|
Curriculum Vitae - Writing Tips
Your CV is a creative document that allows you to say what you think is appropriate compared with application forms which confine self expression; you might as well use that freedom!
Think about what the reader will want to know. What are your most effective selling points relevant to your career aspirations. Consider the look and feel of your CV, common mistakes include:
- Grammatical and spelling errors
- Inconsistent font and formatting
- Missing details such as dates, contact details
- Over use of clichés such as 'responsible for'
- Details of date of birth, gender, marital status, name of spouse and/or number of children (you should not include any of these)
Overall, a CV should have a uniform format and order of information should be as follows:.
Personal Details .
Details about you should be brief and to the point, remember your address is not the most interesting thing about you. Keep the space used for this information to a minimum i.e. in proportion with its level pf importance to your CV as a whole. It can be useful to include your nationality and email address.
Summary
A successful CV starts with a brilliant summary that makes people want to read more; it is daring, lively and thoughtful in its use of words.
- Your key skills should be immediately obvious to the reader
- The design and format should be attractive and easy to read
- Information will be effectively prioritized
- Clever typesetting allows a lot of information to be included without seeming crowded
- It is concise; ideally two pages (three pages if absolutely necessary!)
Career Details
- Each step of your career should be presented in chronological order with the most recent first.
- Headings should be attractive and consistent so that readers can tell where one bit of information starts and the last one ends
- Jobs descriptions should be expressive and concise
- Achievements should be linked to the rest of the text to make clear sense, collaborated by facts, figures and descriptions
- Take care to explain company specific department names or projects
- Explain any career breaks/time gaps etc
Above all, the reader will be looking for evidence of proven ability gained through work experience.
Key Skills/Competencies/Qualification
- Every job situation/profession has different demands in terms of the display of qualifications; a good CV illustrates you have though about this and organised your information to maximise its impact and relevance.
- Qualifications (including dates) should be arranged to show ongoing professional development
- Where skills other than formal qualifications are important, these can be arranged in either order of relevance to the position applied for or in order of how familiar you are with them
Additional Personal Information
- Hobbies and outside interests should only be detailed if they enhance your image. If space is an issue on your CV, exclude this information entirely and ensure the focus is on how your skills and abilities match the needs of the job description/person specification
- You do not need to include referees at this point unless you have been specifically asked to do so
|
