We recently ran a poll on our Superfan Facebook page asking what you’d like me to blog about. It seems most of you want information on writing a CV. Well… you asked for it, you got it!
Your CV is your pass to a new career. It shows employers what you’ve done, what you’re good at, and together with a well-written cover letter, helps convince them they should offer you an interview.
Writing a CV may seem a daunting task, but it is essential that you get it right. A good CV will help you stand out in the crowded job market. A bad CV will immediately get tossed without a second glance.
There are seemingly endless different ways to structure your CV, and it will often depend on the field and company you’re targeting as well as your experience level and the type of job you’re going for. Nonetheless, the key ingredients in a CV are your name and contact information, your professional experience, your education, training and qualifications, and any relevant volunteer experience. From there, you can expand to include a summary profile, key skills, association memberships and affiliations, publications, and any other information you feel would help your application rise to the top of the pile.
To help you write an effective CV, here are a few hard, fast rules to follow:
1) Keep it relevant. Your prospective employer doesn’t want to know about the two-week stint you had at an ice cream shop if you’re applying for a high-level position as a financial advisor.
2) Keep it chronological. When typing your list of professional experience, be sure to account for any gaps in employment. Took a year off to travel round the world? Great, include that.
3) Keep it brief. Make sure you keep your CV clear, concise and easily readable. Don’t list long, drawn-out descriptions of every job you’ve had. Keep it to the point, highlighting specific skills, responsibilities, and achievements.
4) Keep it honest. Fibbing about your experiences and skills won’t get you very far, and if you do manage to land an interview, you’ll be sussed out pretty quickly.
5) And for goodness’ sake, keep it typo-free. Typos reflect very poorly on your general professionalism and ability to do a job well. Make sure you check, double-check, and triple-check your CV for any spelling or grammatical errors before you submit it.
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