Writing your CV
An employer or recruitment consultant will potentially be looking at many other CVs. Your CV therefore needs to make you stand out and ensure you make it to interview. It needs to demonstrate that you are the right person for the job by highlighting specific skills you have to offer. It must highlight your achievements and how they relate to the specific job you are applying for. It must meet the needs of the target organisation where possible. This means a single generalist CV is unlikely to be sufficient - it must give the reader a clear indication of why you should be considered for this role. A CV should be a selling document and form the basis of a script for talking about yourself at interview.
Although there are exceptions, the general layout should look something like the following:
Personal Details
Personal Statement with a clear objective (Optional)
Key Skills
Career Summary
Key Achievements
Training
Qualifications
Career History
Where information clearly highlights your suitability for the vacancy you're applying for, and enhances your chances of being short-listed, include this information near the beginning of the CV. For example, if you are a recent graduate and you do not have a great deal of work experience, your qualifications should appear nearer the top of the document.
Despite what you may have heard, there are no real rules governing the length of your CV. Through experience we have seen that different beings have different preferences and expectations where CVs are concerned. In general, try and limit yourself to a maximum of 2 pages. However, if you just can't make it fit and you have been concise, present it on 3.
When describing your previous experience and responsibilities, you should use pro-active descriptions such as: Achieved, Formulated, Planned, Broadened, Generated, Managed, Represented, Completed, Implemented, Shaped.
If you've undertaken very similar tasks and responsibilities in all of your jobs, you will probably want to avoid noting down all of these jobs on your CV. A solution to this is to simply provide a brief summary of your career history, with a more detailed section outlining the practical skills and experience you have gained from all of these.
If you don't have many qualifications to include in your CV, you can still emphasis skills and experience you have gained in your work or elsewhere.
If a lack of qualifications is hindering your progress you could apply for part-time training, increasing your qualifications and demonstrating a willingness to learn to potential employers.
