Writing a Cv

The process of finding a new job can be stressful enough. You will need to have a Curriculum Vitae prepared, find and apply for jobs advertised, have one, two or even three interviews and then make a decision that could change your life!

The word Curriculum Vitae literally means ‘story of your life’ and is your own personal description of your career to date. From our experience we believe it is best to try and keep your CV to 3/4 pages of A4, unless someone specifically asks you for a longer CV. Below is a Template which will allow you to write a CV in a structured and tailored format which can be amended and updated according to the job you are applying for.

The CV:

When looking for a new position, your CV is a sales document. It enables you to sell yourself to a prospective employer and present how your past experience makes you a good candidate for the position available. The history should always be in chronological order and job titles and company names are strongly emphasised. The job description is listed with strong references to achievements that have been obtained in the role.

A Summary

The summary should consist of a brief objective, describing the type of role you are searching for and an overall impression of your suitability. Section an overview of information on yourself. These tend to contain claims of 'hardworking' and 'meticulous' work ethics and are being measured by your own standards not a prospective employer's. Such qualities are assessed at interview.

Education / Qualifications

List your qualifications with the most recent first, with the dates attended and the educational establishment named.
List any work related training courses which you attended, including company courses and any you attended on your own initiative.
You may also want to bullet point any particular areas or modules you studied during the course which will help communicate your areas of knowledge and skill to a prospective employer.

Career History

Start with your most recent or last job and work backwards. Give the name of the company and include a brief description of the service they provide. Set out your main responsibilities, achievements, duties, and skills from each role).

Projects worked on - try and quantify by size or cost, it gives the prospective employer an indication of the scale of the projects you worked on.
Key achievements - Projects you worked on completed ahead of schedule, on budget, awards, recognition. Don't include reasons for leaving jobs.

If you have worked on a temporary or contract basis, ensure that this is clearly stated next to the Date’s of Employment. You want a client to read your details knowing it’s a good freelance CV, not what appears to be a job-hopping permanent CV!

Skills

List any computer skills you have, including the software and operating system used, e.g. Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Office 97.

Interests

This section is debatable to its relevance, however I believe that at interview if you and the interviewer share a similar hobby or interest then having something in common to talk about can be to your advantage. It also gives the employer a better understanding of the type of person you are outside of work. There’s only so much interest a cycling proficiency test and 100 metre swim certificate can generate!

Double check

You have written your CV and are getting ready to send it off to your ideal vacancy…stop!!! Take a few moments and double check the following points.

• Is your CV well organised?
  Make sure that an employer can follow the CV and build up a picture of your skills and experience quickly and easily. Make sure you have tailored the CV to the job you are applying for. The key points they are searching for will be listed in the job description / advert so if you have this knowledge / experience put it in the CV!
• Is the CV layout clear?
  Long paragraphs and long sentences can put off a recruiter so use bullet points and punchy sentences to get your message across. If you have had a long career with many companies and positions, ensure you write more detail about the last key positions and then simply list all other positions going back to your early career

Finally

Ensure the CV is presentable and in a clear font (Arial) and either size 10 or 11. If you print your CV make sure that it is on good quality white paper (100 gram). Finally get someone you trust to proofread the CV for typographical errors, mis-spellings and poor grammar- don’t rely on just a spellchecker!

Please don’t attach a photo, just don’t.