Tips on Writing Your CV

SHOCKING STATEMENT ALERT: I hate CVs.

You can spend hours working away on them only to hear nothing back once you’ve sent them off. It is genuinely heart breaking. Of course, many companies receive around 100-200 applications per role, making it difficult for them to personally respond to all applicants with detailed feedback.

I think the main issue I have with CVs is their subjectivity. Normally in life subjectivity is a good thing as it makes us, well, us.

Unfortunately, when it comes to CVs, subjectivity can make a wonderful application to one recruiter an annoying one to another. So many sites and career advisors will say “X and Y is how you write a perfect CV”, only to actually ignore the one thing you can’t account for: who is reading them and what they like.

The bottom line is there is no perfect CV.

Recruiters apparently only look at a resume for 7 seconds before they decide whether or not they want to learn more about that candidate. Meaning you need to make a good impression straight away and make your CV stand out for all the right reasons!

But how do should you go about making a good impression?

In my eyes, formatting and positioning are key, especially when applying for roles in the Creative Industry. Although this can also be applied to most applications.

Formatting is something I think a lot of people slightly overlook despite the fact that it can show your true level of attention to detail. Formatting falls into this search for a consistent style. If you apply for a job and you need to submit both a CV and covering letter, then make sure you have the same formatting across both documents.

For example, my CV is set in Arial with a general font size of ten, twelve for headings, and with the main bodies of text justified. If I need to submit a covering letter in a Word document then it follows the exact same formatting rules as my CV: Arial, ten, justified. It is a small detail but shows a consistency of style and that killer eye for detail.

As for the ordering of your CV, there are two approaches and it is entirely personal and should be based more on the depth of your experience and skills.

These two approaches are the experience and competency based CV.

Experience approach

In a CV that is focused on experience, it lists your job roles first above all else – excluding your name and contact information. This is a good approach if you have a list of work experience or internships with companies you want to highlight.

Beneath each job role, list what you did in the position as bullet points. These could be short and sharp sentences highlighting the key points. Use the present tense for a current role (e.g. “manage the administrative duties for my department’), then past tense for former roles (e.g. “managed the administrative duties for my department”).

You don’t need to include every role you have done, just those most relevant to the position you are applying for.

After you have listed your work experience, then you can include your educational qualifications (e.g. GCSEs, A Levels, degrees etc.). You may also want to include a section with bullet points listing your skills (e.g. comfortable with Microsoft Office, can use WordPress, am a strong team player etc.).

Tips:

If you’ve managed to get work placements with a number of companies, it is important to show them off.
Highlight your roles and achievements with each company prominently.
Add a skills section that includes technical skills and also personal skills.

Competency approach

If you are lacking experience in an industry you are trying to break into, then a competency approach to a CV is a way to go.

In this CV style you list your education and skills first before you list any previous jobs or work experience. For example, you could list education first with your GCSE or university results, then after that a skills section. In the skills section, list a skill you think you have then list some bullet points showing how you got it. For example, if you want to show you are a good team player because you have been part of a sports team in the past, say “showed my teamwork skills as part of XYZ football club, where I was team captain”.

Tips:

List a skill and then put examples of where you’ve demonstrated it before you detail your work experience.
For example, if you have a good eye for detail then explain this as close to the start as possible after your own details and statement if you have one.
Do the same with any IT skills you have and systems you’ve used that may be relevant to that role or department.

Additional Tips:

To save space, avoid putting your home address and simply state that your references are available upon request.
Keep it concise: Aim for 1-2 pages. If you think you can get away with having only a single page CV, do it.
Tailor it: Customise your CV for each job role.
Highlight achievements: Focus on the accomplishments, not just the duties.
Include keywords: Use key word or phrases from the job description in your CV – if they want someone with “good IT skills” and you have them, use “IT skills” as a heading in your skills section to demonstrate how you have them.
Relevant skills: List skills that are pertinent to the job.
Proofread: Check for spelling and grammar errors.
Proofread: Put it aside for at least a few hours before checking it again for spelling and grammar errors.

Written by: Carl Smith, Communications and Engagement Manager