A CV is much more than a professional document. It’s a record of your key achievements and milestones, so it’s important to get it right. There’s lots of information out there on how to write the best CV, so take a look at our top tips to make sure you’ve covered the main points to help you to secure your next role.
1) Get the basics right. There’s lots of different opinions on what makes a good CV, but there are definitely some areas to make sure you include. Personal and contact information, work history, education and qualifications and relevant skills to the job in question.
2) A successful CV is always clear, concise and well presented. Make sure your layout is clear and well structured. Having the information clearly presented means your recruiter is more likely to spend time reading over your information.
3) Keep it short and sweet. Your CV should be no more than 2 pages of A4. Recruiters could have 100’s of CV’s to look through, so they’ll most likely make a judgement call within the first few sections. Making sure your CV is brief and to the point maximises your chance of being invited to the next stage. If you’ve had lots of jobs covering 30 years of experience, the general rule is not to go back more than about 10 years.
4) Understand the job you’re applying for. Make sure you cover the main skills they are looking for from the job description. If you are lacking in certain skills, adapt the skills you do have. Show how you can use your transferable skills to meet their needs.
5) Tailor the CV to the role you are applying for. There’s no such thing as a generic CV. Once you know what they are looking for, make sure your CV shows how you best meet those requirements. You don’t need to re-write the whole thing, but make sure the relevant sections are adapted to the role.
6) Highlight your key skills. They don’t have to come from your work experiences, have you coached your kids football team? Helped your local school with planning a fundraising event or volunteered at a local charity? Whatever your experiences, if it’s relevant to the role get it down on your CV.
7) Make the most of your interests – show off what you’ve learned outside of the office. If you participate in the local pub’s football league, talk about how this has helped you with team working skills, planning or time management. Don’t include passive interests like watching TV. It makes you sound anti-social and you could be perceived as lacking social skills.
8) Make the most of your experience. Use positive, assertive language in your descriptions of your role and skills. Things like motivated, achieve and deliver.
9) Keep your CV updated. Review your CV regularly and update it with any new skills and experience.
10) Proof read it before sending. Make sure your formatting is consistent across the different sections of your CV and that your spelling and grammar are correct. There’s nothing worse than reading a CV saying you have excellent attention to detail for it to be full of spelling mistakes and poorly formatted. Get a friend or relative to look over it if you’re not sure or want to double check everything.
How can The Wage Shop help?
By trusting The Wage Shop to take care of the financial side of things, you can focus on relaxing, knowing all your Income Tax and National Insurance obligations are being met. As an employee of The Wage Shop, you are also covered by our Insurance Policy. Why not call us to find out more?
Once you’ve landed that new role with your professional and up to date CV, don’t forget to contact The Wage Shop to see how we can help with keeping you compliant. Head over to the website for more details on how we can support you or Contact Us for more information on our great value, flexible service.