Direct Employers

While some firms or organisations may ask you to complete an application form as part of its recruitment process, many others will ask you to send a CV with covering letter. Please ensure you check with the firm or organisation as to which way to apply, and if you are not sure, contact them to check.

If is a CV they are looking for, remember many others may well be applying so your CV needs to stand out from the pile. It’s so important at this stage to get it right as most orgnaisations don’t have time to spend looking for the important information on an individual CV. A good CV should have all the relevant material immediately apparent, and should be clear, well laid out, honest, correctly spelt and punctuated, and brief. If you can fit everything on one or two sides of A4 paper, then do.

You could consider consulting a recruitment consultant or CV drafting service for expert help. If it gets you a good job sooner, then it’ll be worth the cost. Alternatively universities offer a careers ervice do current students and some offer a service to alumni students. Contact your university careers office to book an appointment, or find out more about the services they offer.

When writing your CV, here are some key rules to follow:

• Simplicity: don’t overcomplicate a CV with too many categories or too much information.
   
• Highlights: make sure that your CV highlights all of your achievements in your career and personal life to date. Think of your CV as an opportunity to market yourself.
   
• Truthful: you want to highlight your achievements, but you do not want to sound overly boastful, and you certainly should not fabricate information as this will become obvious to your employer at some point.
   
• Unique: use a style and tone which are personal to ‘you’, but do so subtly. Be positive, direct, and personal. Use ‘I’ statements.
   
• Tailor: the content of your standard CV should be customised according to each individual job application in line with the job description.
   
• Word Processed: complete your CV on a word processor and ensure that as well as using a spell check, you have checked the document over for any typing mistakes or formatting errors. Avoid poor English or slang.
   
• Succinct: be concise. Employers will not be impressed by several pages of useless information. Keep it short (ideally two, but a maximum of three pages) but do not squash information in – keep it well spaced so that it is easier to read. You should leave employers wanting to find out more.
   
• Chronological: put the information in reverse chronological order with the most recent events first under each heading.
   
• Review: ask the opinion of a respected colleague or manager. Get a second pair of eyes to critically review what you have written.
   
• Quality: use good quality (not coloured), A4 paper and always choose an appropriate type font to ensure that your CV looks as neat and professional as possible. It should not be packed with text but have some white space. Bullet points are a good way of displaying text.

As well as following the above golden rules, adhere to the following format:

Personal details

This section should include your name and contact information. You do not have to include your date of birth but many people still do.

Personal profile

It is up to you whether or not you want to include this section. It is usually one or two
sentences which provide a concise insight into who you are and your strengths/achievements to date.

Carefully consider this section. Many end up in clichés, such as ‘I work well both individually and in a team’, which become statements that employers just ignore. Instead, use tangible competency-based examples of things you have done and achieved. This will show and prove that you have the skills they are looking for rather than just saying it.

Work history

List your work experience, starting with the most recent or most relevant. Starting with your most recent job, list your employment experience. You need not include a reason for leaving if it is plain that the next job was a better one. Include any positions of responsibility, your skills and any additional training. This should include computer skills, driving licence and competency in another language. Don’t just list what you did in a job – emphasise the skills you learned and the contribution you made to your employer.

Try not to leave any gaps. Although you may not have been in paid employment, it is likely that you were doing something at which you learned new skills. For each previous position, include the job title, organisation worked for, dates employed, projects involved in, responsibilities, key achievements and experience gained.

Education

Again, start with the most recent (or most relevant) e.g. university and then work back from there. Don’t outline in detail your GCSEs/O levels/Highers (or equivalent exams). You can group these together, for example, 9 GCSEs. You may wish to include membership of any professional bodies here or in a separate section.

Skills

This section may come before the work history on your CV, if you believe this is appropriate. Include languages and computing skills, noting level of fluency and evidence of using them.

Hobbies/interests

Ensure that this section is kept up-to-date.

References

Some people wish to include two references here. If you can do so discreetly, call in favours from former employers or colleagues, high profile professionals and others to act as referees. Ask them to write brief references or letters of recommendation. These should include details of how long they have known you, and in what capacity. Try to pick two reliable contacts from two different sources and include their contact details, job title and link to you. Alternatively, many applicants omit this information, or state that references are available on request.

Make sure you ask permission from your referees to use them as a contact.

Tips

Sell yourself

You need to grab the attention of the reader quickly. You might like to do this by putting your personal details to the end of your CV (but keep your name at the beginning). Sell yourself. Many people are uncomfortable really emphasising their achievements, skills and experience. Whilst you must not ‘pad’ a CV you must recognise that it may be competing against people who have had professional CV writing help, who are more willing to emphasise strengths, or who are tailoring each CV to fit a businesses culture and workload. Show as many strengths and qualities as you can genuinely support.

Ask for a second opinion

Have someone you trust and respect review your CV. Again, many people are nervous or uncomfortable about doing this, but it will help pick up errors and people will often make helpful suggestions of things you have missed or be more flattering about your strengths than you might be.

Keep it personal

Think about personalising your CV each time, carefully checking any amendments. For example, if you applying to a highly innovative law firm that works largely online consider increasing your skills section around your professional or personal experience of Social Media, web 2.0, and different packages. For a firm with a large percentage of finance industry work you might emphasise contact with this industry in each previous appointment.

Stand out from the crowd

Remember who you are competing against. If applying for a legal post most applicants will have similar experience. Do not ‘waste’ too much space in a CV covering areas all your competitors will have (a law degree, a diploma, a traineeship) etc. Instead, think of what makes you unique, strong, creative or interesting, and sell these aspects, be that an honours specialisation in an area of particular relevance to the firm; having done a placement abroad in your traineeship; or having done pro bono in your spare time which helped you understand a different type of client perspective.

Position yourself well

The most prestigious point on your CV is on the first page, just above half way down.
Make sure you put important information here, such as your personal profile, or your skills description. Another good place is at the top of the second page. These are the places that will attract employers’ attention when scanning CVs. Remember, don’t just state what you have done, but include the skills you have used along the way.

Let your personality shine through

There are computer packages that can help you write your CV, or commercial companies that will charge you to produce a CV. However, be aware that these are very impersonal ways of producing your CV. You need your personality to show through, and to develop a unique style. Some employers say they can spot CVs produced by these means. A CV should always be sent with a tailored covering letter.

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