How to... write your CV Learning Centre

Learning Centre
How to...
write your CV
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© Coleg Gwent Learning Advisors 2011
You can find this document at:
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What is a CV?
Your CV (Curriculum Vitae – Latin for ‘course of life’) is a summary of all
your achievements, experience, qualifications and all-round skills. It is
your opportunity to sell yourself to a potential employer.
Your CV will not necessarily be the same for every job you apply for. You
will need to change the layout, emphasis or wording depending on the
requirements of the job.
What should be in my CV?
There is no set layout or order you have to follow but most CVs contain
information in the following sections:
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Personal details
Personal profile
Work experience/employment
Education and training
Skills
Interests
Referees
The size and order of each section will depend on what you are applying
for and your current situation. If you are about to finish, or have just
finished, college it will make sense to have the education section first,
followed by work experience and skills.
Personal details
The essential details to include are:
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Jo Farthing
12 Glen Close
Twining
TW3 6HG
Full name
Home address
Telephone number
Mobile number
Email address
Tel:
01542 765389 (Home)
07986526315 (Mobile)
Email: jo.farthing@tmail.com
Personal profile
This is a section that more employers are expecting to see in your CV. It
gives you the chance to describe the sort of person you are and to show
how this makes you the ideal person for the job.
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To get started on this section make a list of ten positive words that
describe the good points of your personality, for example: motivated,
calm, polite, loyal, thorough, hardworking, accurate, determined and good
team worker. Choose six or seven that are most relevant to the job you
are applying for and write a sentence or two about yourself.
I am mature, very adaptable and can work cheerfully under pressure. I am painstaking in my work,
honest, punctual and trustworthy. I make friends easily and enjoy working as part of a team.
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My sales training built on my persuasive skills and natural determination. I learn quickly and my sense
of humour helps in any team when deadlines approach. I try to be creative in any task and work hard
to contribute with energy and ambition to agreed team goals.
Work experience/employment
Include:
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All types of work experience from paid, voluntary and community to
work placements.
Your achievements (anything that you are proud of), e.g. customer
service awards, community awards, etc.
Describe the work you have done in detail, including job title, start
and end dates and employer’s name and address.
Now decide which information will impress the employer.
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Which skills or experience will be useful in the job you are applying
for?
Does it show personal qualities required for the role, e.g.
enthusiasm and self-motivation?
Be choosy and use recent relevant experience geared toward the job
application.
Finally, enter your chosen details into your CV using bullet points.
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Most recent employment first.
Include start and end dates (month and year), employer’s name and
your job title. If you are still with your current employer, it is
acceptable to put the start date and insert the word present instead
of an end date.
Give a brief description of your responsibilities.
Outline your achievements using strong positive words, such as
managed, negotiated and coordinated (see Appendix 1).
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School leaver
February 2003 – December 2005 Secretary, Social Club, South London High School
Responsibilities:
• taking minutes of weekly meetings
• actioning incoming correspondence
• organising mailshots to students on club activities
Achievements:
• awarded school prize for community involvement
• achieved an increase in membership from 10 to 17 members following mailshots that I initiated
• succeeded in dealing with all incoming mail within 7 days of receipt
Mid career
September 2003 – present
Senior Quality Assurance Technician, Chocolate Biscuit Ltd, Cardiff
Responsibilities:
• managed all quality assurance at Chocolate Biscuit Ltd and reported directly to the Factory
Manager
• managed and motivated an enthusiastic team of 6 people
• performed Quality Audits at the factory
Achievements:
• saved the company £50,000 a year by implementing a new quality assurance system
• increased the acceptance level of finished goods from 96% to 99%
• introduced and implemented training plans for all staff in the section
Education and training
Although your CV outlines your school career, you do not have to start
way back at primary school. Put your most recent education first and go
back as far as secondary school. Alternatively, detail everything that you
have done in the last five years.
Start with your official qualifications (GCSEs, A levels, BTEC, NVQ, BA,
BSc, etc) and list them with the most recent and/or highest qualification
first.
If you have other qualifications or training list them separately to your
official qualifications and put the most recent first.
The essential details to include, for each qualification or training course
you have done, are:
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The start and finish dates.
Name of the qualification or training.
Name of the school, college, university, training organisation.
Inserting the address is optional.
You would normally insert your grades but if the result or grade is
weak, keep the qualification but leave out the grade.
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Education
2000–2002
Littletown Community College
BTEC National Diploma Sports Science
1997–2000
Littletown High School
English Language (B)
Mathematics (B)
Biology (B)
English Literature (C)
French (C)
P.E. (A)
Short Courses
2001
Littletown Adult Education Centre
Appointed Persons First Aid Course for Sport Coaches
Skills
Your CV should include detailed examples of where you have gained
relevant skills through your studies, employment, interests and any other
experience, e.g. time management skills and computer skills. Either refer
to these skills through each section of the CV, or create a separate section
on the skills and qualities relevant for the job, giving the best examples of
where you have demonstrated them. These examples should reflect the
competencies sought by the employer.
The most common skills and qualities employers look for are:
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Communication skills
Team player
Attention to detail
Energy
Initiative
Ability to handle pressure
Enthusiasm
Leadership
Communication skills
I have been developing my public speaking skills whilst competing in public speaking competitions.
This experience has given me the confidence to express myself clearly and confidently. I regularly use
my written communication skills in composing of correspondence and promotional material for the
Social Club.
Time management skills
While completing my A levels I have held down a part time position at W H Smith as well as being
coordinator for the local football team. These extracurricular activities have put additional demands on
my time and without careful planning my college work would have suffered. I have never missed an
assignment deadline or required an extension to complete work. I prioritise and believe that these
skills will transfer well into the workplace.
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Interests
Including an interest section will give the employer a fuller picture of who
you are and highlight skills developed outside the workplace.
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Try to avoid a simple list of words such as ‘football, reading,
travelling’ and don’t lie; you may have to expand on these at
interview.
For each item, write a sentence that describes what you do and
highlight where you have taken on responsibilities and what you
have achieved.
Unless very relevant, examples from several years ago are less
useful than recent experiences.
Interests
• I am sociable and enthusiastic and have been able to use these qualities as the club
treasurer for the local fishing club. I am responsible for collecting weekly fees, maintaining
accurate banking records and organising fishing trips.
• I enjoy most outdoor pursuits. These activities have developed my self-confidence and
interpersonal skills. I have also represented my local team in the county championships.
Referees
Two referees are normally required. If you are a current or recent student
one would normally be a tutor. You should always ask your referees if it is
OK to use them before you put them on your CV.
You need to insert their names, position, address and contact details.
If you do not have room for the full details it is acceptable to write
“References available on request” at the end.
Referees
Mr Bob Goode, Personal Tutor, Coleg Gwent, Newport: (01633) 466600
Mrs Kay Shine, Manager, WH Smith, Cardiff: (02920) 514621
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What should my CV look like?
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Do not put the words Curriculum Vitae at the top of your CV.
A CV is usually no longer than 2 x A4 pages.
Choose a font that is easy to read, e.g. Arial.
Use bold, capitals, italics and font size to highlight content –
underlining can make a CV look messy and font sizes less than
10pts are too small. As a rule, put your name in size 20pts; the
major sections e.g. Education in size 14pts; sub-headings in size
12pts and the text in size 10pts.
Allow generous page margins of 2.5 cm on all sides.
CV templates are tempting but they can restrict layout and
content, as well as making the CV look less original. Be aware
that employers will have seen these layouts many times before.
Use good quality paper and do not use both sides of the paper.
Set out your CV to maximum effect using various size gaps
between heading and sub headings.
Finally check the spelling and grammar.
It is always a good idea to get someone to read through your CV
before you send it off.
An example CV is shown in Appendix 2.
For any further help you can speak to:
The Careers Advisor – Tim Summers
The Learning Advisors in the Learning Centre
Support for Learning staff
Bibliography
BRIGHT, J & EARL, J. (2001). Brilliant CV - what employers want to see
and how to say it. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd
CORFIELD, R. (1999). Preparing your own CV. 2nd Edition. London: Kogan
Page Limited
STRETEN, K. (2006). Brilliant Career. [Online]. Available at:
http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/B/brilliantcareers/survival/
surv_cv_fs.html (Accessed: 20 February 2006)
COURSES & CAREERS UK. (2006). Constructing a CV. [Online]. Available
at: http://www.ca.courses-careers.com/cv.htm (Accessed: 21 February
2006)
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Appendix 1
Be positive!
Here is an alphabetical list of favourite positive words to use when
describing your achievements and qualities in your CV.
Achieve
Acquire
Administer
Advise
Ambition
Analyse
Aspire
Budget
Build
Capable
Clarify
Complete
Conceive
Confidence
Conscientious
Co-operate
Co-ordinate
Create
Decide
Delegate
Demonstrate
Dependable
Determined
Develop
Devise
Direct
Display
Distinctive
Educated
Effective
Efficient
Encourage
Enhance
Enthusiasm
Establish
Evaluate
Exceed
Excellence
Exceptional
Execute
Expand
Experience
Facilitate
Finalise
Finance
Formulate
Participate
Perceive
Perfect
Perform
Permanent
Pilot
Pioneer
Place
Plan
Play
Popular
Practical
Praise
Prepared
Prestige
Produce
Proficient
Progress
Promote
Propose
Prove
Punctual
Generate
Govern
Graduate
Head
Helpful
Honest
Humour
Imagination
Implement
Improve
Improvise
Increase
Influence
Ingenuity
Initiate
Innovate
Inspire
Integrity
Reasonable
Recognise
Recommend
Reduce
Regulate
Reliable
Reorganise
Report
Represent
Research
Responsible
Launch
Lead
Liaise
Locate
Loyal
Maintain
Manage
Market
Mediate
Motivate
Satisfy
Schedule
Select
Simplify
Sincere
Solve
Stimulate
Streamline
Structure
Substantial
Succeed
Success
Supervise
Support
Negotiate
Nominate
Notable
Obtain
Operate
Opportunity
Organise
Originate
Overcome
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Thorough
Thoughtful
Tolerant
Train
Transfer
Transform
Treble
Understand
Useful
Utilise
Verify
Vital
Vivid
Win
Wise
Write
Appendix 2
Example CV
Sara Brown
12 Heol Coed, Llantrisant, Glamorgan, LL5 9RG
Telephone: 01764 867655
E-mail: Sara.brown@hotmail.com
I am a hardworking, friendly Beauty Therapy student with strong
communication skills, seeking full time work.
Education and Training
2007 – present
Coleg Gwent, Pontypool Campus
Beauty Therapy NVQ Level 2
2002 – 2007
Llantrisant Comprehensive School
GCSEs:
English Literature (B)
Welsh (C)
Science (single award) (D)
English Language (C)
Mathematics (D)
Short Courses
2006
First Aid qualification achieved through Coleg
Gwent, Pontypool Campus
Skills
While completing my Beauty Therapy course I have held down a part time
position at New Look. This has given me an opportunity to further
develop my team working and customer service skills, and I have shown
the ability to work long hours while completing my college work on time.
I am confident in performing manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing and
body massage, and I am computer literate in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and
Publisher.
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Work Experience/Employment
2005 – present
Part Time Sales Assistant, New Look, High Street,
Llantrisant
Responsibilities:
• Serving customers in a polite, friendly, helpful
manner
• Operating an electronic cash register
• Re-stocking shelves
• Supervising changing room area
May 2006
Beauty Basics, High Street, Llantristant: two weeks’
work experience
Responsibilities:
• Reception duties
• Keeping working areas clean and tidy
• Observing treatments
Interests
I enjoy travelling and socialising which has helped develop my
communication skills through meeting a variety of people. I also like to
keep fit by swimming and going to the gym.
Referees
References available on request.
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Suggested Resources
Books
Preparing your own CV by Rebecca Corfield
Creating winning CV’s & Applications by Kathleen Houston
Writing a CV that works by Paul McGee
Interactive Tutorial
Log onto www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/
Under Schools, Ages 11-16, click on A-Z in Quick Links, select Go Get
It, select, Get that job
Finally, on the left hand side of the screen, click on CV Tips
Or go direct to
www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/11_16/gogetit/getthatjob/cvtips.s
html
Log onto Career Wales at http://www.careerswales.com/
Select CV Wizard and click on Tutorials and Guides
Select CV from the options
Or go direct to
http://www.careerswales.com/progressfile/default.asp?conid=6
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