CVs

Your CV (curriculum vitae) is of crucial importance. The purpose of a CV is to get you an interview or a meeting with the organisation you want to work for. Even an excellent CV alone won’t get you a job. A poor one, however, will guarantee failure.

Your CV is essentially your selling tool. To be effective, your CV must provide a concise, accurate summary of your qualifications, skills and experience. Layout, design and wording will all play a role in getting you selected for an interview.

CV structures 

Chronological: this is the traditional format. Information is listed under general headings, such as work experience, education and training. The career history is presented in reverse date order, with the most recent first. The advantage of this CV is that employers and recruitment agencies are more used to this type than any other. When using a chronological CV, you have to make sure that there are no gaps in the dates and you must account for any time when you were not working.

Skills based or functional CV: This lists achievements, relevant skills and training by topic rather than in chronological order. Remember, that if you are listing skills, they should be relevant to the roles you are seeking and be backed up by evidence. This type of CV is more helpful for women who have had a career break as you can focus more on your skills and experience rather than the gaps.

CV Basics

• Don’t write ‘Curriculum Vitae’; just write your name and contact details at the top instead
• Fill two sides of A4 pages, ideally no more. If you expand to three full sides, make sure you are concise and not repetitive and that it is simply the amount of experience that is pushing your CV to three sides
• Use one typeface/font style only
• Avoid underlining – use bold or capital letters instead
• Avoid lengthy, descriptive prose – use bullet points where possible
• Line up dates in columns, line up paragraphs
• Be consistent in the use of headings, paragraphs etc
• Don’t include date of birth; this will encourage employers to take age into account and the anti-ageism legislation has now made this illegal
• Marital status and whether you have dependents or not should not be included
• Don’t include nationality as it is illegal for employers to take this into account when recruiting, but you may wish to clarify whether or not you require a work permit or not
• Don’t mention grades unless they are good!
• Driving licence, NOT license (US)
• Say what you are doing currently/avoid gaps or clarify the reason for them
• Ensure your CV is up to date
• Vary section order depending on what holds the most recent and relevant content
• Use vocabulary which is illuminating: demonstrating skills used, e.g. ‘project managed’ rather than ‘completed’
• Always include start and end dates for your qualifications and experience
• Include your ‘referees’ (their names and contact details) not ‘references’
• Ensure your CV is tailored to the role you are applying for.

Career Breaks in CVs

• Don’t use the phrase ‘career break’.
• Try and account for the period of time that you had your career break by splitting your CV into headings that cover the period of time rather than listing everything chronologically, e.g. Employment, Voluntary work experience, Further study, Training, Research
• If you have no relevant voluntary experience, mention boards or associations that you may be involved with (school governor, PTA, toddler groups etc.) as these involve skills like attending/running meetings.
• Make sure any professional body memberships are listed.
• If you have spent time travelling or living abroad give brief details of skills and experiences gained.
• If you have nothing to add to your CV from the time you had your career break don’t elaborate on time spent at home bringing up children; add one line to ‘additional information’ on the second page.
• Remember: all experience is useful, but it needs to be presented in a way that makes it relevant to the job you are applying for.