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What is a good CV?     

Only a CV that gains you an interview is worth having.

Your CV may look great; have a fantastic image and all the relevant sections. The CV may also tell an employer how amazing and wonderful you are, but if your CV does not gain you interviews then something needs changing.

Sell yourself through your CV

With many people who are applying for work, they will either have a CV that does not sell their skills and Qualities or a CV that records the skills and qualities they have, which are not relevant to the job role they are applying for.

Targeted CV

You need to target your CV to the industry you are applying for. To do this think about the skills, qualities and duties for the job role you are applying for. Read the job specification for the job role and ensure all the essential requirements are recorded on your CV. Take out any information that is not relevant to the job you are applying for. On average employers often “skim” through the pile of applicants’ CVs, spending around 30 seconds reading each CV; this is often due to the large volume of CVs applicants send for every advertised job. Once an employer has created a narrowed-down pile of the job applicants CVs, they will then spend longer dissecting each CV to ensure they interview the candidates with the most relevant skills, qualifications and experiences.

Writing a Personal Profile

A personal profile is on average 4-5 lines describing all your skills and qualities that are relevant to the job role you are applying for. This should be a “Selling” paragraph that shows you at your best. Often the employer will read the personal profile first, if they like the sound of you they will continue to read your CV.

Use a powerful opening line; the opening line needs to catch the employer’s attention. What have you done that will impress an employer? What do you have that an employer will want? “With over 10 years of experience in retail management working with the UK’s leading retail companies, I have been responsible for increasing profits year on year for the past 6 years.” As you can see the opening line above highlights 3 key points to impress an employer:

10 years experience

Working with the UKs leading retail companies

Increasing the companies profits

How to create ideas for your Personal Profile

A great way to get your creative juices working is to mind-map; get an A4 piece of paper and draw a little picture of yourself in the middle (this can be a Stick-Person) draw on some hair, eyes, glasses, etc to represent you, like you would do when you were 10 yrs old (this is to get into the mind of your inner-child and will help you to be more creative) Think and write down everything you like about yourself, everything you are good at.

Most people find this hard to do at first, but once you get going you want to be able to stop. Don’t be shy; no one is going to see this, write down every little thing, not just worked related but anything you are good at. You may have recorded a verity of work, hobbies and family related task, now think what skills and qualities that make you good at this task? And record all of these.

Keeping going until you have exhausted your brain. As an example – Cooking – good timing, multi-tasking, planning ahead, following a list/recipe, work under pressure, experienced, good pallet, etc

Once you have done this, your mind-map will be full (and hopefully overcrowded) with task, skills and qualities. Now think about the industry you are applying to, think about the job duties, skills and qualities needed.

Circle (in a bright coloured pen) all the tasks, skills and qualities you have on your mind map that are related to your job goal. You will find that often a certain skill or quality will have been mentioned several times throughout your mind-map, write these down as these can often be your strongest transferable skill and quality (your selling point)

You now have a list of your strongest skills and qualities that are needed for the job you are applying for, this is the basis for your personal profile. Turn your list into a paragraph, adding a strong opening line. Re-read and then edit your personal profile 3 times/or until you are completely happy with your personal profile.

Having a CV (Or Curriculum Vitae meaning “Passage of Life”) is an important tool for all job searchers, as a CV records all your employment history and qualification on one document.

You can use your CV to prepare for interviews/interview questions, to assist you when completing application forms and for applying for work.

CV Image.

The layout of your CV is important, on average employers spend around 30 seconds initially “skimming” through your CV, this due to the amount of CVs employers receive for every advertised job role.

Keep your CV to 1 or 2 pages, use Headings and Breakers to split up the CV text, making it easier for the employer to read.

What to put on a CV

Contact Details.

Record your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. Ensure your telephone (and especially your mobile) number is correct, due to the number of times individuals change mobile phone companies and numbers, people often forget to update their CV.

Also, use a professional sounding e-mail address.

Personal Profile.

A personal profile is a paragraph around 4-5 lines recording all your key skills and qualities that are needed for the job you are applying for. This is often the most important part of the CV, as this is often the first section on the CV an employer looks for and reads. Ensure your personal paragraph shows you in your most positive light.

Employment History.

Start with your current or last job and work backward; record the company you work for (company name) date you worked there (just add the years you worked as this will help delete small periods of unemployment) job title and duties.

Keep your duties brief and relevant to the new job you are applying for. Often people will record information they felt was important, where you need to record the information and duties your potential new employer wants to know about.

Qualifications.

Record the education establishment, years attended and qualification achieved. Record qualifications achieved at school/college/university and qualifications achieved in employment.

Hobbies.

To end your CV record what you enjoy doing in your spare time, if possible record information that again is relevant to the job you are applying for. Never record “socialising with friends” as this is often mistaken for “drinking with friends”

Record any Volunteering experience as many employers enjoy see this very positively as it shows, commitment and dedication.

References.

You can either record your references, or record “references available on Request” As most employers will only ask for your references during or after the interview section of the application process.