What to Consider Before Starting to Write Your CV

The blank page is staring at you and the task ahead feels quite daunting.

Writer's block is common when it comes to writing your own CV, especially if this is the first time for you or if you have not needed a CV for some time. You may wish that you had kept a list of all the development activity you have engaged with over the last ten years, but you never thought you'd find yourself in this situation.

"Where do I start"?

We'll take a look at two scenarios in this post, the first one being that you are starting out in your career, either as a graduate, a school leaver or with just a few years of experience.

The second one is when you have been forging your career for some time now, and your CV is starting to look a little like the Bayeux Tapestry, your story is longer than you thought it would be - I can relate to that, I'm no spring chicken!

Let's take a look at the information you need to gather and structure.

Understand Your Target Role

Your first step, whichever of the above situations is now affecting you, is understanding your target audience and your target role, I think we can agree that the more relevant the content is in your CV, the more it will appeal to the person you are hoping will read it.

An amusing meme about CVs is that your CV is just a list of stuff you don't want to do any more. Whilst this is perhaps a little cynical, it probably resonates with many people.

The need for a CV means that you have an opportunity to mix things up a little, going forward career-wise.

Ask yourself...

What skills and experience do I have that I want to keep on developing along my career path?

Creating an amazing, keyword rich section with your transferable skills can seriously 'level up' your CV in terms of performance and readability.

What qualifications and/or certificates do I have that will add value to me as a candidate?

What achievements will boost my applications and give me an edge in a competitive market?

What extra-curricular activity could I include in my CV [without it looking like you have just included "stuff I do in my downtime"]?

The last point on this list could form the basis of a conversation with someone who knows you well, grab a coffee and ask a friend what they think makes you tick.

The more relevant content you can gather, the more powerful your CV will be.

Format and Layout

This isn't a post about what your CV should look like once you have finished, this is more about the journey.

When considering what you wish to include in your CV, first of all, keep it concise and fluff-free, focus on the value you offer as a candidate.

You have pretty wide scope when it comes to layout - choose a format that feels professional with your body of text in a basic, sans serif [more readable] font, no less than 10pt, a little larger for headings.

You could say that CV Writing is part-science and part-art, so it is OK to express yourself a little - easy on the colours though, aim for two-pages and optimise your floor-space without squishing the text in there.

The order of your content is really important.

You may have heard that a reader will spend no more than 6 or 7 seconds scanning your CV initially - it's true, anyone who reads a lot of CVs will find, or should be able ot find what they need very quickly.

If you are a new-ish graduate or just starting out in your career, your qualifications or education may appear quite early in your CV, it's your selling point, so mention it as soon as you can.

If you are a bit longer in the tooth [like me], then you likely want the reader to notice your career highlights, your amazing achievements and the skills and level of experience that you bring to the table in their initial scan..

Seasoned Professionals

Starting from scratch can sometimes be the most straightforward.

Going 'Carte Blanche' is worth considering, why?

What has your strategy been so far when it comes to CV Writing?

Many people will keep adding to their CV over the years, an additional role here, a new qualification there, but this can start to feel like you are playing a game of Buckaroo and you are just waiting to add 'one-too-many' items.

If this is you, then the upside ot being in this situation is that you probably have all the information you need to take things back to the drawing board.

Working with a professional can add some perspective to the process, a fresh pair of eyes can often recognise the true value within a CV that may have exceeded the 2-page ideal. You may still find yourself with more than two pages, but it will be the most relevant content.

Streamline the Content

Streamlining usually means 'delete some less relevant content'.

That's really hard to do, you are proud of your achievements, you're attached to them. But does this content 'Spark Joy' inasmuch as you just can't bear the thought of deleting it?

I have an idea that may help you with this.

Isolate the content that in your heart-of-hearts, you know is less relevant than it used to be and find somewhere in your Linkedin profile where it can sit for a while, until you come to terms with archiving it.

It won't do your profile any harm, your available floorspace is considerably larger on your profile than for your CV.

Think of this as tidying it away, but you've put it in a place you can more easily retrieve it than your desktop Recycle Bin.

In Summary

If you're starting from the ground up:

Do your due diligence and research your target market thoroughly including analysis of keywords that will light up your CV.

Focus on your transferable skills, experience, qualifications and achievements and mention them as soon as possible in your CV.

Be concise!

If you have a very full CV:

Highlight your greatest value, qualifications, skills and experience.

Streamline everything!

Use your Linkedin space to highlight content that has a more distinguished vintage.

I hope this was useful, but feel free to drop me a message if you are unsure.