How to write a successful CV

WHAT IS A C.V?

 Curriculum Vitae  means   ‘Course of Life’

‘A brief account of ones education, qualifications and previous occupations.’ 

The Oxford English Dictionary

Head hunters, recruitment specialists and Human Resources managers see it as a ‘Sales Document’ one that will get you the interview not the job!

You will be the person who gets yourself the job. The word Brief is important. It can be tempting to oversell and write reams so here are some pointers for an effective C.V.      

       

PURPOSE OF THE CV

Your CV is aimed at grabbing the attention of those reading it. It needs to help the reader tune in to ‘WIIFM’  ‘What’s In It For Me!’ or in the case of a company WIIFT What’s In It For Them.

For this reason Focus on each position you have held think or what you have done, you need to show:

§  The achievements that you have accomplished

§  The problems you have solved

§  How you have saved the company money?

§  How you have saved the company time?

§  Where you increased their sales?

You can quantify every statement that you make:

§  Which positions you have held

§  The responsibilities and achievements within them

§  Evidence of Leadership

§  Evidence Of Teamwork

The Experts Say

1. Remember - the aim of the CV is to get an overview 
2. Don’t lie on your CV – the truth will come out in the interview 
3. Pay attention to details – look at fonts, alignment, spelling, grammar and overall presentation

PROFESSIONAL

Research has shown that Recruiters very rarely appreciate Whacky C.V’S. In a competitive world it might be tempting to try to make your C.V stand out from the crowd. It is a big risk and recruiters are much more likely to consider a conventional C.V. They are busy people and can deal more effectively with what they accept as normal and indeed expect to see.

• Brief = max 2 pages
• No matter how specialist or experienced you are A recruiter will not appreciate a novel landing on their desk!
• Obey the 2 page Rule maximum.
• Leave a white space to make it easy to read.                 

Remember

The Interview is the place where you expand on all your experience if there is a gap in your career history… 

There are essentially two ways you can deal with gaps in your work history, whatever the reason for them may be. Firstly, you can draw the reader’s attention to them by highlighting them in the most positive way possible, e.g. Career Break – state this and show the relevant positive experiences you gained during your time off. Alternatively, you can change the format of your CV from the more ‘traditional’ chronological style to the functional style CV.

Relevance

Every CV should be drawn up with the aim of getting a specific job. This will help you focus on what the specific requirements of the job are, and then on showing how your experience demonstrates your ability to fulfill those requirements.

Top Tip = New CV for each new job application

Have a template that has all your dates, training and qualifications on it and always individualise the:

• Summary /Personal Profile
• Descriptions of your achievements,
• Skills
• Responsibilities to the job specification you are applying for. 

Fresh Learning offers a range of training and support with CV writing skills. For more information, send us a message using the contact form on the right-hand side of this post or email hello@freshlearning.eu.

Tweets por @FreshLearningHQ