CV Writing Advice

Please give your CV some thought and spend some time on getting it right – it may make all the difference in getting the job you really want. Most importantly, always thoroughly proof-read your CV or ask someone to do it for you before sending it to either an agency or a potential employer.

• Make sure your CV is well laid out so that it is immediately easy to read and understand.
• Use concise, unambiguous sentences; avoid exaggerations and a flowery writing style.
• Do not make false claims; honesty is always the best policy.
• Bullet points are useful to highlight relevant skills and experience and help break up continuous text.
• Depending on your experience, two – three pages is an ideal length.
• Stress your past accomplishments and the skills you used to get the results you achieved.
• Focus on information which is relevant to your own career goals.
• If you are making a career change, stress what skills are transferable to support your new career objectives.
• Put your highest level of education first.
• Put your most recent job first and work backward chronologically in time.
• Ensure all dates are accurate.
• Explain any long career gaps (i.e. travelling, maternity leave etc.) these will only need to be explained to our clients.
• Don’t change tenses back and forth.
• Describe what you did 90% of the time, not 10% of the time.
• Avoid references to hobbies, activities and memberships which are not business related or have no relevance to your current career goals or job objectives.
• If you are preparing a CV for a specific vacancy, explain why you would be good at the position for which you are applying. This is a brief summary of your significant technical and managerial skills (where appropriate).
• Include accomplishments and soft skills such as team player, dependable and successfully meeting deadlines. E.g. – Achieved a fundraising target of £100,000 within one year.