1. New Breaks, New Horizons
Writing the CV

2. Introduction What to include/leave out Personal profile Skills
Work history
Qualifications and other information

3. General tips
Positive, but honest – show the real you in the best light
Neat, typed, good layout
Tailored for each specific job
Short and concise,
2 pages of A4 usually enough
It’s marketing you, so is worth spending time on to get it right!

4. Disability – to mention or not to mention?
Nature of job (will disability be a positive advantage?)
Nature of employer (guaranteed interview scheme?)
Do you need reasonable adjustments for any part of the selection process?
Would mentioning your disability clarify some aspects of your CV?

5. What is the recruiter looking for?
You may only have a few seconds to make a great impression
Clear, concise, easy to read
An immediate impact – related to the job
Do you demonstrate you can do what the job needs?
Do they want to learn more about you?

6. What to include Name and contact details Personal statement
Work history and achievements
Skills
Qualifications/training
Other information

7. Variations: If a graduate role, put relevant degree at or near the top
If relevant skills gained from non-paid work roles, put near top
If work history has lots of jobs, or lots of gaps, put lower down
Make the CV work for you – best things first

8. Clues to what they want

9. Personal Profile
Short paragraph summarising why you are best person for job
Pick out two or three qualities they are particularly looking for
e.g.
Experienced customer service professional with excellent IT and telephone skills and a great team player

10. Work history Start with the most recent employment and work backwards
Write about achievements rather than tasks
Write less as you go back in time
After 10 years (or so) simply list job titles, company names and dates

11. State Achievements
Designed and negotiated a radical new business ratecard which generated £33 million of savings over 4 years
Delivered an integrated demand forecasting function, improving forecasting accuracy to within 3%
Quality Champion for a call centre, initiated review of operating procedures resulting in reduction in overtime spend from 9% to 5%
Coached and developed two junior managers new to their role subsequently resulting in their successful promotion

12. Skills Describe relevant skills to this particular job
Give examples of how the skills were used
Does not have to be work-related

13. Skills section

14. Qualifications and additional information
Leave out O Levels if gained a long time ago and you have more recent qualifications
Only include relevant qualifications and training
Include in-house training
Information on voluntary work, charitable work, awards won etc. are worth mentioning – if you have the space

15. Summary Your CV gets you the interview
Do not leave employers to guess what you mean
Grab their attention in the first 30 seconds
Have a friend read it and ask for objective feedback
Check your spelling and grammar
Use it as a tool to support your interview
Do not be afraid of selling yourself
Be honest, but positive

16. Next Steps
Write a skeleton CV
Tailor for each specific application