How to write a CV: Tips and advice to help get you noticed
Writing a good CV is an art in itself. How well your CV is put together will help determine whether you will be invited to an interview or not, so it’s in your best interest to make sure you write a strong resume. Below are some tips that will help you do just that.
What should be included in your CV?
- Up-to-date contact details: Employers can’t invite you to an interview if they can’t reach you.
- A brief profile summary: A few lines about what yourself, what you’ve achieved so far and how you can add value to a business or help them solve problems.
- Skills: A list of your key skills before you start listing your work experience will give the person reading your resume a good indication of whether the role is a good fit or not.
- Work experience: This section will take up the biggest part of your CV and should be a slightly more in-depth overview of your roles so far, stating where you’ve worked and what your responsibilities and achievements were.
- Education: Listing any academic qualifications, or certifications that are relevant to the role you are applying for, can add a massive boost to your resume and may be expected for some roles.
- Interests: Human beings are emotional creatures; showing some personality or making a connection through a common interest can sometimes go a long way.
Tailor your CV to each and every role you apply for
If you could take away only one thing from this list, it would be this one! Quality beats quantity when applying for jobs. As tempting as it may seem, using a “one-size-fits-all” CV for every role you apply for will not get you maximum results. You will 100% get better results if you take the time to carefully read through every job description, understand what problem the business is trying to solve with this hire and then tweak your resume accordingly, bringing the parts of your experience and skill set that are most relevant to the front.
Make it easy to read
Use bullet points instead of long paragraphs and make sure that reading through it doesn’t feel exhausting.
Limit the length
2-3 pages is optimal and 4 should be the absolute max. Any more than that creates an impression of disorganisation and shows a lack of succinctness.
Use reverse chronological order
Anyone reviewing the CV should read about your most recent role first and your oldest role last.
Focus on what is most recent and/or relevant
You should provide more in-depth overviews of your most recent roles and briefer overviews of your older roles. In some cases, it may not even be worth mentioning roles you were in 10+ years ago in detail. Job title, employer and dates of employment may be enough for those, as employers are mostly interested in what you've been doing in recent years.
Include a one or two line overview of what each business you worked at does
Briefly outlining the sector your previous companies were in and the products/services they provided can make a big difference if they are relevant to the role you apply for.
Check for errors
Proofreading your CV before sending it out to anyone is important. You’ll be surprised by how many CVs include spelling mistakes or sentences that don’t make sense, and neither of those will help you make a good first impression.
If you have gaps in your resume, explain what you did during that time
Employment gaps may often not mean much, but depending on who reads the resume, they can be the reason you get rejected. If you took time out of work to go travelling or to study, make sure you include that in your resume, instead of just leaving a gap.
Use a professional email address
Aim for something that looks like firstname.lastname@emailprovider.com. If you have to, create a new email account to use for job application purposes.
Use the right file format
PDF or Word documents are the most widely used formats.
Limit the fancy graphics, fonts or colours
As nice as you may think they look, they can often do more harm than good when it comes to the success rate of your applications.
Use the right type of language/working, depending on the type of business you are applying at
Using very formal language/wording would probably get you great results when applying at an investment bank or at a law firm, but it may not work so well when applying at a tech startup or at a music/film/art business.
Use a template if you need to
If you are not an experienced CV writer and don’t know how to put a good resume together, use a template and fill in your information. You can find many of them online by simply searching for “free CV template”.
