Often seen by many as a scary task, writing your CV is essentially a simple task and is the most important document required in securing new employment.  A simple and effective way to showcase your skills and experience, it’s a must do.

Layout

A question that we are asked the most is “How do I layout my CV?” and you’re right to be concerned.  You don’t want to include information not relevant to the job you’re applying for at the top of your CV but you may need to include it, as it may be a piece of information that will stand you out against all the other applicants.

Contents

Whilst a prospective employer doesn’t want to spend their afternoon reading through your CV, it’s important to ensure that you include all the relevant information when applying for a specific role.  Where you are speculatively submitting your CV then you should look at your target it at roles that are likely to fit in with your experience and skills, this should however always include the following:

• Contact Details – Full Name, Address, Telephone Number, Mobile Number and Email Address.
• Personal Profile – Summarising you as an individual; include information relating to what you enjoy in roles and 3 relevant areas of experience you can bring to the role being applied for.
• Skills & Achievements - Not neccesary for all, try to include key skills that you can bring to the role as bullet points and two main achievements from your previous roles that you feel translate well.
• Education & Qualifications – Always try to summarise this section where applicable, often an employer doesn’t want to read every GCSE grade but dependent on the role this level of information can sometimes be required.
• Employment History – Include relevant information for each role, creating bullet points with details of the main tasks and areas of responsibility you covered and those most important to a prospective employer.  You may wish to include achievements in this section also, including where you have been promoted in roles.
• Hobbies & Interests – Whilst the above in important to assess your suitability for roles, writing about your interests can often be used as a discussion point at interview but also assess your personailty fit into their organisation (try to avoid “socialising with friends” or “shopping”, unless it’s relevant).
• References – Often you will see “References By Request” on people’s CV’s which can be a formality for many employers but many also like to contact them in advance and by listing them can assist in ensuring a speedy application process.

So, where do we come in as a Recruitment Agency?  Every position that we put you forward for will include the majority of the above inofrmation, however on occasions we may include personality tests, written references and summaries of interviews we have conducted with you.

Once you’ve completed the above guide, we’d love to here from you! Please Submit Your CV here.