A strong CV is the single most
important weapon in your job-hunting armoury.
There is no shortage of advice on CV preparation. However, the advice is very
variable in terms of quality and can even be contradictory. If, as a consequence, there is no definitive guide, there are at least some universal guidelines
that we can share with you.
We should begin by explaining that search firms and recruitment consultancies
rarely use the CV that you have prepared. Most will lift all the standard information from your CV and put it into their own format. That said, generally,
they will use your description of your work experience, verbatim.
Presentation
Your CV needs to be typed and emailable. If you keep a copy on your PC, this
also makes it much easier to update and amend. If all you have is a hand-written CV, however good it looks, it will need to be typed. A consultancy may do
this for you, but it will slow things down, at least a little, at the start, and, is unlikely to create the ideal opening impression.
Although a nicely spaced and thought through layout will help create the right
first impression, do not use colours, logos, unusual typefaces or any other formatting which will need to be stripped out before the CV can be used. The key
to good presentation is content.
Although sent by email, your CV should always be accompanied by a covering
email / letter, which should briefly draw attention to the reasons (which should be easily found in your CV) as to why your application is worthy of
consideration. If you bear in mind that recruitment consultants and recruiters get hundreds of CVs, you need to use your covering letter to make your CV
stand out and go to the top of the pile.
Content
Chronology
You need to account for all the years since you left school, in reverse
chronological order (starting with your most recent employment / study and working backwards). Do not leave gaps, which may cause irritation and suspicion
in equal measure, and do check, along with both your spelling and grammar, that all is correct and logical. Mistakes picked up on your initial contact with
an organisation will do nothing for your credibility.
Personal details
Your personal details should be brief and include your address and telephone
number, date of birth, marital status and current salary. Details such as identity numbers, your place of birth, your robust good health, your children's
names, your political or religious orientation, etc., are not required at this initial stage.
Employment history & professional experience
Your employment history should be summarised with a list of employers and
dates and then supported by a more substantive description of your professional experience. This is probably the greatest challenge when writing a CV and,
as consultants, the area that we would be most critical of.
Many people have average academic and professional records and their best
opportunity to shine is by describing their work experiences as effectively as possible. Time spent on this is rarely wasted and working on this aspect of
your CV can often be the difference in securing the interview that may have a profound effect on the rest of your life. Treat it like a business report:
relevant, concise and full of interest. Presenting a rehash of a generic job description is a missed opportunity. If you were going to interview someone,
what would you want to know?
Focus on your job title, record of any promotions (with dates), details of
staff supervised, reporting and functional responsibilities, type of work completed, systems and areas covered, skills and technical knowledge acquired,
significant achievements and exposures to operational management. It is unlikely that anyone is going to spend more than 2 or 3 minutes scanning your CV, so
it is up to you to provide them with the reasons to meet you.
Your most recent employment (depending on length of service) should be given
most exposure and this progressively reduced for previous employers. Also give your reasons, particularly if they are positive career development reasons,
for leaving one employer and joining another. Moving for a higher salary or more convenient location are valid, but not compelling.
Professional & academic records
Your professional and academic record should be comprehensively covered, including the schools
or colleges you attended. With regard to schoolwork, you can choose between declaring the number of passes you have for a certain type of qualification
versus listing the specific grades you achieved. If your grades were poor, you may wish to avoid giving details. However, further education requires more
detail and should be covered with the dates for college or university attended. List the course title, grade achieved and date of award. Indicate any study
that was undertaken on a part-time or distance-learning basis.
List professional qualifications with dates of completion, indicating first
time passes where appropriate. If you are part-qualified and still studying, indicate your progress to date and estimated date of completion. If you are
part-qualified and have given up, leave it off. Do include in your CV anything which could raise doubts in a potential recruiter's mind, unless there is no
option.
Personal interests
By all means personalise a CV by including interests and achievements outside
of work. Keep these brief and genuine. Too many interests, particularly those which may conflict with work, may give the wrong impression.
Responding to job ads
When responding to a job ad, it is legitimate to amend your work experience to
suit the demands of an advertisement. However, if you do use different versions of your CV, keep a record of every version sent.
Unless specifically requested, do not include copies of certificates, letters
of commendation, reports, your latest personality profile or photographs of yourself. Do not make statements referring to your honest and diligent nature -
that should be taken for granted and serves more to raise the question.
References
At the CV stage, you should leave out details of referees, particularly
concerning your current employer. If you have not provided details, then a reference cannot be taken up before you have accepted a position, thus avoiding a
very rare but potentially embarrassing situation. References can easily be provided as and when they are necessary.
Caution
Finally, no matter what the temptation, do not lie on your CV or include
anything that you cannot substantiate at interview. These days, especially for more senior positions, checks are becoming more common and if you have
secured a position on a misrepresentation of a verifiable fact, you will not only be dismissed, but may also be prosecuted.
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