How to Create a Great CV

Attitudes towards CVs and resumes change over the years and it’s hard to keep up with what employers are looking for these days. One thing we can be sure of, however, is that recruiters are pushed for time – they don’t have all day to look over your CV, so it needs to be eye-catching and interesting from the very start. Here are a few tips to help you create that CV you always wanted.

The first thing to do is get yourself in the right state of mind regarding the purpose of a CV. Will a CV get you a job? No. Will it get you an interview? Yes. So, to create the most effective CV we need to focus on including information that will get us to the interview stage. Here’s what we do.

Firstly, you don’t need to include the words “CV”, ”  Curriculum   Vitae ” or “Resume” at the top of your CV. If the person who is reading it can’t figure out what it is then either they shouldn’t be reading it or you have a really bad CV!

The first thing to have at the top of your CV is your name (in nice bold print) followed by your contact details. Remember, your contact details – especially your phone number – are vital. They must be 100% correct as this is the only way the employer can contact. One error in your phone number and that interview opportunity goes out the window. You might also want to think about the phone numbers you supply. Don’t bother including a home phone number if you’re never at home. Just include your mobile number if that’s the best way to contact you by phone. And while we’re on the subject of phones you might want to think about the voicemail message you have. Is it suitable for a potential employer to hear?

Now we get in to the main part of your CV and this should start with a Career Profile. Your profile should be a 3 to 5 sentence mini-advertisement placed beneath your personal details. It introduces you to the potential employer and should make them want to learn more about you. Your career profile should focus on key experience, relevant qualifications, key knowledge, relevant training and personal attributes. In a nutshell, it should tell them three things: what you have done in the past, what you have to offer and what you are looking for. Spend as much time as you can preparing your Career Profile as it is quite possibly the most important part of your CV and there is a pretty good chance it will be the first thing read by the recipient of your CV.

Your Career Profile should be followed by details of your work history. How much you include is up to you but you probably don’t want to go back more than 10 or 15 years. Firstly, anything we did more than 15 years ago may well be irrelevant in today’s job market. Secondly, we don’t want to give too much of an indication of how old we are. When you’re adding information about your work it can be very tempting to simply list all your duties. Stop! A good CV should show the positive impact of your work by using statements indicating responsibilities and achievements rather than a list of what you did on a day-to-day basis.

We are now ready to include details about education and training. The education section should include information on schools, colleges or universities attended and qualifications gained. List the most recent education first but think about the relevance of this information to the employer. Bear in mind, the older we get the less important our high school education is to an employer. It’s much better to focus on recent and relevant training and development. And the key word in the last sentence is “relevant”. Focus only on training you have undertaken that is relevant to the job you are applying for. However, you can think further afield than just the training courses you have attended and have a certificate for. You might also want to consider in-house courses, e-Learning, distance learning, attendance at conferences and seminars, participation in action-learning groups, secondment opportunities and ongoing courses.

Your CV is now shaping up nicely but a question that is often asked is whether or not hobbies and interests should be included? Although not essential, it can be a good idea to include your hobbies and interests. For example, if you’re going for a job as a sales assistant in a bookshop, it makes sense to include reading as one of your hobbies. Furthermore, interesting hobbies can enliven an otherwise conventional CV. A care worker who is a champion water-skier – wow! Sports and physical recreation activities are also useful to include because they indicate you are fit and healthy.

Focus on the above mentioned content and you are going to have a CV that gets attention. One last thing we need to think about, however, is the overall appearance. I can’t stress enough the importance of the first half page of your CV. I would recommend you always perform the following quick test. Simply fold your CV in half and read just the top half of the first page. Is it interesting? Does it make you want to learn more about the person? If the answer to these questions is yes, then the CV has passed the test. If the answer is no, what can be done to make it more interesting? Other factors you should consider regarding the appearance of your CV are to not make it any more than two pages long, use good quality paper, use a font size between 10 and 12, and make sure the font is common and easily readable, use consistent and clearly visible headings, use a uniform approach to alignment, put your name in the footer (especially on the second page), check your spelling and grammar, have someone else read your CV for ambiguity and, if possible, create and send a PDF (Portable Document Format) version.

Good luck with creating the perfect CV. Gary Bedingfield Training offer cost-effective CV workshops and you can find more information on our website.