Your Curriculum Vitae (CV) is your chance to make that all important good first impression to prospective employers, and is your gateway to a job interview. It is an opportunity to convince an employer you’ve got the skills and experience they’re looking for. An employer may take only 15 seconds to decide to reject or approve your CV so it’s important to get it right! Read on to find out how!
Your CV should be well presented in a logical order, clearly written with correct grammar, spelling and punctuation. If in doubt get someone to check it for you.
1. Your personal details
The only details you need to include are contact details, name and address. Other information such as age, nationality and marital status are not usually included these days as employers are not allowed to use these as a basis for judging you fit for employment under anti-discrimination laws.
2. Personal Profile
This should include a short summary of:
- Personal qualities and skills
- work history and achievements
- career aims
This section should be kept brief and punchy to grab the readers attention- Remember you are selling yourself to the employer! You can cover each area in more detail later in the CV.
3. Employment history
You should start with your most recent job and work backwards. List the employers name, the dates you worked for them, the position you held and the duties that were involved. Elaborate on relevant jobs listing your achievements and skills.
You should try to avoid unexplained gaps in your employment history. If you took a year out, or were looking for work you should include this as well as any knowledge or skills gained during this period. If you simply omit it, the employer will wonder what you are trying to hide!
4. Education and training
Start with the most recent qualifications and work backwards towards your school ones. You should list
- university, college or school you attended
- dates and grade of each qualification
- work related courses, if relevant
5. Interests and achievements
Include any hobbies or interests that may be relevant to your application. For example clubs or societies which show you enjoy meeting people for jobs that involve working with the public. Avoid anything too generic such as cooking, socialising etc which is of little interest to an employer.
6. Additional information
This section should be included if there is anything else relevant you need to tell an employer about. Explaining any gaps in work history or mentioning any other additional skills such as a driving licence and Foreign languages.
7. References
Normally you would try to include at least two references, one of which should be work related, listing contact details and stating what their relationship was to you.
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