Your CV, or curriculum vitae, is the first contact you will have with a future employer and you need to make sure that you make a great first impression.
How do you create the perfect CV which will guarantee, not just their attention, but the all important call to interview?
Keep your CV fresh and regularly updated. At the same time, resist the urge to just top it up, instead tailor it to the job description or industry you are applying for. Use the job description to pick out keywords and insert them into the CV.
Remember the thing you are marketing is yourself. You need to highlight key attributes which stand out to the employer. Give them a reason to pick up the phone and invite you in. Let them see why you would be the best fit for the role. Don't sell yourself short, all experience is relevant and most skills can be transferrable. And always be truthful.
Employers are busy people and when a vacancy arises they are inundated with CV's, which need to be read through quickly so they can make a decision. Keep the layout and font simple. Never use fancy fonts which are difficult to read; if they cant read your CV it will likely to be discarded. If you can, try to stick to 2 pages of A4.
Include a personal statement. This is where you pitch yourself and highlight your key attributes. It should be about 100 words long or 2-3 sentences. List your soft skills which are written, verbal and interpersonal as well as any technical skills you possess such as software or tech knowledge. If you are familiar with Microsoft packages then put it down, employers love to know what you are capable of.
Layout of CV
Contact details. These should be at the top of the page and include your name, address, phone number and email address. Always use a professional sounding email address, if you dont have one, then create a new one.
Personal statement. A summary of your experience and training. Highlight any skills.
Work experience. This should be in chronological order from most recent to the oldest. State your job title, name of the company, dates you worked there and give a brief description of the duties you carried out. Include meaningful information, be concise and specific. Try to show how you benefitted the company. Draw on your skillset, provide sales figures. Use action verbs.
Education & training. Start with the most recent first. Provide details of courses studied, and qualifications gained.
Relevant interests. This is optional. If you have no relevant interests which would apply to the job then leave this section out.
References. Provide email addresses and phone numbers of previous employers or people of high standing who can vouch for you. Never put down relatives. Alternatively, you can state 'references available on request', but be sure to have them on hand should they be needed.
Always proofread the CV before sending it out. Use a spellchecker, read it aloud or ask someone else to go over it for you. Check grammer is correct.
These days most jobs are applied for online. Make sure the CV is saved under an appropriate name. Use JoeBloggs-CV not Document1.
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