Hi there,
Please see below some useful hints from our recently published article
on UK CV Writing;
CV Writing ? Write a Perfect CV
Your CV is a gateway to getting an interview for that ideal job. It is
your opportunity to provide a good first impression but you only have
two sides of A4 paper in which to do it. It is not surprising then
that most people have trouble getting started.
Firstly, you need to know what the employer is thinking.
The employer suddenly has a vacancy. Filling the vacancy is going to
take up valuable time that he would rather spend doing his normal job.
He would love to find the perfect person immediately rather than
plough through hundreds of CV?s. It is often a dull, thankless task.
The employer has a job description in front of him. It includes
experience or qualifications that are essential for the job and some
attributes that are desirable but not absolutely necessary.
He starts going through the pile of CV?s on his desk. He scans each
one for about 30 seconds and makes a judgement.
He simply hasn?t got time to read the CV that is more than two pages
and all the relevant information is hidden in long paragraphs. - He
files it in the bin.
Fancy formatting, coloured text or multiple fonts do not impress him.
Is this person trying to hide their lack of experience for the job
behind an artistic CV? ? He files it in the bin.
He notices spelling mistakes and poor punctuation. This person is just
sloppy! ? He files the CV in the bin.
He breaths a sigh of relief, the pile on his desk is smaller already.
He makes another coffee and then starts reading?????????.
This should tell you a few things about writing your CV.
Keep it concise and to the point. The employer needs to see your work
experience, skills and achievements in the first 30 seconds of
scanning your CV.
He knows what he is looking for. You have what he is looking for.
Don?t distract him from your relevant skills by adding in lots of
unnecessary information.
Keep it simple. Plain formatting, simply laid out under headings. The
employer wants to see exactly when, where and what you have done.
Fancy formatting makes your CV difficult to read. It may make your CV
stand out from the rest but for the wrong reasons.
Keep checking your english. Good spelling, punctuation and grammar are
essential. It is the first step in your personal presentation to an
employer. It says a lot about you. Also, poor english distracts the
employer from reading the content of your CV.
Now the content:
Contact details should be displayed on the first page. When he decides
to invite you to interview you want him to see immediately how to
contact you before he changes his mind!
Personal details should be limited to those that are absolutely
necessary. Most employers expect to see your nationality and date of
birth but you can choose to leave these out if you think they may go
against you.
Other personal details such as number of dependents, driving license
and marital status can be included if it is not going to make your CV
too long by including them. These can help employers to get a rounded
picture of the person they are going to interview. Do not include
names and ages of children or name of spouse. The employer is not
interested at this stage.
Interests can be included but only in one or two lines. It may provide
a starting point at interview for general conversation before getting
down to serious questions about your work experience. It also gives a
rounded picture of you without taking up too much space on the CV.
Profile is positioned prominently in your CV and should be used to
sell yourself in one paragraph. It is an opportunity to sum up your
skills, experience and general suitability for the job for which you
are applying.
Career History or Work Experience. The heading you use depends on the
length of time you have been in fulltime employment. If you have
recently left school or university you should use the heading ?Work
Experience? and include all placements, paid and unpaid work. If you
have been in fulltime employment for the last two jobs this should be
under the heading of ?Career History?. Do not use both headings in the
CV. Whichever heading you use you must include dates, name and
location of company and a brief description of what your job entailed
including all the positive contributions you made to the company.
Education should be described in terms of selling yourself to the
employer. Include all relevant courses, dates passed and name of
school or college. But, leave out poor grades and failures. These will
not help you get invited for interview.
If you have a university degree you can leave out all of your lower
qualifications. Mature applicants may want to leave out ?Education?
altogether, as your career history and skills are probably more
important.
Skills can be described under three headings: Technical Skills,
Professional Courses and Additional Skills. Technical skills are those
related to a technical, mechanical or engineering job. You need to
list your skills and how recently you have used them e.g. Java
Programming used in the last 3 years. Professional Courses are those
that you have attended specifically for a particular job e.g. sales
courses, hairdressing. Additional skills are anything else that may be
relevant e.g. languages, keyboard skills, health and safety courses.
Finally: Make it easy for him!
Remember, the employer has very little time. He doesn?t know you yet
and is only interested in what you can offer him and his company.
Make it easy for him to:
Scan your CV,
Identify that you have the skills he is looking for.
Pick up the phone to invite you in for an interview.
E & O E - Copyright 2005 CVwriting.net
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