These days you should write your CV in the first person (i.e. I have), rather than the third person (i.e. he/she has). However, you do not need to use “I” in a CV because its use is implied.
Do mention things you are good at, but do not go over the top. You can oversell yourself. Don’t mention things that you are bad at or say negative things about yourself in your CV.
Make sure that the CV you write conjures up the right image of you and your skills, capabilities and achievements. If you do not match the picture you have painted with your CV at the interview, then your application will not be taken further.
Be careful when you use abbreviations – they can be misunderstood.
If you are not happy with your CV or you only seem to get rejection letters then please get a professional CV writing service to write it for you, or ask for advice from Assessment4Potential.
It could save you a lot of time, lead to you getting less rejection letters and hopefully you should get an interview that much more quickly.
What Should You Leave Out?
Photos -: the only people who need to include these are models, actors, actresses and possibly air cabin crew.
Any sort of failure : exams, marriages, businesses, etc, reasons for leaving each job.
Salary information : this can only be used to reject your application. If an advertisement specifically requests this information you can always include in your cover letter.
Fancy patterns/borders : these detract from your presentation. Title pages, binders and folders are usually unnecessary and can be off-putting (though if you are doing a special presentation, enclosing your CV in a binder may look more impressive).
Do not include a list of publications if you are a scientist, unless they are asked for.
Leave out age : (put in date of birth instead), weight, height, health, or any other personal information that is irrelevant to your application.
Do not use poor quality photocopies of your CV – they make it look as though you are sending off your CV to lots of companies and that you may not be too bothered who you work for.
What information will you need?
Introduction : You should gather together all of the information required below. You will probably not use all of this information in your CV but it will provide you with useful reference material when it comes to preparing for interviews.
Personal Details : Your full name, address, home telephone number, date of birth, marital status (put only single or married down on your CV, if you are divorced then put single, if you are separated you are still married – never list any sort of failure on a CV) and nationality (you may want to include this if you are applying for jobs abroad).
Education / Qualifications : List your qualifications and educational history, for example list your professional qualifications, membership of professional associations and professional ID numbers. If you recently completed a college or university degree or diploma, etc, then you may want to list the courses you studied if the subject you studied was relevant to your target job.
Training Courses : List any work related training courses that you attended, including company courses and any you attended on your own initiative. If you obtained a qualification on any course please list it. You only need to list the important courses you attended; no one really cares if you went on a time management course as everyone gets sent on these courses.
Work Experience : If you have been working for a number of years you probably do not need to include any part-time jobs, vacation jobs, voluntary work or unpaid work experience. Charity work could be included in your interests however you might want to include these jobs if they covered a period of unemployment, or a time when you were not working for any other reason, or you feel that some of the experience you gained will be useful in your next job.
You should normally concentrate on your two most recent jobs (unless you were only there for a short time), because employers are usually most interested in these. Start with your most recent or last job and work backwards.
For each position (treat internal promotion as a new job and record the dates separately) list your job title (e.g. Manager, Supervisor, etc), the job title of the person you reported to (e.g. Director, Manager, etc) and when you started and finished in each job.
Give the name of the company and include a brief description of the service they provide (using the terms they would use to describe themselves).
Set out your main responsibilities, achievements, duties and skills that could be transferred to another employer. Include your level of responsibility if any, e.g. ‘responsibility for departmental budget of £100K and managed 10 staff’. In particular list any achievements you had in each position, including increases in sales/productivity and cost savings made. Quantify your achievements if possible. ‘Increased sales by £100K’ is more interesting and positive than just saying ‘Increased sales’.
You should try to include some achievements such as meeting deadlines, budgets, etc, and any information that may be relevant to your next job.
Major Achievements : When you are listing your achievements in this section, only list 3 to 6 of your most important work achievements; your other achievements can be described under the “work experience” section.
You should only list achievements that are relevant to your next job and indicate how you achieved them.
This section is very important, as an employer will only invite you for an interview if they can see a benefit in doing so. Your achievements may sell you to an employer and make them choose you for an interview rather than someone else. For this reason it is vital that you think carefully about your achievements.
Other Experience : List any computer skills you have, including the make and type of equipment you are familiar with, the software and operating system used, e.g. IBM compatible PC, Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Office 97. If you have foreign language skills that may be relevant for any jobs that you are applying for please list them and indicate whether your skills are spoken, written, business or technical. Please also indicate your level of fluency: fluent, good working knowledge, etc.
You should only list these skills if they are relevant to the jobs you are applying for as no one really wants to hear about a French language course you did at school a long time ago. If relevant to your next job please include your typing or shorthand speeds. Interests / Hobbies : List your interests, hobbies and any sports you play. List any positions of responsibility you hold or have held in any club or organisation and say what your responsibilities and achievements were.
References : You do not normally need to list referees on a CV, but it is a good idea to think about whom you could ask now.
Summary : List your major skills, strengths, personal qualities and achievements. Be specific, e.g. good team player, excellent written skills, versatile, able to motivate others, etc. Look at your staff appraisals or at your references.
For a professional CV contact Lynn.
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Lynn Tulip Career Management Consultant M. 07801 689801 S. margot121 W. https://www.assessment4potential.com |
