Tips on writing a good technical CV

In my line of work (IT recruitment), I see lots of CVs everyday, all different and unique in their own way. It has shown me that there are many ways you can actually write a CV well, and lots of ways to write them not so well. It's so important to include all the essential information as your CV is the first impression you are making to your potential employer, so it has to be written to sell you the best it possibly can to give you the greatest chance at securing your dream job!

These tips will hopefully help you understand what is important to include, to not include, and how to sell yourself.

What is a CV and why do I need one???

Well, I'm glad you asked...??A CV (curriculum vitae) is usually a written overview of you, your work experience, education and skills, and is used for when you're applying for jobs. It's pretty much a personal marketing document to sell yourself to your potential employer.

FUN FACT: CV is latin for "course of life".

What do I include?

Name, details and summary...

After your name and job title ?, definitely don't forget to include your personal details such as your best phone number, email address and living address or even just town/location, which I'm sure everyone does anyway.

I'd also highly suggest including any relevant links to sites like your portfolio/personal website, or GitHub (Although, if you're not active on GitHub, there probably isn't any point). Pretty much, include any links you know will prove your experience and showcase your skills. Make sure all of your links are live and work!

Following this, a short personal summary is always nice to include for your potential employer to read. Not only this is your opportunity to sell yourself in your own words and to highlight who you are with a short description of what you're all about. This is also their opportunity to get a feel of your personality, goals and drive. Make sure to match this up with each role you are apply for so it is relevant to each individual job.

Here is an example:

Skills...

This is the section to list your technical skills, and a few personal skills too. It's completely up to you and your creativity as to how you present them, like your whole CV.

The placement of the skills on your CV is quite important. Putting them under the summary is the best position in my opinion and experience. The reason being that whoever is reading your CV, whether that be the hiring manager, recruiter or HR, there is no guarantee that they actually know that much about tech and could potentially be looking for the buzz words they know the right candidate would need for this job. Placing the skills at the top allows them quick access to see those buzz words and know you are relevant for the job.

For your own benefit, please don't lie in this section (you'd be surprised how many CVs aren't accurate). You will be caught out as you will get asked in-depth questions on them on a technical call. You don't want to say you're experienced in a language, be thrown into the deep end because they think you're an expert... and then not have a clue what you're doing. Be honest!

In the technical skills section, ensure you include all technologies and tools you have experience with. Definitely looking over the job description you are applying for and double checking you have mentioned everything you can that will be right for this job. If you are learning a technology but you aren't quite there yet to be confident using it independently, and professionally, still mention it but make it clear that you are still learning it.

Make sure if you've listed a technology in your skills, you also mention it somewhere else on your CV, probably in the job you have used it in!

??A tip on what personal skills to mention, as you don't want to list loads on this bit. Have a look at the responsibilities on the job description and use that as a guide. There are generic ones like time management, works well in a team etc., they are still important, but things like; fast learner, mentoring juniors, staying on top of new technologies, dedicated, loves a challenge, are all a bit more tech focused and will be very desired!

Career...

This section is pretty straight forward. Include all of you career history including your current job, starting with the most current at the top. When putting the from and too dates on each job, if you can remember the months, definitely include them as well as the year!

If you have any significant gaps between jobs, mention why it is there and what you did in the that time to stay up to date, such as personal projects or courses etc.

Try to make each job as detailed as possible without it being an essay, no one wants to read loads of writing on a CV.?? The main things to remember is to include your job title, the company you worked for, dates, your responsibilities, projects YOU worked on and the technologies YOU used for those projects.

If you worked as a team in projects, they don't want to know what the team did, they want to know what part you played in that project, the parts you owned, the outcome, and any challenges you faced and overcame.

Here is an example:

If you have years and years of experience that is now going across multiple pages, the most important years to include is the last 10 years. You can always write "Further relevant work experience available at request". If you are using this idea, include in the summary that you have however many years using a certain tech, or in a certain industry etc., so they know the extent of your experience.

In each job, if for example you are a web developer and you have live links of websites you have built and designed, if you are allowed to include them that's always a good thing to do as it saves time down the line if they ask for work examples.

??A tip for freelancers... Instead of writing "freelancer developer, 2018 - Now", it will read a lot better if you format it like I've mentioned above, each client, job title, dates (to and from) and the project you worked on. Include the tech used and exactly what you did for that client.

??A tip for graduates or someone with no commercial experience...?? Where you would have put your career history, you can instead put a 'Personal Project' section with any projects you want to highlight. This is your opportunity to show your experience using a certain technology that matches the job you are applying for. Any one can include this obviously, but it's something nice to fill the space if you don't have a relevant job history yet.

Education...

This is a pretty short piece in your CV. Include any education and grades received, from secondary school, college, uni and any courses you've taken. Don't forget the dates on these as well!

In this section, you can also highlight any key achievements and volunteering you have done. If you have any certificates that are relevant to the job you are applying for, definitely include them too.

Hobbies and Interests...

This is a nice to have, if you don't want to include this, it's not the end of the world, but from my experience it's great for the potential employer to see what you enjoy and get up to outside of work. ?????????????

It gives your CV a bit more of a personal touch!

Design/Creative jobs...

For people applying for more creative jobs such as design positions, your CV needs to show your creative side. Unfortunately, if you just type it on a word document and it has text with no creativeness added or personality, it will lessen your chance of being chosen for an interview.

From working with lots of designers who have such colourful, creative, and fun CVs, you don't know who you're going up against, so it's best to give yourself the best chance and make your CV stand out!

Your portfolio is even more important than your CV when applying for design jobs, but that's a whole other topic I can go into on a separate article.??

Here is a link of a really great website, Canva, which gives you tips on designing your CV, and you can create it on this app for free!

Other tips...??

Some people like to put their picture on their CV. There is nothing wrong with doing this, however, I would recommend to not do this. Sadly, in the world we live in, a lot of people can be unconsciously bias and this gives them the perfect opportunity to do that.

Stay consistent throughout your CV and double check spelling and grammar is correct! There are a lot of resources online that can help you, or you can ask someone to check it for you.

Here is one resource that helps with spelling:

I hope this article comes in handy to everyone reading and it secures you a job. If I can help in any way, please don't hesitate to get in touch!??