Presentation of a CV is extremely important, it is the tool that opens the door to an interview and potentially a new career opportunity.
Most CV’s contain all the information an employer requires but almost all are poorly presented with little thought to how the CV will be viewed. CV’s are now transmitted digitally and are initially viewed on a screen, it is therefore important to format the CV with individual screen shots in mind. The first screen of a CV is approximately two thirds of a page of A4 and should contain as much information as possible to interest the viewer.
General Layout
Screenshot 1:
The first screenshot should contain the name and contact details, perhaps a brief personal profile and career history information providing a snapshot of the career to date – enough to interest the viewer
Subsequent Screens
Career detail responsibilities – this is an opportunity to provide more detailed information on the responsibilities in a specific role, ideally in bullet point format and targeted at the role competencies.
Career detail achievements - relating to the competencies in the role and focussing on measurable key achievements in that position.
Working back through your roles finishing up with Education, Interests and references where applicable.
Testimonials and References
Should you have testimonials, references or other additional information to support your CV application, why add them as extra attachments? Alternatively use an online data capture site which enables you to upload your documents confidentially onto the web, you are then given a link which can be attached to your document see examples below. We recommend google Docs it’s free to start an account and free to store all of your documents. www.google.com/accounts |
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A sample CV follows. Alternatively, you can download our sample CV in Microsoft Word format.
