The Bare Minimum for a Half-Decent CV

I've written this blog every year since 2006, so sorry if it's repetitive, but from the quality of CVs that pass across my desk, it needs to be written again. If you're getting bored with it, imagine how I feel...... It's 2020, FFS.

Here's a few things to bear in mind before you start:

This is a marketing document. Its not a history lesson. It's not a grey soup of dull facts. It exists only to get you an interview. No more. No less.

Don't just think about word content. It's visual appeal is also important. Leave deliberate white space. Increase the line spacing a little. Let it breathe and relax. Use clear nomenclature (headings). Make it easy for the reader to track and read - some of us are thick. We need to be spoon fed.

It's better if your CV is loved by 5 people (who more likely to invite you to an interview), and hated by 5 people (who you won't like anyway), than have 10 people say, "Meh... yeah... it's OK I s'pose... ). Take some risks. Get yourself a Marmite CV. Whats the worst that can happen?....

1. Write for your audience. Use their language. Put yourself in their shoes. Put yourself in the here and now. Don't prattle on about saving the world in 2005. Nobody cares. They want to be sure you can make a difference in 2020.... 2021.... 2022 etc.....
2. Don't worry about length in terms of pages. If it has a strong opening and theres a thread of a story, and you avoid generic terms, people will find it easier to read. If its more than 1000 words long, it needs an edit - unless you're a contracted Project Manager with lots of detailed projects in the last few years - You can go to 1200 words.
3. Edit. Hard. Look for spare or repeated words and cut them out. Use a thesaurus if you're stuck.
4. Don't ever use Passionate - that's only evidence you use generic buzz words and incapable of original thought.
5. It's no longer a paper document. Its read on a screen, so get your big punches in early before somebody has to scroll down the screen. You need to grab their interest quickly and hang on to it with a vice-like grip.
6. It may get read by a machine, so make sure you have a few key words dotted about. It will probably be read by a human too, so make it as entertaining as you dare. No. Make it more entertaining than you dare. Marmite. Remember?
7. Don't write in the 3rd person. Don't. Ever. Do. That. You look like a egocentric knob.
8. You may be tempted to use a multi-columned colourful CV you can easily find as a template. My advice is, don't. The colours can look pretty, but they also distract. They're the victory of style over substance. The eye doesn't know where to go. You're just serving to confuse.
9. Your font choice is important too. It is a central piece of design. It says more about you than you may know. For example, if you use Times New Roman, I know you're a 55 year-old bloke. Choose something crisp and fresh. And don't use different fonts throughout - and check the font size is consistent. Id guess that approaching half of CVs are all over the shop - and that proves youre shit at detail - which is a worry if youre applying to be a technician at a nuclear reprocessing plant.

The order of things is....This is important. Remember, you need to get your big punches in early before the reader scrolls down on their screen:

1. Your name: If your mum called you Timothy, but you prefer Tim, use Tim.
2. One line under your name: Your home town only. Phone number. Email address (don't bother writing "Phone Number" and "Email". You're taking me for an idiot) and LinkedIn profile link.
3. Personal Statement: About 5 or six lines. This is where it pays to be really bright. Use your own language. Give it energy. This is where you put the sizzle. It needs sizzle. (Example: I had a CV customer tell me on the phone they Love a ridiculous span of control, so thats exactly what I put. I learned later that it really caught hiring managers eyes)
4. Skills: About 6 only. The big important ones. No more than a line a skill - or I know you don't have the skill to communicate with brevity. "Hard work" and "Punctual" and "Team Player" aren't skills - they should be a given.
5. Recent Career Highlights: About 6 of them, all dated and specific. The clue is in the word Recent. This is the part that places you in the here and now. Dont dine out on old glories - You look like youre living in the past - because you probably are.
6. Career: Start with the current and work back from there. Headline your main responsibilities and achievements. Just a few lines will do. This is where most CVs get very dull. If you intrigue me with a few teasers, I will call to know more.
7. Education: Quite simply list your formal qualifications - but also add any formal training you may have had.
8. Education always comes last - unless you left university in the last year.

Heres some things you should AVOID in your CV - you're wasting words and space:

1. Your photograph - Nobody cares what you look like.
2. Your date of birth - Its got bugger all to do with the price of fish.
3. Your marital status and numbers of children - Its just irrelevant.
4. Referrals on Request - Were going to ask anyway - whatever you put.
5. Your full home address - We'll just Google it to be nosey and laugh at your net curtains.
6. Your interests - Be honest, can you do the job better cos you read books?

IF YOURE REALLY STUCK...I can send you a template. No charge. Don't worry. You wont go on a database I cant be arsed to administrate. Email me at [email protected]

IF YOURE REALLY, REALLY STUCK...I can write your CV for you. That means youll have to talk to me so I understand your Dream Job and I get your Voice. I can be challenging and you'll have to pay me good money.

Somebody told me, "You're a Glitter Shitting Unicorn" and another said, "If you can imagine asking for a short back and sides and then getting your head shaved.... Martin took my old CV apart and totally rewrote it. It was stripped right back, the format changed and presented in an easy-to-read way".

But you can do it yourself. I promise. You just have to follow some simple rules and stick your chin out a bit.

You may get different advice from other recruiters.Just remember, this took 14 years to write.

August 2024 Update: I am now a dedicated CV writer. You can find my website at: https://yourvoicecv.com/