Thoughts on Putting a CV Together (from someone that has seen a few in their time)

First things first

It is important to note that these are pointers rather than formal guidance as I cannot profess to be a professional CV writer or a Careers Coach, but these tips are based on observations on CV themes of those that I see do well and get a good response from Employers.

If you are already comfortable with the state of your CV, and confident it is working for you, click here for some tips and tricks I wrote for people as they start to look for work.

Before you Start

Think about the purpose of a CV in its simplest form: it is a tool we use to try and get an employer to know enough about us to think that they want to hire us for their company, or team.

It is hard to get that to happen during an interview, let alone on an A4 document, but our aim with a CV is to try and make that document read as “this is me and you should hire me because of criteria listed below”

Once you are sure what you are going to apply for, time for the next step, writing it! But where to start?!

Formatting Tips

At early to mid-career, try and keep the document to 2 pages, but if you need more, ensure you fill out the extra page(s) so that there isn't an abundance of white space.

Up top, you want your contact information! Include your preference of email address, and contact telephone number.

I differ between advising for and against including your address.. unfortunately as unconscious bias does exist and I have found some employers that would not do the commute you have applied being comfortable with just exclude your CV from the shortlist! If you are nearby, put it on, but otherwise perhaps leave it off to avoid the issue.

Profile

Follow your contact information with a profile. This is the first part an employer will read, so make it count. In this, you want to make your experience clear, give some idea as to the sort of person you are, and the type of role or company you want to hear about. If you are applying for something in particular, make it clear. To help visualize this, the profile on the CV I last used (which I am sure helped get me the role at Wade Macdonald) reads:

A senior recruitment consultant and career guidance professional with comprehensive understanding of the UK government policy-making and lobbying industry, wider business issues, and equally substantial experience of completing Early Career and Director level recruitment. As a confident and motivated Human Resources Management graduate myself, I am passionate about helping people work to make the most of themselves throughout their career and greatly enjoy offering support to do so. Ultimately aiming to join an organisation with which I can grow alongside, whilst contributing to the future development of their own staff and hiring processes.

After you have your profile, you are almost ready to get some content and start listing your experiences.

Key Skills

But before you do so, think about whether you have particular skills that will help you be able to do the job(s) you are applying for? E.g. Accountancy professionals might list key skills such as: IFRS, USGAAP, VAT, SAP, Financial Reporting, Year-End, etc.

Once you have summarised your key skills, you are ready to fill out the bulk of your CV.

Experience / Education

If you are early career, I recommend listing Education prior to Experience, and if you are more experienced, jump straight into your current role. The main guidance I can give here, is to make sure you do this in reverse chronological order and divide sections clearly, whether that is Education to Experience, or each role listed in the Experience section, make clear when it is different.

• In each role, give an idea as to your responsibilities and experiences gained
• Bullet points go a long way here as they essentially make the end recipients job as easy as possible to read what you have done, and could do again!
• It is a good idea to try and write about what you did, rather than as part of a team
• Key Achievements are also good to highlight, especially if there are things you were particularly proud of. Often these will be things that an employer will bring up at interview, should we get that far!

Hobbies and Interests / Additional Information

An entirely optional section that can be used to fill out extra space on that last remaining page, or to give a deeper insight into you as a person! Do you love reading, travelling, arts & crafts, or spend every free moment out on a run or playing football? Let the employer know!

As well as being another thing to talk about at interview, putting this section in also helps this piece of paper demonstrate you are a human being!

Also, if there are things you weren't sure where to put so far, pop them in here! For example, if you speak additional languages, want to make clear that you are a clean and licensed driver, or are a First Aid Certificate holder, this is the place to get any extra bits in.

Finished! What next?

Check, check, and check again...

Make sure you re-read the completed version a few times and check for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, or that you have not accidentally forgotten your biggest achievement! Even feel free to share with peers, or ask a recruiter in your industry for their feedback.

Once you are happy with it, save the file as some version of "First Name Last Name CV" (mine would be Ryan Marner CV) in both Word and PDF format. Put these into a folder on your PC and if you ever need to make a more targeted version for a specific role, amend this document and save another copy.

And that is it. You now have a CV, and hopefully you are ready to push apply to that job you started writing this for in the first place!

Closing

If you want some extra help, please do let me know, as I will either be able to help make some amendments myself, or point you in the direction of someone in your industry that can.