Your CV and what it should include and why

Personal details

You should not include full address after all you don’t want anyone getting you out of bed for an interview!

Date of Birth & nationality should be left off to prevent people deciding on whether to interview based on either of these factors

Profile

Keep it short, not many people read it. If they do they know you wrote it, so don’t go overboard stating how completely amazing you are (unless of course you are)

Capabilities & Aspirations

This section is CRUCIAL! Most CV’s are found on the web using key word searches. If you want to be a receptionist but have never done this, here is an opportunity to get the key words on your CV.

Remember, all you’re stating is;

• Capabilities – “I am capable of doing this job”

• Aspirations – “I would like to do this job”

Use ‘columns’ to shorten the length of the CV

Education & Qualifications

Only put what is relevant to the reader and what will make them think positively about you. You can go in to more detail at the interview

If your education isn’t important to the job, put it at the bottom of the CV

Key Skills

These should be about you as an individual and used to give the reader confidence about you

Stop and have a think. By this point the reader has seen a nice short profile, seen the right ‘buzz’ words relating to the job, seen that you have qualifications, and that you have good skills

THEY’RE ALREADY HAVING A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE!

Employment History

Put a line or two explaining what type of employer you worked for. Don’t worry about this if it is a household name like Tesco or Hilton Hotels.

Use bullet points rather than sentences, unless your role needs an explanation. Say for example, you were a Marine Biologist!

Try and get at least one job on Page 1

Hobbies?

Don’t bother unless your hobbies can be a talking point in the interview, or is related to the job. for example, if you’re applying for a gardening job and your hobby is gardening then yes… or if your hobby is sky-diving!

Reading, Cinema, Socialising doesn’t quite cut it!