CV Writing: A few tips

Need some spare cash? Planning a holiday and want to make sure you have the perfect outfits for your summer? Or simply want to fill your boring days with some good, hard work? Why not apply for a part-time/summer job?
In order to bag your interview with your dream employer you must ensure that your Curriculum Vitae (CV) is up to date and impressive. After all, they will see this long before they even meet you.
You must remember to sell yourself; why should a prospective employer choose you over the competition? Your job so far is to convince them that you will be an asset.

Pre-writing stage

Before you start writing your CV, make sure all of the personal and contact information you provide within is accurate and appropriate. You must provide a contact telephone number so that employers can contact you for interviews. You must also provide a home email address. Make sure your email address is appropriate and professional (e.g. [email protected] not, [email protected])

Your CV’s main body

Firstly, begin by writing a personal biography about yourself and what you are doing right now. Are you in school or university? If yes, let the employer know what level you are studying at and which subjects you are doing. While doing this, you must explain what skills you have learned through your studies and how this makes you the perfect employee. You should also include an explanation of your hobbies: how long you have been doing them and why you like them. E.g. If you have been group dancing for 3 years it shows that you have a level of commitment, discipline and can work in groups. You should also make your plans for future careers clear and explain how this job will contribute to your future ambitions.

Secondly, you should move on to explaining your past work experience! Include dates, places and employer names (all of this information is useful to the reader, your potential new boss who needs references). You should also take this opportunity to describe what skills you have learned from your past employment (e.g. Handling money, communicating with customers etc.). You should also include what you enjoyed about your work experience and what you were good at and why. This shows an employer what your strengths are and begins to give them an idea of why you would be an asset to their company.

Qualifications – show off your strengths and acknowledge weaknesses

Next, you have to provide details of your education and qualifications. In this section you should simply state where you studied, when you studied, what you studied and what level/grade you achieved. This is important to a prospective employer as they need to know that you are an achiever and that you are qualified for the job you are applying for.

Getting your first paid job

Everybody knows how difficult it is to get a job without experience, but you need the job to gain experience, right? WRONG! If you have little/no work experience it is advisable for you to organise short placements or volunteer work to gain some experience. Most places will not have a problem with you taking part in unpaid work experience if you contact them! While taking part in this work experience it would be advisable to communicate with your superiors and secure agreements for them to be referees for you in future applications.

A few final tips:

• Keep it short and sweet – no more than 2 pages.
• Make sure it looks professional – size 14 writing for headings but no bigger than 12 for the main body of writing – black and white – No Word Art!
• Sell yourself! You are a product and your possible boss is a consumer! You need to be the best! Tell your employer why you stand out above the rest!
• Don’t lie! In the interview stage of your job search you are going to be asked questions about what you have talked about in your CV so don’t lie! You WILL get caught out and this will not end well.

Follow these rules and your CV is dressed to impress! Happy Hunting!

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