Writing
your CV
These days you should write your CV in the first person
(i.e. I have), rather than the third person (i.e. he/she
has). However, you do not need to use "I" in
a CV because its use is implied. Do mention things you
are good at, but do not go over the top. You can oversell
yourself. Don't mention things that you are bad at or
say negative things about yourself in your CV. Make sure
that the CV you write conjures up the right image of you
and your skills, capabilities and achievements. If you
do not match the picture you have painted with your CV
at the interview, then your application will not be taken
further. Be careful when you use abbreviations - they
can be misunderstood. If you are not happy with your CV
or you only seem to get rejection letters then please
get a professional CV writing service to write it for
you. or ask our advise, as it could save you a lot of
time, lead to you getting less rejection letters and hopefully
you should get an interview that much more quickly.
What
Should You Leave Out?
Photos - the only people who need to include
these are models, actors, actresses and possibly air
cabin crew.
Any sort of failure - exams, marriages, businesses,
etc, reasons for leaving each job.
Salary information - this can only be used to
reject your application. If an advertisement specifically
requests this information you can always include in
your cover letter.
Fancy patterns/borders - these detract from your
presentation. Title pages, binders and folders are usually
unnecessary and can be off-putting (though if you are
doing a special presentation, enclosing your CV in a
binder may look more impressive) Do not include a list
of publications if you are a scientist, unless they
are asked for.
Leave
out age - (put in date of birth instead), weight,
height, health, or any other personal information that
is irrelevant to your application. Do not use poor quality
photocopies of your CV - they make it look as though
you are sending off your CV to lots of companies and
that you may not be too bothered who you work for.
What
information will you need?
Introduction
You should gather together all of the information required
below. You will probably not use all of this information
in your CV but it will provide you with useful reference
material when it comes to preparing for interviews.
Personal Details
Your full name, address, home telephone number, date
of birth, marital status (put only single or married
down on your CV, if you are divorced then put single,
if you are separated you are still married - never list
any sort of failure on a CV) and nationality (you may
want to include this if you are applying for jobs abroad).
Education
/ Qualifications
List your qualifications and educational history, for
example list your professional qualifications, membership
of professional associations and professional ID numbers.
If you recently completed a college or university degree
or diploma, etc, then you may want to list the courses
you studied if the subject you studied was relevant
to your target job.
Training Courses
List any work related training courses which you attended,
including company courses and any you attended on your
own initiative. If you obtained a qualification on any
course please list it. You only need to list the important
courses you attended; no one really cares if you went
on a time management course as everyone gets sent on
these courses.
Work
Experience
If you have been working for a number of years you probably
do not need to include any part-time jobs, vacation
jobs, voluntary work or unpaid work experience. Charity
work could be included in your interests however you
might want to include these jobs if they covered a period
of unemployment, or a time when you were not working
for any other reason, or you feel that some of the experience
you gained will be useful in your next job. You should
normally concentrate on your two most recent jobs (unless
you were only there for a short time), because employers
are usually most interested in these. Start with your
most recent or last job and work backwards. For each
position (treat internal promotion as a new job and
record the dates separately) list your job title (e.g.
Manager, Supervisor, etc), the job title of the person
you reported to (e.g. Director, Manager, etc) and when
you started and finished in each job. Give the name
of the company and include a brief description of the
service they provide (using the terms they would use
to describe themselves). Set out your main responsibilities,
achievements, duties and skills that could be transferred
to another employer. Include your level of responsibility
if any, e.g. 'responsibility for departmental budget
of £100K and managed 10 staff'. In particular
list any achievements you had in each position, including
increases in sales/productivity and cost savings made.
Quantify your achievements if possible. 'Increased sales
by £100K' is more interesting and positive than
just saying 'Increased sales'. You should try to include
some achievements such as meeting deadlines, budgets,
etc, and any information that may be relevant to your
next job.
Major Achievements
When you are listing your achievements in this section,
only list 3 to 6 of your most important work achievements;
your other achievements can be described under the "work
experience" section. You should only list achievements
which are relevant to your next job and indicate how
you achieved them. This section is very important as
an employer will only invite you for an interview if
they can see a benefit in doing so. Your achievements
may sell you to an employer and make them choose you
for an interview rather than someone else. For this
reason it is vital that you think carefully about your
achievements.
Other Experience
List any computer skills you have, including the make
and type of equipment you are familiar with, the software
and operating system used, e.g. IBM compatible PC, Microsoft
Windows 95, Microsoft Office 97. If you have foreign
language skills which may be relevant for any jobs which
you are applying for please list them and indicate whether
your skills are spoken, written, business or technical.
Please also indicate your level of fluency: fluent,
good working knowledge, etc. You should only list these
skills if they are relevant to the jobs you are applying
for as no one really wants to hear about a French language
course you did at school a long time ago. If relevant
to your next job please include your typing or shorthand
speeds.
Interests / Hobbies
List your interests, hobbies and any sports you play.
List any positions of responsibility you hold or have
held in any club or
organisation and say what your responsibilities and
achievements were.
References
You do not normally need to list referees on a CV, but
it is a good idea to think about whom you could ask
now.
Summary
List your major skills, strengths, personal qualities
and achievements. Be specific, e.g. good team player,
excellent written skills, versatile, able to motivate
others, etc. Look at your staff appraisals or at your
references
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