When you are searching for a job, you CV will be handed to a potential employer in amongst a pile of others. The job market is an extremely competitive industry in which to find a position, and therefore you should do everything in your power to ensure your CV outshines the competition! It should be well presented and structured in a way that flows and doesn’t leave the document sounding disjointed.
Before sitting down and writing your CV, begin by making a list of your best points relating to the industry that you are interested in. Try to analyze your good qualities and think about what you feel you can do better that anyone else.
The CV’s structure is fairly simple. It should begin with the most relevant and important information. You are trying to entice the employer. Once the reader has been captivated by your career history, they will be more likely to read on and learn more.
It is important to begin any CV with the obvious details eg name, telephone number and address. You can include your date of birth and nationality but this is not compulsory.
You should then write about your work experience to date. This should be in a format displaying your most recent position first. If you have been in a certain industry for many years, and have therefore worked for many different environments, pick out the positions that are most relevant to the job that you are applying for. Include the applicable aspects of your previous jobs. Highlight the skills, abilities and unique qualities that you feel you brought to each prior post. If on the other hand, you have limited work experience, just try to state any work experience that you do have and include why you are interested in this career.
The format should be set out with the company name first followed by your title there, the dates you worked there, a brief description of your day to day duties and all the responsibilities and achievements that you feel are relevant to the position your are applying for.
Underneath your job history, you should have a section dedicated to your achievements. These should be well thought out as employers will learn a lot about you from what you deem important enough to include.
Following this, you should include your Education and Qualifications. As with the job history section, you should begin with the most recent qualification and specify where you studied and exactly what you achieved. Statistically, this is the section in which people tend to embellish and exaggerate. Don’t! Because this is so common, a lot of employers will check to see whether the information your have provided is accurate.
After writing about your education, it is advisable to write a short paragraph regarding any extra-curricular activities that you may be involved in. This should be kept relatively simple. Try to include something that shows that you enjoy team sports as employers will see that you are dedicated and loyal.
There should then be a short section dedicated to your general skills. This is where you should mention whether or not you have a driving license as well as any foreign languages and IT skills you may have.
At the end of you CV, you can write one or two names of past employers or teachers/lecturers that have said that they will give you a reference. It is a good idea to write your reference’s name, address, number, company that they work for and position they hold incase employers wish to contact them. Like your date of birth and nationality, this is not obligatory.
Once the content and structure have been decided, you should think about presentation. The best CV’s are clear, to the point and logical. Most employers prefer CV’s that are about two pages, so try to say as much about yourself in as little words as possible. This will show potential employers that you are capable of recognizing the most important aspects required for a job.
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