• This style is ideal for contractors or job-seekers with what we could call a 'chequered' work history.  You need not include dates of employment but give an idea of the amount of experience you have in a particular skill and be prepared for dates to be 'probed' at interview.

 ·         Leisure interests.  Expand (just a little) on your interests.  If you like football, state whether you are actively involved in the game (warning: your potential boss may support a rival team).  If you like music, state what kind and how active you are in this interest. If you like to read, state what you like to read etc., etc.

·         References: You do not need to list your Referees details at this stage but can state that ‘References are available on request’. Please do not use "referees are available on request'  You referees may be busy when requested.

·         Read the CV through and, if possible, get someone else to read it to ensure it makes sense.

·         Run a spell check - but don’t rely entirely on the computer.  Some words will be over-looked by the spell-check because they are spelled correctly - but they are grammatically wrong; for instance: companies and company’s.