Top Tips for writing the perfect CV
1. Keep it simple. Use keywords and bullets, avoid sentences and complex phraseology.
2. Keep to the point. Think about who will read your CV. Keep your CV to 2-3 pages.
3. Be clear. No fancy fonts or colours, borders or graphics. Lots of white space. Use a clear font, use a word processor and print on good quality white paper.
4. Structure:
Personal Details
Name
Address
Telephone and Mobile Number
Email Address
Profile
Example:
“ sales and operations manager with particular skills in driving teams towards success”
Tailor your profile to the particular job you are applying for or to the outcome you wish to achieve (the particular job you want or function you want to work in).
And / or
Skills
“Sales, business development, bids and tenders, manager, recruitment, MS Office, HTML”
Listing skills makes them clear to anyone searching CV’s quickly for key information. It also helps to bring your CV to the attention of researchers, recruiters and employers when searching databases and the internet where your CV may be held (including their own internal databases).
Experience
List your experience next (most recent first) UNLESS you are a recent graduate in which case educational and academic achievements will come next.
Example:
PBR Telecommunications March 03 – April 2009
Sales and Operations Manager
- Managed a team of 12 sales and administrative staff
- Full P&L responsibility
- Increased sales by 23% year on year
- Consistently exceeded personal targets by at least 30%
- Improved staff retention by 100%
- Motivating team towards success
- Developing new systems and process to improve team performance
Facts and figures stand out and quantify your achievements. One can say, “I increased sales” but the next question will be, “by how much and in what time frame?” It is better to state, “Increased sales by 23% year on year”.
Don’t forget to include your key skills: “motivating a team”, “developing new systems” etc. Remember to make them relevant to the role for which you are applying or at least keep them generic enough to appeal to a broad range of employers in your target job function. Remember, you’ll have to demonstrate how you did these things in an interview!
Recruiters generally only look over the last one or two positions you held (or scan back over the last 3 years of your work history. This means your most recent jobs should contain the most information. You can save space by reducing the number of bullet points you make in jobs you held further back in your career (EXCEPT if they highlight new skills or relevant skills that you have not already had the opportunity to mention).
Education
Start with your most recent achievements and work backwards. If you are a graduate with little or no work experience then this section should come before your employment history or work experience.
Example:
Cambridge University Sept 1994 – July 1998
International Business Studies with Spanish
Graduated 1st class honours.
Interests
An employer will be interested in you as a person, your ability to ‘fit’ within the company’s existing team and culture. Your interests will also show your more personal side. Interests that show commitment, dedication, the ability to lead etc may all be of interest to a prospective employer.