Tips for CV Writing
• If a CV is more than 3 pages long then everything on the third page and beyond is unlikely to be read. Keep your CV to a maximum of 3 pages. No one wants to read your life story. Not all of it is relevant, and not everyone has the time.
• When CVs are scanned the reader cannot be bothered to read sentences. They want to pick out the keywords to see if the person has the experience and expertise required. This is one reason why it is useful to bolden the important parts so they stand out to the person scanning the words. They also take up less room than sentences. When CVs are scanned the reader cannot be bothered to read sentences. They want to pick out the keywords to see if the person has the experience and expertise required. This is one reason why it is useful to bolden the important parts so they stand out to the person scanning the words. They also take up less room than sentences.
• Without a summary of your skills the reader needs to read the whole CV and pick out the skills themselves.
• Each time you send your CV out it should be targeted directly to the position you are going for.
• If your CV does not have a profile that says precisely what you are then the reader is going to have to guess by reading your CV. Make sure have a profile on your CV, and ensure it is tailored to the position.
• If you have 10 years experience, don’t put your education on the first page. It is really not as important as the most recent experience you have. Clients want highly skilled contractors with recent and relevant experience - not graduates. If you have only been working for a couple of years, then you could consider adding education in the expertise and achievement section, but still put it all in the main section at the end. But don’t waste
• Having a good achievements section can put you above the rest who don’t. Achievements state the measurable benefits you provided to your clients that justified your pay cheque. They are things you did that saved time, saved money, made more money, won more business, and so on.
• Too much use of the word ‘I’ can appear self indulgent and does not appear as professional. Remove the use of it entirely. Use action words like designed, improved, completed, or initiated.
• Writing a CV well involves putting yourself in the shoes of the people who are going to read it. The front page needs to convince the reader in no uncertain terms that you are the best person for the role.
• CVs should be no more than two pages, on good (e.g. 90-100gsm) white paper, typed or word-processed, and preferably in a font no smaller than 12 point.
Format:
• Name
• Contact details
• Profile Statement - The statement should be no more than 2-3 lines in length and it should be filled with the kind of "attribute" words which will help the reader identify you as a potential candidate for the kind of role that you want to get. To take a couple of examples:
o A highly organized and experienced Payroll/Human Resources Administrator, with excellent communication and IT skills
o Self-motivated, committed software development team leader with over ten years experience developing large scale, robust systems to high quality standards using multiple platforms and languages
• Bulleted list of key achievements and skills - trying to keep each one to no more than a single line, and using "action" words which reinforce the positive role which you had.
• Actual Professional experience - List jobs in reverse order and try to ensure that your most recent and relevant roles fit onto the first page.
o Name the company you were working for (with dates)
o Have 2-3 lines summarising the main parameters of that job.
o If you had multiple roles in the same company, have an entry for each.
o For the most recent role you may also like to list 4-5 points summarising your role and achievements. Try to use action words.
o Ensure that you can account for any gaps in the dates. In interviews, this is always one of the first things checked. Prospective employers use this history to try and build a picture of how the candidate's career has developed.
• List qualifications- (Highest first and work-based qualifications before academic ones). Add any courses which are relevant to the job role you are seeking too, and if these led to formal qualifications or not. For example, if you have attended a presentation skills course, this could be relevant for a lot of IT roles.
• List professional memberships
• Remainder of your personal information e.g. Full clean driving license, date of birth. Opinions seem to vary on whether you should mention your existing salary or package.
Agencies will almost certainly ask this straight away if you do not volunteer this information. However, you can distinguish clearly between "package" (performance bonus, car, BUPA, pension, creche etc..) and basic salary; and it is perhaps better to say what you are looking for, rather than what you had before.
• Personal interests – Does not have to be long. Team based sports are good as they show you have worked with others.
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