CV Guidance

CV writing tips

A CV is personal, it’s a reflection of your working life and taking the time to perfect it is essential. Research from ‘The Ladders’ online job search, recently showed that employers spend as little as six seconds viewing your CV so first impressions really do count!

With that in mind, here are some useful hints and tips for CV writing that can speed up your job search:

Personal Details

Ensure that you always include your contact address, email and telephone number.

Personal Profile

This should be around 200 words and should include the key attributes you can offer to a potential role. Words that reflect who you are, such as trustworthy, responsible, honest, reliable, flexible and skilled are a great place to start.

Key Skills

This should be where you detail anything you think may be useful to a future employer. Whether it’s IT skills, specialist systems you’ve used, relevant qualifications, or skills specific to the job that you’re applying for.

Employment History

This is where you should detail your previous roles. As a general rule, anything over 10 years could be disclosed at a later date, and the information should be easy to digest. Always include the dates you worked, the company name and your job title, followed by clear bullet points of the duties you performed to showcase your relevant skills!

Education & Qualifications

This should include the dates, educational or training organisation and the final qualification you obtained. These are important to include even if it’s been many years since you obtained the qualification.

Personal Interests

This is to give the employer some idea of your personality and preferences so they can see how you might fit into the company culture. Discuss what you enjoy doing in your spare time and try to keep it honest whilst avoiding statements like drinking or going to the pub!

References

You do not need references details on your CV. However, it is a good idea to include a statement that suggests you can provide them if required.

Key things to remember:

Keep it factual. Dishonesty on your CV will almost always be exposed at interview. Save yourself the embarrassment, chances are you are still a candidate worth seeing without making anything up!

Tailor your CV for each specific role you apply for so it’s relevant to the job role.

Re-read and run a spelling and grammar check. Mistakes in spelling or grammar are some of the key reasons a CV could be rejected in those crucial six seconds – if you’re not sure then ask a family member or friend to check it, or use our CV writing service.