CV’s

 

The majority of CV’s are only scanned in a matter of seconds by employers, so its vital that yours stands out from the rest!

Here are some tips on how you can make your CV eye catching and relevant to any employer.

 

1) Make sure your CV is no more than 2 pages long

- It should be a punchy and relevant overview

- You can expand on your experiences during your interview.

 

2) Order of information

- Always most recent first through to least recent

 

3) Be specific about you’re A-level grades and degree classification

- Employers will want to see them and will  tend to asumme they are poor if you haven’t put down specific details

 

4) Talk about your work experience (paid and otherwise)

- Use bullet points to show the relevant parts of your job
- Give evidence of your achievements and any leadership skills you have shown, as these are factors employers will be looking for.

 

5) Add anything which shows you to be over and above the norm

- Involvement in Bright Futures
- Sporting or extra-curricular activities
- Gap year travels 
- Especially committee/president/captain positions

 

6) If you chose to write a personal summary...

- Make sure you use power words, but try to avoid unnecessary jargon.

 

7) Make your CV relevant EVERY role you apply for

- If this means you write several versions that’s fine
- There’s no point applying for a sales job if your CV is geared towards a role in finance

 

8) Think about the layout of your CV

- Draw the eye to the relevant parts, and make sure it doesn’t look confused. 

- Clarity and simplicity will make the employer’s job easier, and show you as well organised.

 

9) Consider using different colours

- Fluorescent colours may be too extreme and lots of colour risks it looking like a 3 year old got hold of it on route but delicate colouring will automatically attract the eye in a pile of black and white.

 

10) Don’t forget your contact details!

- Nothing is more frustrating than someone who doesn’t put their phone number on their CV

- You are not doing yourself any favours by making yourself difficult to get hold of.

 

 

Ultimate Success With Your CV...

• Layout, does it suggest 
           - An organised candidate, from a tidy & accurate document
           - Or a chaotic mind, from a crammed CV
• Language, is it
           - Full of bland, generic words i.e. ‘challenged’, ‘liaised’, ‘involved in’
           - Or full of more positive with words such as ‘led’, ‘handled’, ‘managed’
• Chronology
           - Are there any gaps? Don’t just have years but months too
• Achievements
           - Do you just describe your past roles or the results you achieved?
• Order of information
           - Which is given first and last (least impressive should be last)
• Interests
           - What do they say about you?

               - Were you just a member or actively involved?