OBJECTIVE OF THE CV

A strong CV will increase your chances of getting an interview. 

You want to market your abilities, experience, qualifications, and capacity for the job. 

In order to write a great CV, you should; 

  • List your employment in date order, with the most recent first
  •  Have plenty of white space in it so it appears uncluttered 
  • Try to keep sentences short 
  • Check your spelling 
  • Avoid leaving any gaps in your career 
  • Include statistics and facts that prove your abilities 

200 seconds after a job is posted, the first applications are received. A CV is typically examined for 5–7 seconds on average. A single CV that is written from scratch and tailored for each job would be ideal. 

Only go into detail about skills that are relevant to the position, and be sure to give instances of when you’ve used those skills to good effect in the past. 

Use a basic Microsoft Word template with plenty of white space and a professional appearance. It should be written in a common font with a minimum type size of 11. Unless it is an academic CV or a portfolio for an art, design, or marketing role, the CV should be no longer than two pages. 

What to include in a CV: 

  • Employment History Education/Training 
  • Hobbies and Interests 
  • References  
  • Personal Details 
  • Personal Profile 
  • Key Skills/Abilities 

WHAT PERSONAL DETAILS SHOULD BE ON MY CV?

Your Name 

Since your CV serves as a marketing tool, make sure to write your name in a larger font (size 26, for example) than the rest of the document. 

You must omit your marital status, picture, NI number, nationality, and date of birth. 

Contact details 

Use your own personal email address or create a new account specifically for your job search, especially if your current email address is something like foxybabe@webaddress.com. Be sure to add your phone number; this will make it easier for potential employers to contact you. 

Personal Profile 

A personal profile statement, which is a brief description of your character traits, is an essential component of your CV.  It tells the reader what kind of person you are, the attributes and qualities that you possess, and the experiences you have. It must be written in the third person and use action words and positive words. 

An example: 

a self–motivated, reliable, and hardworking individual who works well as part of a team or equally well independently using their own initiative. Has good communication and customer service skills with the ability to build strong working relationships with both customers and colleagues at all levels. works well under pressure, completing any task to a high standard and within set deadlines. A flexible attitude and a willingness to undertake any training required to develop my existing skills 

Key Skills and Abilities 

Every employer is looking for a specific set of skills from job seekers that match the skills necessary to perform a particular job. The key skills are an extremely important part where you must put the key skills, experience, and knowledge you have relevant to the role. 

The key skills vary according to your area of work. 

Consider these issues, for instance, in the following work areas: 

Administration: 

  • What computer programs do you know? 
  • How many words per minute can you type? 

Catering: 

  • Do you hold a current Food Hygiene certificate? 
  • What qualifications do you have? 

Welder: 

  • What type of welding can you do? 

Retail: 

  • Can you use the till? 
  • Do you have any customer service qualifications? 

List about 4 or 5 of your key skills with simple bullet points. It can be very effective. 

If the position you’re applying for requires you to drive, you should probably reassure them that your driving record is spotless. If you’re applying for a web design position, you might want to point them to a website you made and mention the coding skills you have. 

Employment History 

When listing your experience, you must always begin with your most recent position and go back in time. Most employers now only look at the last ten years of your work history. If your employment history contains gaps, you might need to list more than this and provide an explanation. 

List your job title, employer name, dates (month and year), and primary responsibilities.

Education/Training 

The results of any exams you took to earn your GCSEs must be listed. 

You should write “Achieved a good standard of secondary education” if you did not take any exams. 

Training can also fall under this category, such as a food hygiene certificate, first aid certification, a CSCS card, etc. 

Don’t forget to mention where and when you accomplished this.

Do not list any certificates on your CV that are older than two or three years because they will either need to be updated or will be invalid. 

Hobbies and Interests 

Hobbies and other interests should be mentioned, especially if they involve social and civic engagement. These endeavors are crucial; they include belonging to clubs and teams in sports, societies, etc. The extent of your involvement in each of these activities provides the recruiter with hints about who you really are and what interests you.

Voluntary Work/Achievements 

Employers value volunteer experience on a resume. Whether the work was completed as part of a job or in between jobs, it demonstrates a proactive attitude toward improving yourself in a useful way. 

This has to be mentioned in the employment history. This strengthens the CV by allowing the use of the skills and abilities acquired through volunteer work as a supplement to the paid positions. 

Reasons for CV rejection: 

  • The experiences and achievements on your CV do not match the employer’s requirements Long CVs 
  • Too much information 
  • Too little information 
  • Spelling mistakes 
  • Your incorrect contact details 
  • Bizarre colors, unusual fonts and coloured paper 
  • Smudgy writing and poor quality paper