Candidates - CV Advice

Your CV is usually the first point of contact with a potential future employer so you have to make it count. A neatly formatted and informative CV will help to secure you an interview for that dream job! There are no right or wrong ways of writing a CV, each document will be as individual as the jobseeker.

Content
Personal Details: Clearly state your name and contact details at the top, include your mobile number for a quick response. Nationality, date of birth, and driving licence can be included but are not essential.
List your education, qualifications and training then employment history in reverse order, stating most recent first.
Highlight your key achievements, noting how you achieved them, do not over elaborate and leave details to expand upon at interview stage.
Interests and hobbies should be kept until last and kept short.

Appearance
Keep information interesting, although focused and generated to relevant job. Your CV should be no longer than 2 – 3 pages long.
Do not include pictures or photos, keep information professional and relevant.
Ensure layout is clear and simple to read, this can be achieved using bullet points to highlight your key achievements, use plain fonts such as Times New Roman or Arial, also use margins to format information clearly.
Use your own language and style, but do not use jargon.
Be consistent with your layout and style throughout.

Before you send
Use the spell check facility on your computer. Read it thoroughly, it may be spelt correctly but it might not make sense!
Let someone else read it too; another set of eyes may pick something up you missed.
If sending by e-mail; ensure your address is named sensibly so not offending the recipient.
If posting; send in an A4 envelope to keep it neat and flat, otherwise it can easily get dog-eared.

DO’S:
Have a confident tone and use positive language.
State your achievements; such as awards won and products launched.