HOW TO WRITE YOUR CV (with Templates)
5 mins read
A CV is a snapshot or an overview of your skills, education and work experience. It is a summary of you as a person and your professionalism. Therefore, a CV written well will help the employer to quickly identify whether you are the perfect person for the role. Sometimes a covering letter or application form is required along side a CV.
Why do I need a CV?
In this current competitive climate, a CV must capture the attention of an employer and help you line up interviews. It should also highlight the skills you have that is suited for the job thus making you the ideal candidate. Structuring and wording a CV can make the difference between securing an interview or not.
Why should I include in my CV?
What is a CV?
A CV will vary somewhat depending on the industry to show off
individual skills, but there are certain sections that every employer expects. These are:
Contact Information
The first section of your CV tells employers your most basic details and should contain your name, profession and details on how to contact you. Titling your CV with ‘CV’ or ‘curriculum vitae’ is dated and wastes vital space. Your name is sufficient instead.
In terms of contact details, an email and phone number are the minimum you should use. It used to be a standard rule to list your full address but it’s not necessary anymore, and just your town and county are enough.
CV EXAMPLE 1.
The first section of your CV tells employers your most basic details and should contain your name, profession and details on how to contact you. Titling your CV with ‘CV’ or ‘curriculum vitae’ is dated and wastes vital space. Your name is sufficient instead.
In terms of contact details, an email and phone number are the minimum you should use. It used to be a standard rule to list your full address but it’s not necessary anymore, and just your town and county are enough.
Some people also include a LinkedIn profile which is another great way to show off your skills, but if you are going to do this, you must ensure it’s updated.
Take a look at just one example of how to set out these details:
The first part of your CV, positioned at the top of the page, should contain your name, professional title and contact details. Under no circumstances should you title your CV with ‘curriculum vitae’ or ‘CV’ as it’s a waste of valuable space. Treat your name as the title instead.
When it comes to your contact details, your email address and phone number(s) are essential. Once upon a time, it was customary to include your full address on your CV. Today, you simply need to list your town and county.
If you like, you can also include a link to your LinkedIn profile in this section – but only if it’s up to date!
Here is an example of how your name, professional title and contact details might look:
Forename Surname | Professional Title
Location: Town, County
Phone: 01234 567890
Email: name@example.com
Personal profile
Your personal profile – career summary, professional profile, or personal statement is the next part of your CV. This short paragraph gives a quick summary of you, your experience and goals.
Every job you apply for requires a customised profile, showing off certain skills which that job requires. It needs to be snappy, no more than a few lines, and should ideally address:
A personal profile, also known as a personal statement, career objective and professional profile, is one of the most important aspects of your CV. It’s a short paragraph that sits just underneath your name and contact details giving prospective employers an overview of who you are and what you’re all about.
You should tailor your profile to every job you apply for, highlighting specific qualities that match you to the role. Aim to keep your personal statement short and sweet, and no longer than a few sentences. To make the most of this section, you should try to address the following:
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Who are you?
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What can you offer the company?
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What are your career goals?
Key skills:
Typically, this would sit under your personal profile before your employment history and will highlight four to five relevant skills. Perfect for immediately catching a potential employer’s eye.
Work Experience / Employment History:
This section is used to highlight your previous employment, including any relevant internships or unpaid experience. Start with your most recent job first as this is the most relevant to a prospective employer and work back from there.
Start off each listing with your job title, employer, employment dates and an outline of the role. From there, list key responsibilities in bullet points, making sure to highlight skills and achievements. Where possible, back up your points with figures that really show what you did rather than just telling them.
CV EXAMPLE 2.
Focus on the parts of your job(s) that most relate to the one you’re applying for, to show how you could be a good match. For those who have been in employment for many years, your employment list might seem unwieldly, but you can play down details of old or irrelevant jobs. Anything more than 10 years old can generally be deleted.
Below is an outline:
Your employment history section gives you a chance to outline your previous jobs, internships and work experience.
List your experience in reverse chronological order as your recent role is the most relevant to the employer.
When listing each position of employment, state your job title, the employer, the dates you worked and a line that summarises the role. Then bullet point your key responsibilities, skills and achievements, and bolster each point with powerful verbs and figures to support each claim and showcase your impact.
It helps to choose the duties most relevant to the job you’re applying for, especially if it’s a long list. If you have many years’ worth of experience, you can reduce the detail of old or irrelevant roles. If you have positions from more than 10 years’ ago, you can delete them.
Here’s an example of how to lay out each position of employment on your CV:
mmm yyyy – mmm yyyy
Company Name, Location
Role Title
Outline
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Key responsibilities
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Key achievements/projects
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Education and qualifications
As with your employment history, you should list your most recent education or training first, then work back. Set out names of institutions, dates attended, qualifications and what you achieved.
For those who have recently graduated, showcase your degree, GCSEs or A-Levels (or similar) as such:
Institution name – Dates attended (from – to)
If relevant to the job, anyone with a degree should list modules, assignments or projects undertaken.
For seasoned candidates, or those with a long list of certificates under their belt, you can list your achievements as such:
Qualification, grade – Institution – Year
Like your experience section, your education should be listed in reverse chronological order. Include the name of the institutions and the dates you were there, followed by the qualifications and grades you achieved.
If you have recently left education, you may write your degree, A-levels or GCSEs (or equivalents) like so:
Institution name – Dates attended (from – to)
Qualification/subject – Grade
If you have a degree, you could list a few of the most relevant modules, assignments or projects underneath.
For professionals that are a little further along in their careers, or have many certificates in their repertoire, you can lay your qualifications out in this way:
Qualification, grade – Institution – Year
Additional sections:
Most CVs include additional sections that serve to enhance and strengthen skills. If you have room, you could include the following:Hobbies/Interests: This should be at the end to round off your CV. It will give it all an extra boost, tell the employer a little about you whilst showing your potential to fit into the company. For example, if you’re going for a job in marketing, here’s the place to mention anything creative you do in your spare time such as blogging or writing.
Here are two downloadable CV templates. More can be found on word:
Other hot tips:
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When writing about your hobbies, avoid writing a list; instead write something that will make you stand out, such as coach a football team or something that will be transferrable to the role you are applying for.
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Write “References available on request” to keep you CV short and succinct.
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Use downloadable CV templates (see below) to help your with your formatting.
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Keep your CV to two pages. Check with the company what is required as some may want more information.
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Use big, bold font for each heading.
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Most CVs are written in Calibri or Aria fontl, size 10 – 12 point for the main body and 14 – 18 for the headings.
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Proof read your CV and ask others to do the same. It is important to remove typos.
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Most large companies use technology called Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to scan CV therefore using keywords and tailoring your CV for the role will give you a better chance of being shortlisted.
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Try to save your CV as a PDF as well as in Word as this allows employers to open it on any device.
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In the UK it is not necessary to include headshots for most roles.
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Under the Equality Act 2010, it is not legal for employers to ask for your age, date of birth and marital status.
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TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
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