Creating and updating your CV on a regular basis is probably the most difficult part of the job search process. There are many different ways of presenting your skills, career history and qualifications – each one with its advantages and disadvantages.
Our primary advice would be to ensure that the CV honestly reflects you, your experience and skills, your achievements and contributions to the businesses in which you have been employed or currently operate. Secondly, the CV should be relevant to the position applied for.
Remember that the CV is your personal advertisement, and you need to make it stand out. This does not mean creating a wacky background, or delivering it on hand-made paper! It simply means that a great deal of thought and care should go into its preparation. The CV should be clear, concise, easy to read and absolutely free from spelling errors, typographical errors or gimmicky fonts.
Just as a reminder, here are some of areas that you may want to consider in its creation:
Personal details
Keep them brief and relevant. You may just want to give short contact details and availability on the front page and consign other items (such as date of birth or marital status) to the end.
General summary
This should include a brief overview of your career background, skills and experience; highlights of major achievements and contributions; what you are looking for in terms of role and what you can offer to a new employer.
Employment history
Detail each major position held during the course of your career. Junior/contract/temporary roles may be noted briefly. It is a good idea to commence each example with a brief description of the company's principal activities, its turnover, the number of staff it employed, and the size of the IT department.
- Make sure you include relevant dates.
- Take care to outline exactly what you did in the role and the size of the team you worked with. Highlight the roles’ responsibilities, the position to which you reported, whether or not you have had experience in managing people and – most importantly - your achievements while working in the role (both in words and numerically if possible). For example, ‘during this time, the ratio of X to Y dropped to 1:3, enabling a cost reduction of £n.’
- If you can, give a short description of how you reached this role – whether it was through a promotion, career move etc.
- If you have only worked for one company, but have progressed through it, divide the information about your roles in the same way as above.
Education and training
Detail your educational achievements in chronological order. Include professional training where undertaken with relevant dates, training provider/body name. Note that, following the new EAA 2003 ruling, all education and professional training will need to be proved by showing copies of relevant certificates.
Hobbies and interest
Keep this area short and stay clear of any controversial activities!
Remainder of personal details
If you have not done so at the beginning, end with these.