Tips for writing the perfect CV

Tips for writing the perfect CV

‘CV’ is short for ‘Curriculum Vitae’, a Latin phrase meaning literally, ‘course of life’. It should be a?brief?account?of your education, qualifications, and previous employment.?This is how you present yourself to the outside world, the world of work.

We understand building your CV or curriculum can feel daunting – “where should I put my contact information, is my experience in the right spot, do I need a summary, do I need to add the gaps?”?

As a recruiter, we look at CVs all day and know the perfect recipe to create both an informative and perfect CV. Here is a breakdown of how to revamp your CV to land your dream job.?

Contact Details

Your contact details should include: your name and underneath the current city/town in which you reside, phone number, and email address. Another popular placement is at the bottom of the page, but we recommend keeping it at the top for easy access.?

Also, feel free to add an up-to-date professional profile, such as LinkedIn.?

One of the most common mistakes we see on CVs is candidates adding age, nationality, date of birth, marital status and photo – keep in mind that these are NOT required.

Summary

Your summary should be about three sentences explaining your areas of expertise and niches in your field.?Make it fit the job you are applying for?if you can.

?Think this is the opportunity to stand out compared to other candidates – what makes your skillset and experience more significant for the job than others?

?Remember, you should place your summary directly beneath your name and contact details at the top of the page.?

Work Experience

Your work experience should be the first section of content on your CV. The most relevant information about your background is your work experience, so it should be the first section (after your contact details and summary).

You should list your previous roles in reverse chronological order – that is, most recent first. This is because your most recent role and experience are?the most important to your prospective employer.?

Include the company name, job title, and month/year you started and ended your position. If you are currently there, then do month/year – present. Put your experience in order from the most current to the least.?

Example:

(Job Tittle)

(Company Name)???????????????????????????????????????????????(Date you join the company) – (Date you leave)

Key Responsibilities & Achievements

Remember, you don’t need to add more than 10 years ago unless is related with the job or position you are applying for and don’t leave any gaps on your CV, if you didn’t ?work for that period you will need to explain why you weren’t working.

Education

Include your undergrad and graduate information here by naming the university, your degree, and the years it took to earn that degree.

If you have not received a degree but a certificate for your area of expertise, include that certificate/certification in the education section.?

Skills

?The bottom of the page should include both your hard and soft skills. We recommend listing the skills/programs you use most often in your area of expertise.

?Whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced in the skillset, you should include all your skills in the list. We suggest listing your hard skills first and your soft skill second.?

Lastly, the team at Connect-IT Recruitment wish you the best of luck in your job search!