A CV can be a very personal thing. You may find loads of different advice and hundreds of different formats for CVs.

However, if you spend a couple of days at least thinking about the message you want to covey and develop your CV according to this, you are well on to the road of success. An example of this is where someone wants a job in creative design. In this case the CV may include a lot of colour and graphics to illustrate their originality.

General Hints and Pointers for Writing CVs

1. The one thing that everyone must remember is to keep the CV short and precise and easy to read. The fewer number of pages the better…I would not recommend more than 2 sides of A4 and I have to say that I have seen one or two fit onto one side of A4! Make sure that your name is on all pages of your CV.

2. The CV should be divided into clear sections keeping headlines to a minimum.

3. Your key strengths should be immediately obvious.

4. The design and layout are instantly attractive.

5. Information is effectively prioritised.

6. Clever typesetting allows a lot of information to be included without seeming crowded.

7. Your letter of application and CV are clearly out of the ordinary.

8. The CV should include a summary, professional information and career details.

9. Do not try to be humorous or too different – bear in mind that a CV is a professional document! However, there can be some exceptions. An example can be when applying for an advertisement job, you may want to illustrate your advertising abilities in some way. But it is always better to be safe than sorry and go for the formal approach!
   

The Structure of a CV

Your CV should contain the following 4 sections

Summary

The summary should be brief and precise and should trigger the interest of the reader to look at your CV in more detail. It is best to modify the summary to fit the post applied for or the job desired.

Professional skills

Qualifications should be arranged to show relevant ongoing professional development skills. Do not describe trivial details.

Career

Each step of your career should be prioritised so that the strongest and most recent aspects get far more attention than the early stages.

Headings should be attractive, brief and consistent, so that readers can tell where one bit of information starts and the last one ends; they will not be confronted by a sea of text.

Job descriptions should be alive and expressive.

Professional roles should be highlighted and explained so that people know what you did above and beyond the confines of your official job description.

Achievements should be linked to the rest of the text to make clear sense and corroborated by facts, figures and descriptions (of organisational quality/themes - if appropriate, e.g. HR).

Employers are looking for real people with real abilities - not robots!

Personal Details

This section should be brief and essential, without taking up space. Your address is not the most important thing about you. Referees only listed if necessary. Hobbies only described if they enhance your image.

The Golden Rules for Writing CVs

1. Ensure that your CV is clear and concise with an attractive business-like layout without seeming cluttered.

2. Make sure that your name and contact details (address and phone number) are clearly visible on each page of the CV

3. Try to limit your CV to one side of A4. If this is not possible, do not exceed two sides of A4.

4. Proof read your CV and check spelling and correct any mistakes.

5. Have a summary sentence at the beginning to catch the reader’s eye!

6. Ensure that your CV is relevant to the job requirements. Ask yourself ‘Is everything in this CV relevant to the vacancy applied for?’ - this should highlight any necessary changes. Sometimes re-wording can help.

7. Be honest! You will be asked to expand on the content of your CV at interviews so make sure that you can back up any statements in your CV.

8. Keep your CV brief and concise. Read it aloud to check that it all makes sense and that you haven’t waffled and are using easily understood words and language.

9. Make sure that your strongest statement or most important piece of information starts each section.

10. Do not clutter the CV with loads of headings and sub-headings.

11. Leave out superfluous personal data, e.g. height, unless it is directly relevant to the job you are applying for.

12. Unless hobbies or interests are directly relevant, these should be omitted.

13. Never provide existing salary information - this should be discussed face to face at an interview.

14. Do not include reasons for leaving previous jobs.

15. Do several drafts before sending a final copy out once you are sure that it is your BEST effort.

16. Finally, get someone you trust to proof read your CV and ask them if it stands out and is it easy to read.