A professional looking CV that clearly details your skills and experience will play a major part in whether or not you make it through to the interview stage. There are a few principles that you should adhere to:
Keep it neat – the only fate dirty CVs meet is landing up in the trash bins. So, make sure that your CV is neat and well organized.
Keep it small – no one has time to read pages after pages about you. Keep your CV as short as possibly. Try that it doesn’t go beyond three pages. After all, certain things should be left to discuss in the interview also.
Write short and crisp sentences – long sentences are di cult to read and understand. Use punctuation marks properly to keep your sentences short and crisp.
Ideally your CV will be between 2-3 pages long and include the following sections:
- Contact Details
- Educational Qualifications
- Key Skills / Strengths
- Employment History
- Hobbies & Interests
- Referees
- Contact Details
- Provide your contact details at the beginning of your CV. After your CV is shortlisted, the first thing a recruiter wants to do is give you an interview call. If your contact details are not easily found or are embedded somewhere in the text on second page, there are high chances of you losing the opportunity to the next candidate. So, provide a phone number and e-mail address where you can be reached.
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:
Provide your educational qualifications in chronologically descending order. People are more interested in finding out about your recent past. If you have not scored good marks, avoid providing the percentage of marks you scored. Work experience is more important than qualification. If you have a work experience, qualification takes a back seat. Provide information about your work experience
focusing on your achievements which display your skills. If you add some numbers to the achievements, it helps you in increasing the level of interest in a recruiter.
KEY SKILLS / STRENGTHS
Employers today often make up their mind about an applicant based on the key skills / strengths area so make sure you spend time developing this section. Your CV should be an accurate reflection of your skills and experience. If you don’t have the relevant skills to do the job then don’t apply.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Employers are more interested in what you are doing now, or have done recently. So if you are already in employment, focus on your career history first and then move on to your academic ualifications. (If you are a college-leaver or still in education, start with details of your education and academic achievements.) List all the jobs you have held chronologically, with the most recent first. For each give your job title, the name of the company and the period of employment. Follow this with a description of the role, your key responsibilities and remember to
highlight any achievements. For previous jobs keep the details briefer – unless they were more significant in terms of the post you are applying for.
HOBBIES & INTERESTS
Be truthful about your leisure interests. If you can tie them in with the job selection criteria, for example, to show that you are a team player, then do so, but never risk claiming something you can’t back up at interview. The chances are you’ll be found out.
REFEREES
Include contact details of at least two referees. At least one of these should be from your former employer. If you are a newly qualified graduate, then you should list your lecturer as a reference.
