CV tips
By Cynthia Munro
Having your CV ready for potential opportunities is useful at anytime and given these uncertain times during Covid-19, being prepared, is a good thing to do. When it is an employers’ market – as opposed to an employee’s market – employers can be swamped with applications, so you need to ensure that your CV stands out.
Here are 4 tips and questions to get your CV prepared.
- Ensure the contents of your front page encourages the reader to turn the page.
- Contact details need only to contain your phone numbers, email address, and possibly your LinkedIn address
- If you write a personal profile/positioning, make it punchy. Instead of, “I am a friendly and outgoing person ……”, try something like “5 years experience in ………. Particularly skilled/enjoy ……………”
- Have a section outlining your skills. This enables the reader to quickly identify quickly what you have to offer. Order these skills according to the role you are applying for
- If you have qualifications, add the important ones to the front page
- Where you list your employment history, put the dates on the right-hand side – this then allows the reader to clearly focus on your role title and the organisation you worked for.
- If you decide to have an interest section, elaborate on these e.g. Music – currently learning the guitar; Walking – enjoy the outdoors and a chance to exercise
- We no longer need to add the names of referees, just add “Referees available on request”
Some questions to ask yourself
- Have I listed achievements for each of my major roles?
- Would a functional (strength-based) CV promote me better than a chronological (employment history based) CV or vice versa?
- Does my CV show an overall theme that is consistent with the role I want?
Further information can be found here
