CV Advice

Regard your Curriculum Vitae (CV) as a self-marketing tool. Get it right and it increases your chances of obtaining that all-important interview; get it wrong and your submission will be passed over.

CareerWise Recruitment's Suggested CV Layout

• Personal Details. Name, address, home and mobile telephone numbers, and email address.
• A brief personal profile or career objective statement. This is a statement of how you see yourself and what you have to offer. Keep it brief and relevant to the job you're applying for.
• Education/ Training. Overview of relevant qualifications, where and when attended, and results. Add in any additional relevant training as this shows a sign of ongoing personal and professional development. Include memberships of any professional bodies in this section.
• Career History /Work Experience. This should be presented in reverse chronological order with your most recent employer first. Include the company name, type of business, position(s) held, including responsibilities and achievements.
• Interests and hobbies. This makes your CV more holistic. Demonstrates your ability to mix work with life.
• References. Note on the CV that references are available on request. You need to have pre-cleared two or three referees when you start the job search process and advise them that a company or agency may contact them to perform a reference check.

Useful Tips

• Keep your CV short: between 2 and 4 pages. Complete in Microsoft Word with minimal use of tables and text boxes.
• Use a clear font size 11 or 12 and highlight with bold as appropriate.
• Do not include a photo unless requested to do so.
• No gaps in your CV unless you have an explanation.
• Use correct dates.
• Know your CV inside out.
• Use bullet points to focus on important points and break up the text.
• Focus on your key achievements and present them with numerical information that demonstrates your performance or project successes.
• Use action-focused words at the start of sentences, prepare in past tense and keep sentences short and to the point.
• Always type your CV on good quality paper.
• Do a spell check but don't rely on a computer spell checker.