CV Guide
In order to maximise your chances of obtaining that first interview, you need to construct the ideal CV that is perfectly tailored to fit each role. Your CV must be accurate, honest, to the point and easy to read. You must ensure that your CV reflects where you are now and where are you going, your experience, current qualifications, personal strengths and your long term goals.
Presentation:
- Keep the formatting of your resume simple and consistent. Use an easy to read font. Don't use colour, graphics, fancy fonts or inappropriate swirls or curls as they make a resume very difficult to read.
- Use consistent bold capitals for section headings to clearly mark them out.
- Quality, not quantity. Bullet points can help achieve this by breaking up the information to become absorbable. Overall keep your CV to no more than 2 - 3 pages.
- For hard copy CV’s use plain white paper with a staple in the left hand upper corner.
- Proof read carefully for any spelling mistakes.
Layout:
Split your CV into logical sections such as:
- Personal Information: Current and contactable details. Include your full name, address, telephone numbers (daytime and evening), email address (checked regularly).
- Career Objective: Reflects goals and supports the role for which you are applying.
- Skills: A brief listing of IT, language and position specialty type skills. You can also specify your ability (intermediate – advanced) where necessary.
- Qualification: Include mainly major qualifications only, providing the name of your degree, the institution and the year it was awarded or if partly qualified note the stage you are at.
- Memberships: List Institute and Membership details briefly.
- Employment History: Positions should appear in reverse chronological order. Next to each position include your key responsibilities and achievements in bullet form, how long you were in the role and your reason for leaving. Be factual with your points, more detail should be given to your most recent experience and less to the more distant. State the nature and size of the organisations; include business activity or sector, how many employees and turnover.
- Personal Interests: Gives the reader an insight into you as a person. Only list. You may also like to include any special awards or accomplishments.
- References: The most useful referees are previous supervisors or managers. Get your referees' permission to include their names on your resume, make sure their contact numbers are current and they are aware of your current situation.
- Remuneration: Do not include your expected remuneration or give details of current package unless asked to do so.
