In this lesson, we discussed writing techniques for the essential components of a CV and also wrote the main content on our own ones.
What is the purpose of a CV?
CV is short for Curriculum Vitae, which is a Latin phrase which loosely translates to ‘the course of my life’. CVs are precisely that – concise documents which outline an individual’s academic and professional history. Unique skills, achievements, experience and character are also taken into consideration, but as they are used mainly for applying to jobs, CVs are expected to be professional, as a marketing tool would be. The main reasons behind having one and updating it periodically are:
- It is a good way to keep track of experience and achievement in the form of formal documentation
- They help you sell yourself to an employer
- You can identify any weaknesses and gaps in skills which then create the foundation of your goals and next steps in self-improvement
- Securing a job interview is much easier with an efficient CV
What makes a good CV?
Because each job is different and each employer will be looking for different things, there are no hard or fast rules for creating a winning CV. Furthermore, CV writing etiquette changes over time so it is advisable to keep the document updated and tailor it to each job application. There are, however, some principles to keep in mind when creating one or preparing it for an upcoming inquiry.
- Don’t lie – a CV is supposed to be an honest reflection of experience and skills. Besides, employers often run background checks and false claims will be uncovered.
- Engaging and informative introduction – the personal statement should come first as this communicates who you are and what impact you want to make.
- Be clear and concise – CVs should not be longer than three pages long, and each page needs to be formatted clearly, presented professionally and have incisive points that are relevant and targeted to the job.
- Include the essential details – this one should go without saying but make sure that your contact details are visible. Employers also look for experience, skills, education, qualifications and interests.
- Sell yourself – focus on the positives! What are your unique personality traits and qualities that make you stand out from the crowd?
- Don’t make mistakes – always check your spelling, punctuation and grammar meticulously. There is no excuse here thanks to the many SPAG checkers available online or built into writing programs.
- Don’t leave unexplained gaps – always justify; if you took a break from work to travel or raise a family, what experience or skills did you gain? How does this help you in your career or professional development?
What should be included?
As mentioned briefly in the bullet points above, employers often skim read a CV, glancing for relevant information and reading more in-depth after all of the tick boxes are checked (i.e is the structure methodical and do they have the relevant information?). Here are some important sections that should always be perceptible.
Personal Summary
Ideally, there should be a short personal statement/summary that evidences who you are and why you would be the ideal candidate for the job.
Education
Your GCSEs and other highest level of qualification should be listed. Make sure to update this when a more advance and recent qualification is obtained (e.g. college -> university). Also, ensure that only positive grades are listed, so nothing below a C/4.
Experience
You will need to provide some relevant experience that supports the application such as key examples of what you did, how this helped you improve and why you were successful.
Hobbies and Interests
This is the area of the CV where you can add a more personal touch and show off your personality. No employer wants to hire a robot so discuss some of your hobbies and interests.
Equipped with all of the information I needed, I had only one last thing to do before starting (or rather continuing) my own CV. I wanted to save one or two ‘templates’ for the format of the document since it is the first element that adds to the initial impression an employer obtains about me. I already knew roughly what my CV would look like because I used an application on my phone to start it from a previous lesson and a structure is automatically generated for me. However, in the future when I have more experience, I hope to create my curriculum vitae updated versions manually, which means that I may want some references to refer back to. Here are two examples that I really like and I feel are both professional and clear to the eye.
Finally, here is my CV. For my final work for the progression brief, I will update the education section with my overall grade from college when I receive this. Another thing that I would like to add is that I went into a much greater depth of detail when describing my work experience (such as in the template above) however, I didn’t want my CV to go over to a second page if it would only take up a small section at the top, which is what happened when the ‘interests’ part couldn’t fit on to the first page. Because of this, I shortened my bullet points considerably, but I plan to rearrange the information in the future so that I am maximising the space on each page. Again, the examples above are my references for this, since I really like how there are different sized boxes of info and how some are set out vertically along the side of the document.