CVs - getting started

What is a CV?

Your CV should answer an employer's question: how will I benefit from employing you?

It should provide:

• a summary of your work history, skills and experience 
• information about how you perform in different work situations 
• information about what you have achieved
• a sense of what you are like as a person.

"Everybody who is going for a job needs a CV! The point of the CV is to get you an interview. Think of it as a one-page marketing document. It needs to tell an employer what skills and attitudes you have that are relevant to the job you’re applying for, as well as a bit about you."

Sarah McIndoe, Career Consultant

What should you include in your CV?

Your name and contact details

Along with your name and address it is useful to include an email address that you use regularly.  Also include a home contact number and cellphone number if you have one. 

Personal profile

Write around three or four sentences introducing yourself and identifying some of your key strengths.

Skills

List your skills and back them up with examples. Identify what you did, the setting in which this activity was carried out, and what was achieved. Use major skill groupings according to the work areas you have experience in (e.g. administration/organisation, communication). Make sure that these skills are true to you, don't exaggerate just to impress employers. Include:

• transferable skills – skills you already have that can be applied in your new work situation
• job-specific skills – skills that the job requires.

Employment history

• List your most recent experience first.
• Give the name of your employer, job title, and town or country where appropriate.
• If you have had a major achievement in a job that relates to the job you are applying for, then write about this here.
• Include part-time and voluntary work.

Education

• Include the name of the course or qualification you completed, the institution you attended and the year(s) of attendance.
• Start with your most recent education first.
• Include any special projects, thesis, or dissertation work that is related to the job you are applying for.
• Include high school courses if they are relevant to the job.
• Include professional development courses you have undertaken, including conferences and workshops, if they relate to your job application.

Interests

Include activities where you have leadership or responsibility, or where you relate to others in a team. A one-person interest, such as stamp collecting, may be of less interest, unless it connects with the work you wish to do.

Give only enough detail to identify the interest. You could also include information about any voluntary work you have been involved in.

Referees

You should include the names of two or three referees on your CV. They may be people from work or former employers, a teacher, someone from your religious community, a sports coach, or any person who knows you well and can vouch for you.

A future employer is likely to want to contact your referees to verify what you have said in your CV, and answer any further questions the employer may have.

Make sure you regularly check that your referee is still happy to be listed on your CV. Besides giving you a chance to check their contact details, they can see that you recognise the time and energy they put in as a referee.

• Learn more about what your CV should look like
• Get more help in deciding which type of CV to use
• Use our top 10 tips for writing a great CV

Tailoring your CV to your circumstances

Your circumstances affect the type of information you should include in your CV. Here are some tips for people in particular situations:

Your first job?

If you are applying for your first job, your CV should emphasise your potential as an employee. Cover your qualifications and achievements, part-time and holiday jobs (including unpaid work), any voluntary work you have done, and your interests and hobbies.

Read more about finding your first job

A long work history?

Employers are most interested in relevant, recent experience. Jobs that you held more than 10 years ago can be mentioned briefly, emphasising what you learned, or just listed.

Working long term for one employer?

List any different positions you held there to clearly show how you progressed through the company. Highlight your loyalty to a single employer.

Find out more about making changes in your career

Out of paid employment for a time?

Emphasise the positive things you have been doing with your time, such as helping to look after the family, job searching, doing up your house, or training.

Returning to the workforce after full-time family work?

You will have developed a wide range of transferable skills looking after the family. List these in your CV. Examples include: planning, decision making, budgeting and organising.

Get more advice on returning to work

What your CV should look like

Employers are busy people and often won't read every word of your CV at first. Instead, they may take 15 to 20 seconds to scan it and decide if it is worth further consideration. If you make a good first impression, employers will read your CV more closely and critically. The following hints will help.

Structure

• Organise your information into sections (e.g. work history, interests strengths) and order the sections in a way that best meets the requirements of the job vacancy.
• Use good page design to create a CV that can be skimmed quickly.
• Be consistent with formatting, font styles and sizes. 
• Use headings so that skim readers can find what they are looking for.
  
• Keep your CV to two or three pages - recruiters don't have time to look through anything longer.

Wording

• Complete sentences are not necessary.
• Use plain, simple language in a professional and business-like style. Avoid jargon and abbreviations that might be unfamiliar to employers.
• Give enough detail to convince careful readers that you really have the skills you say you have.
• Avoid long descriptions and use lots of bullets and key phrases.
• Do not use I to refer to yourself - the subject of the CV is assumed to be the person named in the heading of the CV.
• Check for any spelling and grammatical mistakes. Also get a friend, teacher or family member to read over your CV before you send it.

The basics

• Use clean, white or off-white A4-sized paper (don't use coloured paper).
• Your CV should be typed on a computer and printed on a good quality laser printer. 
• Leave plenty of space around the edges and clear space between each paragraph or section.
• Use a plain font that is easy to read.
• Don't include a title page or cover sheet unless one is specifically asked for.
• Keep it neat. Don't send CVs that are badly photocopied or marked.
• Always attach a cover letter, even when emailing your CV.