Writing a Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Introduction

A CV is a document which potential job candidates use in order to “advertise” themselves and their skills, knowledge and experience to prospective employers in relation to jobs within their organisations. It is a method of application and can be used instead of or in conjunction with an application form.

For every available job there are likely to be a large number of other candidates so the candidate needs to make sure that his/her CV stands out when compared with those of other potential candidates.

Various studies have shown that employers only spend around 20 to 30 seconds scanning a CV so it needs to remain clutter-free and easy to read. It is important that the layout of the CV means that information can be found easily and that the information is concise and can be easily read and understood.

It may sound a time consuming process, but it is important to tailor a CV to suit the requirements of each particular job that the candidate applies for as this can greatly increase his/her chances of securing an interview.

The information contained within the CV is all important as it is the only information which the prospective employer has in relation to the candidate.  As well as ensuring that the information is correct also ensure that the spelling and grammar is checked as this is often overlooked.

It is also important to revisit the information contained within a CV on a regular basis to ensure that it is up to date and relevant.

As detailed above the information contained within the CV is all important as it paints a picture of the candidate, what he/she has done and can offer the organisation to which he/she is applying for a job. He/she needs to differentiate himself/herself from other candidates and put himself/herself in the best possible light by ensuring that he/she accentuates the positive, whilst being honest, in relation to what he/she can bring to the job

In other words a candidate needs to think about his/her “unique selling point”. What is the one reason that an employer should hire him/her above all other candidates? What can he/she bring that is unique or adds value to the position/organisation? What skills and experience does he/she have that will meet the organisation’s needs?

Employers can receive hundreds of applications for each vacancy, so it is important that the candidate makes his/her application stand out and get short listed for an interview. Therefore it is important to think about what makes a good CV design and layout.

The Content, Design and Layout of the Curriculum Vitae

There are a number of schools of thought as to what constitutes a good format for a CV but my preference is towards a clear, concise, clean and conservative format. Formats which detract or take attention away from the information contained within the CV are in my view not helpful.

As stated above it is said that employers spend around 20 to 30 seconds scanning a CV so it needs to remain clutter-free and easy to read. The last thing an employer wants to do is to have to search for the information that they are looking for and struggle to find it. Therefore thought needs to be given to this aspect if the CV is to make the right impact.

It is important to ensure that there is clear differentiation between each section of the CV – a simple line break and/or bold heading will allow the employer to find specific areas quickly and easily.

For each section heading, use bold and contrasting text from the main body text so that the information stands out and can be read easily. Give some thought to the style and size of font that is used in relation to headings and the main body of text.

Where it is possible a candidate should keep his/her CV to a maximum of two pages in length.

Ensure that the layout of the CV remains constant throughout and only put relevant information into each section.

A CV is a working document that has a beginning, middle and an end so it needs to follow a logical structure. Keep an eye on the detail contained within the CV. If it is cluttered, the text is too big or small or the appearance is inconsistent, the chances of getting chosen for interview by an organisation will be reduced.

A typical CV will contain the information detailed below –

·         Personal Details – name, address, telephone numbers, e mail address etc.

·         Profile – a brief description, one or two sentences, which gives details of the candidate, his/her work experience, qualifications and key personal qualities which gives the potential employer an insight into what he/she can bring to the job.

·         Education/Qualifications – the qualifications that he/she holds, where the qualifications were obtained and the dates of study.

·         Membership of Professional Bodies – membership level/status and the date that membership was achieved.

·         Professional Development – detail the training, development and other activities recently undertaken in relation to continuing professional development.

·         Employment History – detail the employment history i.e. employer, post(s) held, dates of employment and a brief resume of the main duties and responsibilities and achievements.

·         Skills and Personal Qualities – detail the main skills and personal qualities which are possessed and which are relevant to the post.

Common Pitfalls

In compiling a CV there are a number of common pitfalls which should be avoided -

·         Even in jobs where writing is not necessarily a key requisite skill, poor spelling and grammar shows a lack of care which will not put forward a good image to an employer. A spell checker is useful, but a candidate should always check himself/herself and if possible get someone else to read through the CV to spot any spelling or grammatical errors that may have been overlooked.

·         A large number of candidates use many words when usually few words will suffice. Attract attention with bullet points or short sentences rather than long tracts of text.

·         Whenever a candidate attempts to develop a one-size-fits-all CV to apply for lots of potential jobs, he/she almost always ends up with a CV which many potential employers will tend to ignore. Each potential employer is looking for a CV and cover letter that sets out information which is relevant and pertinent to their particular job and as, in the main jobs and organisations are different, a candidate should make appropriate changes to the information contained within the CV so that it matches the specific requirements of the employers to whom they are sending the CV.

·         Rather than simply copying the duties and responsibilities from previous jobs, it is important for the candidate to show what he/she actually achieved whilst he/she was employed by previous employers. Not all jobs have key performance indicators that are easily quantifiable, but candidates should think about their achievements in previous jobs and should what they brought to the job and what they achieved within it.

·         When writing a CV less is often seen as more. Try where possible to keep the length of the CV to no more than two pages of A4. Use lots of white space to make it easy to read, make all sections stand out clearly and only include information that is relevant.

·         Do not leave gaps in employment history when compiling the CV. It is important that you give a full employment history and include periods of unemployment for whatever reason.

·         Phrases such as “good communicator”, “works well in a team”, “is committed” etc. should be linked to the achievements that the candidate has detailed within the CV as on their own they will mean very little to the employer without any evidence to bring such phrases to life.

·         Candidates need to be clear about why they are applying for a particular job and this should be reflected in the CV and covering letter which are sent to the potential employer. Candidates should detail why they are applying and how their skills, knowledge, experience etc. relate to the requirements of the job.

Keeping the CV up to date

It is important that candidates keep their CV up to date so that it contains the most up to date information relating to the candidate and his/her work experience, training and development activities, educational qualifications etc.

Candidates should revisit their CV on a regular basis to ensure that all the information that should be there is there and also to that the information is presented in the most appropriate format.

Once a candidate is happy with how his/her CV looks and that the information contained within it is relevant and appropriate to his/her current situation, it can be posted on to job web sites and/or sent to organisations that the candidate would like to work for on a speculative basis as well as in response to advertisements for specific jobs within appropriate organisations.