CV’s are a representation of your personal experience and learning and no single design or layout will work for everyone.  The style and content of a CV’s may also vary depending on the level of role you are applying for and the type of company which is looking to recruit.  However, you may find some of the suggestions below helpful when designing your CV.

 

Content

 

When advertising a vacancy employers and recruiters will normally receive a significant number of applications.  These applications will need to be reviewed and a short least of the most suitable candidates produced.  In order for your application to stand out from the rest of the applications your CV will need to demonstrate quickly and clearly that you have the relevant skills.  The person reviewing your CV may not have the time to read through the whole content of your CV in order to establish if you have the desired skills particular if it is a length CV.  For this reason we would usually recommend that the content of a CV be kept to a maximum of two pages and where possible the particular skills and experience which are listed in the advertisement are easily identifiable on your CV on the page.  Please remember a CV should provide a flavour of your experience and skills, it is not an in-depth manual of how, when and what you have done in your work life.  In-depth information can be discussed during an interview if the employer or recruiter feels it is relevant.  You should keep the contents of your CV concise and to the point and simple to read.

 

Design and layout

 

It’s so easy to go wrong at this stage. A poorly-chosen font or an ill-judged layout and it could be curtains. If you can remember to keep things easy on the eye and you will not go too far wrong.  First thing to think about it is whether to include a personal statement at the head of your CV.  This is a brief summation or introduction of you and your career path.  However, since employers and recruiters are just looking for keywords, chances are they might not read the statement, especially if it’s more than a line or two. So if you can’t be original in the statement, leave it out.  The arrangement of your CV depends on your situation. So, if you’re a graduate, you’ll want to list your academic achievements first. But if you’ve got 15 years of experience, you should list out your career history and achievements first, coming to your academic record later.  Arrange your employment history in date order, beginning with the most recent.  You might feel that the earlier jobs don’t warrant as much detail as your current job or more recent jobs (if at all). This is especially true if you started your work life on a different career path.

 

General

 

Ensure you tailor your CV to the position you are applying for.  This may mean highlighting relevant skills and experience that are specific to the role and reducing or removing details which you believe will not be of interest and only distract from what type of person is being sort.  Keep your CV true and factual don’t try to expand the truth as this could have repercussions at a later stage.  Unless specifically requested avoid using pictures and or uploading logos or images on to your CV.  This can cause issues with uploading and viewing documents, which in itself may rule you out of the process.  Please always ensure you check your spelling and grammar. For many employers this is something that may rule your applications out of the process immediately.

 

Adding Value

 

It is often not enough to simply list the companies you’ve worked for and your job titles.  If there are many applicants with similar experience Employers and Recruiters will be looking to proceed with those applicants they feel confident will add value to the business.  You should try to provide details of specific examples where you have gone up and beyond your duties or achieved a unique contribution.  Were possible always try to provide quantitative data as this will help build confidence in your application and bulletin points are a handy way of keeping things concise. 

 

Technical skills

 

Certain vacancies will have technical competences and skills, which must be held by applicants wishing to be considered.  For example in many IT vacancies certain training or experience may be a prerequisite such as CISCO or MCP.  Many recruiters and employers will search for applicants using bullion on various search engines.  For this reason if there are technical competencies and skills required you may need to ensure your CV contains this competences or acronyms.  You may not be required to provide in-depth details of the competency; however it is important it is listed on your CV somewhere.  Although the example provide is for an IT vacancies this practice may be applicable across many sectors.