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CV Writing - Write a Perfect CV
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Author: CVwriting.net
Topic: Careers
Viewed: 60 time(s)
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Your CV is a gateway to getting an interview for that ideal job.
It is your opportunity to provide a good first impression but
you only have two sides of A4 paper in which to do it. It is not
surprising then that most people have trouble getting
started.
Firstly, you need to know what the employer is thinking.
The employer suddenly has a vacancy. Filling the vacancy is
going to take up valuable time that he would rather spend doing
his normal job.
He would love to find the perfect person immediately rather than
plough through hundreds of CV's. It is often a dull, thankless
task.
The employer has a job description in front of him. It includes
experience or qualifications that are essential for the job and
some attributes that are desirable but not absolutely
necessary.
He starts going through the pile of CV's on his desk. He scans
each one for about 30 seconds and makes a judgement.
He simply hasn't got time to read the CV that is more than two
pages and all the relevant information is hidden in long
paragraphs. - He files it in the bin.
Fancy formatting, coloured text or multiple fonts do not impress
him. Is this person trying to hide their lack of experience for
the job behind an artistic CV? - He files it in the bin.
He notices spelling mistakes and poor punctuation. This person
is just sloppy! - He files the CV in the bin.
He breaths a sigh of relief, the pile on his desk is smaller
already. He makes another coffee and then starts
reading............................
This should tell you a few things about writing your CV.
Keep it concise and to the point. The employer needs to see your
work experience, skills and achievements in the first 30 seconds
of scanning your CV.
He knows what he is looking for. You have what he is looking
for. Don't distract him from your relevant skills by adding in
lots of unnecessary information.
Keep it simple. Plain formatting, simply laid out under
headings. The employer wants to see exactly when, where and what
you have done. Fancy formatting makes your CV difficult to read.
It may make your CV stand out from the rest but for the wrong
reasons.
Keep checking your english. Good spelling, punctuation and
grammar are essential. It is the first step in your personal
presentation to an employer. It says a lot about you. Also, poor
english distracts the employer from reading the content of your
CV.
Now the content:
Contact details should be displayed on the first page. When
he decides to invite you to interview you want him to see
immediately how to contact you before he changes his mind!
Personal details should be limited to those that are
absolutely necessary. Most employers expect to see your
nationality and date of birth but you can choose to leave these
out if you think they may go against you.
Other personal details such as number of dependents, driving
license and marital status can be included if it is not going to
make your CV too long by including them. These can help
employers to get a rounded picture of the person they are going
to interview. Do not include names and ages of children or name
of spouse. The employer is not interested at this stage.
Interests can be included but only in one or two lines. It
may provide a starting point at interview for general
conversation before getting down to serious questions about your
work experience. It also gives a rounded picture of you without
taking up too much space on the CV.
Profile is positioned prominently in your CV and should be
used to sell yourself in one paragraph. It is an opportunity to
sum up your skills, experience and general suitability for the
job for which you are applying.
Career History or Work Experience. The heading you use
depends on the length of time you have been in fulltime
employment. If you have recently left school or university you
should use the heading 'Work Experience' and include all
placements, paid and unpaid work. If you have been in fulltime
employment for the last two jobs this should be under the
heading of 'Career History'. Do not use both headings in the CV.
Whichever heading you use you must include dates, name and
location of company and a brief description of what your job
entailed including all the positive contributions you made to
the company.
Education should be described in terms of selling yourself
to the employer. Include all relevant courses, dates passed and
name of school or college. But, leave out poor grades and
failures. These will not help you get invited for interview.
If you have a university degree you can leave out all of your
lower qualifications. Mature applicants may want to leave out
'Education' altogether, as your career history and skills are
probably more important.
Skills can be described under three headings: Technical
Skills, Professional Courses and Additional Skills. Technical
skills are those related to a technical, mechanical or
engineering job. You need to list your skills and how recently
you have used them e.g. Java Programming used in the last 3
years. Professional Courses are those that you have attended
specifically for a particular job e.g. sales courses,
hairdressing. Additional skills are anything else that may be
relevant e.g. languages, keyboard skills, health and safety
courses.
Finally: Make it easy for him!
Remember, the employer has very little time. He doesn't know you
yet and is only interested in what you can offer him and his
company.
Make it easy for him to:
Scan your CV,
Identify that you have the skills he is looking for.
Pick up the phone to invite you in for an interview.
E & O E - Copyright 2005
CVwriting.net
About the author:
CV Writing - How to Write a
CV - We show you how to write a CV in minutes. Professional
CV writing at a fraction of the price. Full instructions and
helpful tips. Telephone support and Web CV options for your
complete CV writing solution
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