Top tips to create or enhance your CV

This short guide, which is not industry specific, has been put together to help you create or enhance your CV. 

The following is covered: 

• Your CV
• Your LinkedIn profile
• Useful tips 

Your CV

The length of your CV should be kept to two pages. A three page CV is only relevant to those with long work histories, extensive published work, or exceptional accomplishments. A one page CV is not sufficient to convey the information to sell yourself, although, sometimes you may be advised to have a one page CV by a recruiter. You can create variations on your CV and have a few, if you find that you are applying for roles where there are different expectations. When taking advice over your CV, always use your own judgment on what you wish to include as you may be advised to remove something you feel strongly about including. Do not take advice literally, but as guidance. Over time, when adding content, you can maintain two pages through condensing earlier roles. 

Do I need to put my address on my CV?

Traditionally, including an address on a CV was standard practice as physical mail was the main way employers would respond after a submitted application. Today, most communication about the hiring process takes place online. As a result, including a full address is not always necessary.

As a student you will probably prefer to include your academic education at the top, but as you progress and update your CV throughout your work career, you will find that your current roles are more paramount and will be listed at the top. You can move sections around to suit the way you wish to create your CV.

Create a simple layout as follows:

Title (this is optional) First Name Second Name

E: Email address | M: Mobile number

Your LinkedIn Profile link

___________________

Your summary/profile

Experienced [Insert Industry] professional with [Insert current qualification] or Aspiring solicitor with [Insert Degree and other qualifications summarised]. Looking to utilise skills gained in [Insert summary] through [insert your top skills] skills. Currently seeking opportunities [summarise what kind of opportunities that you are seeking]

___________________

Key Skills

(Examples) Relationship builder; Teamwork; Time management; Strategic thinking; Entrepreneurial; Analytical mindset; Social media; Problem solving.

You should summarise your key skills, spend time considering which ones you want to highlight the most and are relevant to you. You must ensure you provide examples of these in your work experience sections and not just 'list' them without any back-up. With digital skills being highly sought after, it’s important to include these skills where possible, in addition to skills that all employers seek, such as any related to Management, Leadership, Teamwork, Negotiation, Problem solving etc. If you have studied any technology related subjects during any college, graduate or postgraduate studies, include details of these and how you have used these in any work experiences to date. You may also find the following article useful when putting these together: Graduate skills post covid-19

Education

?        # University, # Year BA (Hons) Degree: Subject, Grade

?        Name of School or College, A Levels, Grades

?        School, location, List subjects and Grades

Employment History (only if relevant)

Work Experience

Voluntary and Extra-curricular 

Languages (if relevant) 

References

Either provide a reference or state ‘References available on request’- there are benefits to including a reference on your CV if a recruiter needs to fill a vacancy in a hurry, so include one if you can.

For a CV layout example (which provides a before and after changes have been made) go to: CV Example

Be mindful to also incorporate as many industry-specific ‘keywords’ as much as possible throughout your CV when describing what you did during these. Many large companies, who receive hundreds of applications, scan job applications digitally, using automated applicant tracking systems that are programmed to give priority to particular keywords. There are numerous free evaluations for CVs that are worth proceeding with in order to highlight where you might need to tweak some of your wording. They will keep emailing you about their services and offer to do your CV at a cost but you can unsubscribe at that point and just take their advice. These professional CV opportunities are presented to you once you have uploaded your CV to online job sites who have a collaboration with them. It is also advisable for an independent person to evaluate your CV, once you have finalised it, as they will be able to elevate your achievements and boost your CV quite easily through some minor wording tweaks – this can be difficult to do yourself but important to achieve in such a competitive jobs market.

Education

Include all the relevant information about your education, dates and grades. Even if you did not obtain the grades you expected or wanted, it is important to put them on your CV because recruiters and employers will require and request these either way. In addition, when you apply for jobs online you will be asked to state all grades, so having your CV with all the information you require to hand, will make your life easier long term. If you have not as yet graduated, ensure you put your current grades to date as an indicator of your future grade, as some firms expect a minimum overall grade and can state this as a condition of your training contract offer.

If you are making applications for a graduate role, such as a training contract, you will find there is often an opportunity to explain any extenuating circumstances over any grades you felt were not what you were capable of achieving at that time. Alternatively, these can be provided separately to an employer through your cover letter. If given the opportunity online, state the reasons as factually as possible and try to remove the emotional element in your explanation. It is advisable to ask someone independently to assess what you have written, so you can obtain an honest response (ie. do not ask family members). Many firms use contextual data (created by Rare Recruitment) to evaluate the quality of your school for A level grades, and can progress your application accordingly, through how well you did compared to the majority. Therefore, from a social mobility and diversity perspective, things have progressed to provide more opportunities for those to be put forward to the next recruitment stage. In general, A level grades, if lower than required, may not be the hindrance they used to be as employers are starting to take into consideration individual progression since that time.

Lack of Work Experience 

Hopefully you have had the opportunity to be involved in some work experiences to put on your CV, this might only entail a one or two day experience if not a week or two at a firm yet. (Also note that any outside industry related work will teach you many skills and be beneficial to you and are important to your CV – until such times as you have other experiences to replace these). Everyone has to start somewhere and if you have struggled to obtain something at some of the more well-known firms to apply to, contact your local high street firms and ask if you can shadow someone for the day to experience ‘a day in the life’ there. You should also sign up to attend or join virtually, any relevant events, with a huge amount of opportunities out there, so do your research online.

If you are looking at a legal career, LawCareers.net and the Chambers Student Guide will specifically help you identify which law firms you might be interested in applying to. The Chambers Student Guide includes an editorial called ‘the true picture’ on each firm, which provides genuine feedback from current trainees, covering their experiences of the firm, the work they are given and the culture of the firm.

Lastly, if you are still struggling with obtaining work experience, you should consider volunteering for a charity where you can build on your current skills, whilst doing so for a worthy cause. If you achieved lower A level grades than required for your chosen profession, you will need to show more progress than others, so relevant work experience and to the industry you wish to pursue, is vital to your CV. 

Remember the following when stating your work experiences on your CV:

• Include the Company name and duration and date of any work experiences completed. You will definitely need this information to hand when you apply for any jobs in the future so it is important to keep accurate records now.
• Ensure you provide a brief summary, if it is not completely obvious, what the company does and some details about the department you worked in.
• Confirm how you got the job, eg. What application process did you go through and how many other people, if applicable, had applied too.
• Include details of your role and confirm what skills you obtained and what you achieved from the position.

If possible include a wow factor but only if applicable

If you have been fortunate to have worked somewhere and added value to the work you completed there, make sure you include this as a measure of your success, for example:

I worked in a team to revamp [the firm’s] World Compass, a platform offering investment firms access to marketing guidance. I analysed content drafted by foreign lawyers, quickly learnt industry specific knowledge, in order to reformulate text, and brought fund registration requirements to the forefront of the platform. My substantial contribution resulted in my 3 month contract being extended to 18 months. 

Voluntary and Extra-curricular 

I would advise adding in anything that shows you are learning relevant skills or at least highlight the positives from your experiences, such as working with a charity and learning team building and leadership skills, setting up your own social media blog and learning digital and networking skills. Think about your key skills and if any of these were additionally achieved through activities outside of your studies or profession.

Your LinkedIn profile

Ideally you already have a LinkedIn profile, if not then proceed to create one as this will become your online CV and be viewed, possibly, more often than your actual CV. A good tip is to personalise your LinkedIn URL from the one generated which can be lengthy and look untidy – this is easily achieved as follows:

How to customize your public profile URL

●      Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage

●      Click View profile 

●      Click Edit public profile & URL in the right rail

●      Under Edit your custom URL in the right rail, click the Edit icon next to your public profile URL

●      Type the last part of your new custom URL in the text box

●      Click Save

Once you have a LinkedIn profile you can post content related to your industry, follow firms to improve your commercial awareness and network and engage with anyone worldwide! In time, you will find this serves as an additional tool as recruiters will be able to headhunt you and you will be able to attach your profile, or upload your CV, to apply for jobs directly. Additionally you can sign up to free webinars of interest and get involved in free LinkedIn learning courses. (Ensure your LinkedIn profile has a professional looking photo and a background indicating your location in the world – also remember to keep posts professional as there is a tendency for people to use it like Facebook). You will learn about posting content (with the added option of sending these to Twitter at the same time), sharing links of interest, liking posts, using hashtags, creating your own networking groups and messaging through practice.

LinkedIn Top tips: If you are sending out a post and want to convert any text to other fonts and/or use bold/italics then simply go to this link and copy and paste back to your profile. https://lnkd.in/eT8HYvX. If you wish to add any bullet points or icons go to this link: https://lnkd.in/ebB5RuR 

If you have a LinkedIn profile, but do not have any recommendations, then start to obtain these at suitable times after completing work experiences and throughout your career so you have updated ‘mini references’ for potential recruiters/employers to read. (When you go to your profile you need to navigate down to the bottom to locate this option). Once you have obtained some recommendations, you may wish to highlight these, either on your CV via putting ‘Recommendations’ just before your LinkedIn URL to encourage these to be viewed, or you may verbally suggest the recruiter/employer reads them. With a surge in students creating their own websites, which can be set up for free and maintained cheaply, recommendations can be utilised as testimonials for website content. These can help advance or speed up any potential recruitment opportunities that present themselves, if not now, in the near future.

You can use the same profile/summary from your CV for your LinkedIn profile, as per the example above, just ensure it summarises who you are, indicating your sector and identifying your key achievements, your objectives and what you can offer. Always ensure you update your LinkedIn profile alongside any CV updates as they are both as important as each other.

Useful tips

• Avoid formatting the text with spacing, italics and pictures as these can be lost when fed into a company database and become unreadable.
• It is acceptable to state ‘References available on request’ on your CV, however, if you have a referee confirmed then you can add the details on your CV – the advantages being a recruiter can progress your application more speedily. If you decide not to have a referee stated make sure you have two ready to use, ensure one is from a professional background, any online applications will ask you to provide details so obtain their permission and their relevant email address details in advance for when you need them.
• You will find some recruiters have specific ideas about layout and what to include and not include, take these on board, but take time to think about what you agree with before making any changes. Decide how you wish to be represented, and if you would rather include than exclude something that may get picked up on during your interview, such as any gaps in your CV. Sometimes honesty is the best policy! (On that point - never be tempted to lie about anything on your CV). If recruiters have their own layouts, often they do, then you can leave it with them to do their own format for their own purposes and keep your CV unchanged.
• If you are applying for graduate opportunities or training contracts then you will find most firms will have an extensive list of questions to answer, so work on these very carefully. Use the spell check and obtain an independent person to review your application before submitting. If you use the same wording for different applications ensure you check you have changed the name of the firm and always ensure you spell the name of firm correctly (a common mistake made). Although, most of the questions asked are often specific to that firm, unless it happens to be particular sections covering your own personal work experiences.
• If you are looking for job vacancies you can post your CV online for recruiters to view and find you, I would recommend Reed.co.uk and Indeed.co.uk but there many more job sites out there to also investigate and upload your CV to. My advice is sign up everywhere and anywhere as you never know where an opportunity might arise! There are also specific agencies, for those looking at the legal profession, offering paralegal opportunities, such as F-LEX who you should sign up with, but I would also apply directly to the firms you are interested in. If your aim is to obtain a training contract long term, it is worth checking prior to application, which firms progress paralegals to trainee. Some firms will but some firms have a policy not to, because they simply want people to do the role of a paralegal. Ensure you ask the question at the interview stage, if not before, to check their policy on this.
• There are also numerous diversity initiatives who will help those from diverse and social mobility backgrounds, and my advice is apply to them all and take the opportunities on offer. For the legal profession I would investigate memberships to: Aspiring Solicitors, Rare Recruitment, Strive Consultants and UpReach. For any other industries, Bright Network are a fantastic organisation who are partnered with over 300 leading employers including Accenture, Aldi, Bloomberg, Civil Service Fast Stream, Clifford Chance, Deloitte, Deliveroo, Dyson, Goldman Sachs, KPMG, Mars, M&S, Morgan Stanley, Police Now, Skyscanner, Teach First, UBS and Vodafone. All these memberships are free and can offer you all you need to progress in your chosen career!

I hope you have found the information helpful to your CV and online profile, with some useful links to get you started. If you are seeking a legal career please do check out my website which provides cover letter and interview FAQs, useful articles to help you write your applications and webinar presentation recordings.