Your CV is the shop window of your professional world.
It is a reflection of not only your experiences and education but of how suitable you may be for a job. If potential employers like or are intrigued by what they see, they will head on in; if they don’t, they’ll just walk on by.
Your CV can often determine if you go through to the next stage of a hiring process, however, it’s not always easy to write one.
Here we give you some useful tips to follow when it comes to writing or updating yours:
1. Check your contact details: Make sure that your phone number, email, LinkedIn page and address are up to date.
2. Add all your experience: This may sound obvious but some people leave off experiences they don’t consider relevant and it could be just the experience you need to get your next job. Online courses are also important.
3. Update the summary: Make sure you refresh the summary on your CV as this is the overview for hiring managers and recruiters. Make this fit the job you are applying for highlight the skills you have that match the job requirements.
4. Include your employment gaps: Don’t be afraid to include your employment or education gaps as it is important to let employers and recruiters know what you were doing in that time. Make sure you add a small explanation in your CV and be prepared to talk about it at your interview.
5. Structure your work experience: Be mindful of the order you add your work experience, it should be in reverse chronological order, that is, most recent first
6. Add your soft skills: Believe it or not, soft skills are now more important than ever and are at the top of the wish list for talent.
7. Use Keywords: Take advantage of keywords and think about how a recruiter would search for talent online. Make sure you use different keywords relevant to your experience so you are more likely to appear in searches. You can also use keywords from the job description of the position you are applying for.
8. Keep it brief: Add the most important and relevant information in each section. There is no need to give too much explanation as the interview is the perfect time to speak in depth about your experience and skills.
9. Be consistent: Use only one font and be consistent in the way you write and design your CV, make it easy for employers and recruiters to navigate through your CV. Use bullet points.
10. Don’t add personal information: Remove your date of birth, gender, nationality and marital status. The recruiter or hiring manager doesn’t need to see this and it is just wasting space in your CV.
If you need help writing your CV we are happy to help, contact us on 01908 616184
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