How Should I Prepare My CV?
It’s important to give your CV some thought and spend some time on getting it right. A well presented CV which clearly details your skills and experience can make all the difference in getting the job you really want.
How Should I Structure My CV?
Your CV should be no more than 2 pages in length and include the following sections.
- Personal Details
- Employment History
- Education and Qualifications
- Key Skills/Strengths
- Referees/References on Request
Format
- Make sure your CV is well laid out so that it is immediately easy to read and understand.
- Use a standard font size, which is easy to read, such as Arial 10.
- Keep it simple.
What Should I Put In My CV?
- Focus on information which is relevant to your own career goals.
- Use concise, unambiguous sentences, avoid exaggerations and a flowery writing style.
- Do not make false claims; honesty is always the best policy.
- Bullet points are useful to highlight relevant skills and experience and help break up continuous text.
- Stress your past accomplishments and the skills you used to get the results you achieved.
- Put your highest level of education first.
- Put your most recent job first and work backward chronologically in time.
- Ensure all dates are accurate and include months as well as years.
- If you are making a career change, stress what skills are transferable to support your new career objectives.
- Explain any long career gaps (i.e. travelling, maternity leave etc.) these will only need to be explained to our clients.
- Keep to the same tense.
- Customise your CV for specific vacancies by focusing on previous experience or skills that are relevant to the role.
- Most importantly, always thoroughly proof-read your CV or ask someone to do it for you.
Think about yourself
It is important before a job interview to think about all the reasons why you are attending it and what you have to offer. Be ready to discuss both short and long term career goals in general terms.
What If I Have A Gap?
You will need to explain gaps in employment. If you worked in a temporary capacity but didn’t put it on your CV, know the details of where you worked, what you did, and the length of the assignments. If you did not work but did search for a job give some examples of the research you did regarding job opportunities and the process you went through to find the position.
Reasons for leaving
Prepare to discuss the reasons you left your previous jobs. If it was for a better opportunity, explain why it was better. If you left involuntarily, present the reason in the most positive light you can. Make sure your responses are honest and be positive.
Some points to consider
You must try to consider how you can display your skills and experience in a good and honest light and provide employers with the evidence that you are the right person for the job. Here are some brief points to consider:
- Are you a self-starter, able to work without constant supervision?
- Can you be depended upon in critical situations and follow work through to completion?
- Are you enthusiastic and easy to work with?
- Can you work under pressure?
- Recruiters need to know what drives you to want the job and why you want to work for them in particular.
- Can you manage your time effectively?
- How do you structure your day’s work?
- How did you handle sudden unplanned work or a crisis?
- Can you handle constructive criticism in a productive manner?
- Are you objective in evaluating yourself and others?
- Can you work well with a variety of people?
Points to consider throughout the interview
- Aim for clarity and honesty. Give honest answers with a positive tone.
- Concentrate on the employer’s needs, not yours.
- Emphasise how you can help the interviewer achieve their goals.
- Describe your past responsibilities and accomplishments.
- Explain why you approached projects in certain ways.
- Explain how the skills you bring will benefit the interviewer.
- Don’t downplay your accomplishments or attribute them to luck.
- Be specific in your answers. Avoid rambling or going off on a tangent.
- Ask for clarification if you are unsure of the question.
- Take responsibility for communicating your strengths. Don’t rely on the interviewer to pull it out of you.
- Explain your past successes, the more you can clearly describe the experience, the people involved, the challenge and the solutions, the more you’ll stand out in the interviewer’s mind.
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