Did you know that some employers spend less than nine seconds scanning each CV? If you’re actively looking for a new job,  It’s vital you make your CV is easy to read and on point. The following blog post aims to give you straightforward advice on how to make your CV attractive to employers and maximise your chances of progressing to interview stage.

 

Presentation

How long should it be?

Whilst most people will tell you that shorter CVs are better, there is no real ‘golden number’ of how many pages it should be. Ultimately, it will depend on the amount of experience and jobs you have had. Your main aim should instead, focus on ensuring that it is relevant for the job you are applying for:

• Avoid using long paragraphs, opt for bullet points instead.
• Focus on the most relevant experiences and skills, including less information for roles that are not relevant or are less recent.

What style should I use?

It’s important that your CV is presented in a medium that matches the type of role you are applying for. For example, a creative role in Marketing would allow for a more artistic CV that a role in a corporate setting. Above all, it needs to be logical and easy to read. . Ensure that you use a consistent font, style and typeface sizes throughout the CV.

Should I tailor it?

Yes! It’s very important to check and edit your CV before you make a job application and ensure it’s as relevant as possible for that particular job. Make sure you cross-check your CV against the job description or job advert and list all relevant skills and experience. Equally you may want to delete less relevant experience, skills or information.

Content

Do I include my contact details?

As a minimum your CV should include your name, email address, mobile number and your general location. If you don’t want to give your full address at the least put your town, city or county. Use an email address that you regularly monitor. You may also want to give a link to your LinkedIn profile.

Personal statement

You can add a short personal statement at the beginning of your CV, giving an overview of yourself or highlighting your relevant experience for the role you are applying for. This should be short, punchy and relevant – no more than 6 lines.

Skills

It’s a good idea to list your key skills – but make sure you can provide evidence to back them up. Use a bullet point list and make sure they are relevant to the specific job you’re applying for.

Career history

List your career history in reverse chronological order (most recent job first) and include:

• Name of your employer (including a brief description of what the business does – if they are not well known)
• Your job title
• The dates of employment (include month and year and using ‘present’ if currently still employed)
• List your main responsibilities – list these using bullet points, providing short and concise information on key tasks undertaken in your role. Try to keep to a maximum of 6 to 8 responsibilities
• For each job role, list some achievements. This is your best way of evidencing your abilities. Keep these factual, concise, specific and measurable. Using numbers / percentages to demonstrate your achievements against targets is very effective
• Use the present tense for your current role and the past tense for any previous roles.

Education and qualifications

List your educational history in reverse chronological order. Give more detail on the highest level of qualification you have achieved. Remember to include dates and the establishment you studied at. This section may also include any professional development experiences, such as courses attended and membership to any relevant professional body.

Personal Information

Adding some information about your hobbies and interests is optional. It’s more useful for those in the early stage of their career who have less work experience to add. If you choose to add this, keep it fairly brief.

 

Crosscheck with your LinkedIn Profile

Once you have written your CV, make sure it is consistent with your LinkedIn profile. Employers are very likely to look at this too.