CV
A CV (curriculum vitae) lists your academic, employment and personal achievements. In essence, it is a history of your life to date and will be used by employers to ascertain your suitability for a job. Therefore, it is important to spend time preparing and updating your CV until you are completely satisfied that it paints a true and representative picture of you.
Here are some tips to help you prepare your CV:
- Keep it short and relevant. Your CV should be no longer than two pages in length and should primarily focus on your skills and work experience.
- Use headings such as Personal Information, Education, Employment History, Skills, Interests and References.
- Personal Information: Write your name, full UK address, date of birth, telephone number (day/evening/mobile), email address and visa status.
- Education: List your academic and non-academic qualification in chronological order, with your most recent qualification first. Name the university/college/school you attended, course studied, the grades you received and the date you graduated.
- Employment history: List your employment history beginning with your most recent job. State the name of your employer, your job title and list your main duties and responsibilities (bullet points are an excellent way of doing this). Also include your reason for leaving and your length of service in each job.
Draw attention to skills you have and, those needed in the job you are applying for.
Where there are gaps in your employment history, briefly state what you were doing - it's better to say you were trekking in Nepal or surfing in Cornwall then to appear to have been unemployed.
- Skills: List all your work-related skills. If you have experience with specific computer packages, shorthand/typing skills or a foreign language say so. It could make the difference between you and another candidate getting the job.
- Interests: Whatever you do, don't generalise your interests by simply writing 'football, reading and socialising'. Instead, give a brief description of your involvement in your hobby/interest. For example, use two to three lines to say you play football every Sunday morning for your local club and work every other Saturday in the local charity shop.
If you've spent time doing something unusual or challenging put it here, it will make for good conversation in an interview.
- Referees: Include the contact details of two referees (one professional and one personal) from the past five years.
If your referees live overseas, make sure you include email addresses as well as telephone and fax number's.
- Presentation: Don't forget to check and double check your CV for spelling mistakes and poor grammar.
An example CV
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