Writing a CV: content and style

Welsh_Totster

Hopefully I will soon be accepted for Voluntary redundancy from my civil service job, so in the next few months will start to be looking for jobs, for this I'll need a CV. Having over 18 years service in and joining the civil service after leaving school its been that long since I've had a CV. I assume they've changed a lot in that time!

So these days, how are they set out? What info do I include, what do I omit?

Thanks!

Owain_Moneysaver

You omit:
age
sex
marital status
spouse and children
religion

You include:
a sensible email address (so if your email is welshtotster@hotmail.isp set up a new one called jjones123@hotmail.isp or whatever and one not related to your facebook page or whatever.
a mobile phone number that you answer, don't answer when drunk or let the children answer

Welsh_Totster

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

You omit:
age
sex
marital status
spouse and children
religion

You include:
a sensible email address (so if your email is [EMAIL="welshtotster@hotmail.isp"]welshtotster@hotmail.isp[/EMAIL] set up a new one called [EMAIL="jjones123@hotmail.isp"]jjones123@hotmail.isp[/EMAIL] or whatever and one not related to your facebook page or whatever.
a mobile phone number that you answer, don't answer when drunk or let the children answer

I'm ok with the sensible email address thing, it's certainly not a hotmail address and I'm not on facebook or any other social networking sites anyway. I only have 1 mobile number that I've had for the past 12 years and I always answer it. (I'm a civil servant, check me out the sensible boring one!) I've got no children and dont generally get drunk. So I think I'm ok on that score lol

The ommitting of the info is interesting as way back when that was stuff you'd actually put on a CV so thats really helpful.

Thanks for the info!

Oldernotwiser

Google "skills based CV" to see examples as this is a far more contemporary way of writing a CV compared to the traditional chronological type and it will allow you to expand on your transferable skills.

Sammyantha

Keep your work experience concise and relevant to the job you're applying for. Make sure your dates are on there, and that there is a logical progression from job to job, with any gaps in employment accounted for (studying/ time off to raise a family/ travel etc).

Put your personal statement at the top, under your name and contact details, then current/ most recent role, with keyword rich description and bullet pointed achievements (increased client portfolio by 100%, won best sales person 3 months in a row etc), then prior experience with brief bullet points, education, and finally interests (tailor these for the job you're going for i.e. sales, say that your interests are kick-boxing, bungee jumping, adrenaline pumped sports and so on)

Keep it 2 pages or under, and always include a cover letter.

Good luck

Oldernotwiser

Sammyantha wrote: »

Keep your work experience concise and relevant to the job you're applying for. Make sure your dates are on there, and that there is a logical progression from job to job, with any gaps in employment accounted for (studying/ time off to raise a family/ travel etc).

Put your personal statement at the top, under your name and contact details, then current/ most recent role, with keyword rich description and bullet pointed achievements (increased client portfolio by 100%, won best sales person 3 months in a row etc), then prior experience with brief bullet points, education, and finally interests (tailor these for the job you're going for i.e. sales, say that your interests are kick-boxing, bungee jumping, adrenaline pumped sports and so on)

Keep it 2 pages or under, and always include a cover letter.

Good luck

Whether you write a skills based CV or a chronological CV, you should put your education before your employment.

In addition, OP, don't think of writing just one CV which you send everywhere. You need to tailor it to individual jobs or, at least, to different employment areas. This is far easier to do with a skills based CV as you can choose and emphasise the skills that are relevant for each specific job.

Welsh_Totster

Thanks everyone lots of info there to get me started, much appreciated!

Tracey2609

If you've done any courses at work as an example NVQ's, ECDL's or any other training or are a First Aider it would be useful to include these as well.

danothy

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Whether you write a skills based CV or a chronological CV, you should put your education before your employment

Interesting you should think that, personally I agree (at least at this end of my career), however I was sent on a CV writing and back to work course by the Jobcentre and the guy running it was adamant that the experience was more important. I am suspect of the quality of that course though, the section on using the internet to search for jobs did involve him not being able to distinguish between google sponsored links and the useful search results.

Tracey2609 wrote: »

If you've done any courses at work as an example NVQ's, ECDL's or any other training or are a First Aider it would be useful to include these as well.

First aider qualification is gold dust on a CV, it costs an employer a fortune to train people for that. If you're offered a chance to become one while employed somewhere bite their hand off for it.

LittleVoice

With your full-time education ending at least 18 years ago, for a recruiter initially your employment record is more important than your education (unless, perhaps, you are aiming to change careers).

Therefore allow the CV reader to see the work first. If you believe a particular academic or vocational qualification is absolutely vital for a particular job, then you could include that in a short bulleted list of skills after your contact details.

[Ask 6 people and you'll get at least 7 opinions about CVs.]

Oldernotwiser

LittleVoice wrote: »

[Ask 6 people and you'll get at least 7 opinions about CVs.]

Ain't that the truth!