Careers advice, vocational guidance, career building, occupational and CV writing support, personal career centre and educational guidance from Step One.

Some general tips for writing your CV/Resume:

Click here to download a CV/Resume template in Microsoft Word format.

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Why your CV/Resume is important:

Your CV (also known as a resume) is sometimes the only opportunity that a potential employer will have to find out about you and the knowledge, skills and attributes you have to offer. So it is important - it may be your one opportunity to really sell yourself.

General guidance for your CV/Resume

Length

Employers are busy people, so a long CV/resume may not be read. The most effective CV/resumes are usually around 2 sides of A4.

Layout

Your CV/resume should be ‘easy on the eye’. Do not cram as much information in as possible by extending the margins or reducing the font size. The reader should be able to quickly skim the CV/resume and know what your key strengths are.

Having space around text ‘leads the eye’ towards it. Look at magazines or newspapers with job advertisements and see which ones catch your eye.

Language

Be objective and brief. Use short sentences. If it can be said in three words, do so. When talking about your achievements, be positive. Talk about ‘I’ not ‘we’. Be clear about what you personally have achieved.

Photographs

It is possible to include your photograph on your CV/resume but is it necessary? Evidence suggests that people make judgments about others simply on appearance. It is your skills that employers should be interested in first and foremost – unless they specifically require it, of course.

Dates

Try to avoid gaps in dates. If you do have a gap for any reason, be prepared to explain why.

Suggested CV/Resume format

You can start with your name and contact details including address, land line and/or mobile phone number, email address (avoid email addresses that are too informal) Remember to check these for responses. Date of birth is usually optional.

Note: some people now add this section to the end of their CV/resume.

Section 1: your personal statement

You should add a short personal statement setting out your key skills and attributes. More employers are selecting on the basis of the skills and attributes that are necessary in order to be effective in the role. Can the person ‘do the job’?

Use positive language. “I am an effective team-player” sounds more positive and confident than “I like working as a member of a team”.

Section 2: your current (or most recent) job

This can be in a separate section, rather than included in your ‘Employment History’ section. Your current or most recent experience will usually be the most relevant to the employer.

They will want to know key facts such as your current (or last) employer, job title, the date you took up the position and your notice period.

They will also want to know what your duties and responsibilities are, or were. You should not assume that the job title says it all. Words like ‘coordinator’ or ‘manager’ can mean different things. Spell it out succinctly.

You should set out your key personal achievements in the role. What have you personally done? What value have you added? How have you made a difference?

Section 3: your employment history

After completing Section 2 above, begin with the next most recent employment and work backwards.

Do not provide too much detail about jobs that are not relevant to the role you are applying for. The employer is not likely to be interested in previous temporary jobs unless they are relevant to the job you are applying for.

Your employment history should demonstrate consistency and progression. If you have held a number of different positions in different organisations, it may be useful to include the reasons why you made these career choices. Include the key facts; summarize the key responsibilities and your personal achievements.

Students who may not have so much to record in this section should also consider any roles they undertook whilst in education e.g. helping with student union activities, contributing to university newsletter, etc. This type of work can contribute to evidence of team work, communication skills, taking responsibility etc even if you were not paid for it.

Section 4: professional qualifications, professional memberships, training

These may be of more interest to an employer in the first instance – sometimes more so than academic qualifications. They demonstrate your commitment to career development.

Include any other relevant professional training that you have completed.

Section 5: volunteering (if applicable)

If you have experience of being a member of a voluntary group e.g. a school governing body, board of trustees or community work, include it here.

Section 6: other skills

Briefly expand on other relevant skills, for example, IT. Set out the hardware and software programs you are familiar with. If you have a driving licence or language skills, include them here.

Section 7: academic qualifications

Keep this section short. If you have a degree or postgraduate qualifications, state the subject, the name of the awarding institution (not the address) and date obtained. The grade is optional. Include examples of modules taken if you think the employer may not have an understanding of your qualification, and they are relevant to the job being applied for

Academic qualifications gained prior to degree level study can be included if you think they are relevant. It can be assumed that you had the necessary qualifications in order to gain a degree. If you do not have a degree, then include your qualifications here with the name of the institution and date.

Section 8: personal interests

Consider carefully what your personal interests say about you before recording them, e.g. sport, cultural activities, etc.

Section 9: Referees

Usually 2 - usually including recent/current employer. You can state “Available on request”.