Successful CVs win interviews and successful interviews win jobs!

The aim of this website is to help you with the CV writing process. We’ll help you decide what you need to put into your CV and what you need to leave out. We’ll teach you how to build an interesting CV that grabs the reader’s attention and gets you a place on the ‘YES’ pile. The below provides a brief overview of the CV writing process to help get you started…

Quite simply, your CV needs to be an interesting and honest reflection of yourself (any lies will only be found out at the interview and ruin your chances of getting the job). Remember, interviewers don’t spend a huge amount of time looking through CVs so you need to make sure that yours stands out and grabs their attention.

Before you begin the writing process, you need to know exactly what content you are going to put into your CV. One of the biggest pitfalls in CV writing is to include far too much unnecessary information (information that won’t win interviews… Remember, this is the purpose of the CV, not to give the recruiter your life story!). Things like your current state of health, your marital status, weight and height, your birthplace, in most cases are IRRELEVANT. When writing each section of your CV continually ask yourself ‘Does this information have any bearing on my ability to do the job in question?’ If the answer is ‘no’, then leave it out.

The best place to get started is with a brief Profile Statement, a short descriptive paragraph that will grab the reader’s attention and entice them to read more. Keep it factual but brief and remember that you may be asked to expand upon this information in your interview (so make sure that you can speak extensively about anything you say).

Next, Career History - begin with just dates, role and names. Do not waste time with detailed job descriptions or irrelevant industry jargon (particular if you are seeking employment within a different industry… You may as well be speaking a different language!). List your previous responsibilities and highlight how each of them relates to the skills you might require in your targeted role (not only will this increase your perceived value to the employer, it will also demonstrate that you have some understanding of the job).

A brief summary of your Education is important too. If you are young, most of your experience will come from your education, so make a big deal of it and be sure to put it before any unrelated part-time work. Ask yourself, ‘what did I do at school that is worth telling people about?’ ‘What achievements or extra-curricular activities did I undertake that might make me suitable for my targeted role?’ Qualifications are of course essential, regardless of topic; exams demonstrate your ability to work towards a goal, so ensure that they are clearly listed.

The above three sections will make up the meat of your CV. Name and Contact Details should be displayed neatly at the top of the CV, References at the bottom.

You can browse this website to learn more about the writing process.

Good luck!