Your CV is the first chance you have to make a good impression on a potential employer or recruiter. A good CV will considerably boost your chances of getting a face-to-face interview, so it is worth putting in some time and effort to make sure it stands out from other CVs that they may be looking at. Below is a simple guide on how to write the perfect CV:
A Profile Section
You will need a brief profile section to introduce yourself. Here, you will give a brief outline of your background and describe what it is you have to offer.The profile should catch the attention of a recruiter/employer and encourage them to read it to the end.
Appropriate Layout
There are a few CV layouts which can be used and your choice will depend on what you are trying to achieve.
Chronological CV
This is the most common layout and allows you to list your employment history and education in chronological order.
A Chronological CV is the best choice when you want to highlight particular skills you have or to highlight the fact that you have been progressing on the same career path. It is not suitable if you are changing careers or you have gaps in your employment history.
After your profile you will need to add a Career Summary. Here you should give an overview of each role you have been in and what you brought to the organisation. You should use as many keywords as possible to describe your role and what you did but you do not need to go into alot of detail.
Three or four lines should be enough. For each role you must list your key responsibilities and tasks. You should also list any key achievements in that role ie you managed to cut costs by 10% in a particular quarter. Information like this is key for showing how much of an impact you had on the organisation and what an asset you were.
You should give as much detail as possible for recent roles but less for older roles. You want to use the space you have for recent roles.
Underneath the Career Summary, you should list your Qualifications and training.
Skills Based/Functional CV
Skills Based/Functional CVs are typically used to emphasise your skills and personal attributes over your work experience. This should be used if you are going back to work after a long gap, you have change jobs frequently or are changing industry. Its also useful if you want to take the focus away from your age.
It’s important before you start, that you make a list of key skills and attributes.Make sure that these skills are closely aligned to the kinds of roles you are applying for and are sought after by potential employers. From there you can create a Skills Summary. Within this summary you should list a key achievement related to the skills you have chosen. For example, if you have I.T skills, you can list your key I.T achievements.
Next , you should include a section for employment history. You do not need alot of detail here. You should include company name, titles and relevant dates
The skills summary should come after the Profile Section of your cv.
The final section should be the Qualifications and Training section where you list all. Click here for an example.
Hybrid CV
As the name suggests,this is a hybrid of the chronological and skills based/functional cv.
This is ideal for you if you want to highlight your skills and detail your chronological work history.
Underneath your profile, you should list 6 or 7 core skills. Ensure that these skills match the requirements for the roles you are applying for. These skills may also include soft skills so make sure you read the job specification thoroughly.
Next, you should outline your work experience. Be sure to list the most relevant roles here especially if you are changing fields. You may decide to give less detail for less relevant roles or not list them at all. This is your opportunity to list the roles you feel are relevant to this application.
Lastly , detail your Education and other qualifications as well as any interests you may have.
Hopefully this guide would have helped you in writing your perfect CV. Good luck and let us know how you get on!
