Writing A CV

Writing a good CV

The difference between writing a good CV and an average CV can be the difference from you landing your dream job or not. The first impression any potential employer will make of you will come from the CV that has been submitted to them.

Edge Careers takes a look at a few points that will help you to write a good CV.

Contact details

  • Be sure to include as many contact details as possible so that a recruiter or employer can easily reach you
  • Try to make your email address professional, most of us set up an email address as teenagers and set as somthing funny, if it is possible it would be advisorable to have an email address set as somthing like firstname.lastname@hotmail.com

Previous employment

  • Write in reverse chronological order, including starting and leaving dates for each position.
  • Include concise details of what the job entailed, your responsibilities and what you achieved in the role.
  • If there are any time gaps between employment explain what you were doing in that time, for example travelling, at college, carrying out charity fund raising work.

Qualifications

  • There is no need to list all of your Standard Grade/National 5/GCSE subjects, simply write something like, 10 GCSEs A-C including Mathematics and English.
  • A-Level and degree qualifications can be listed, the grades do not have to be included.
  • List only the academic centres where a qualification was earned in reverse chronological order with dates.

Hobbies and interests

  • If you do choose to include this section, it can be used to give an insight into your personality.
  • Consider carefully what you are putting down and its implications. Team events indicate that you are a team player, other activities such as Scouting, CCF, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme show commitment and the fact you are not adverse to a challenge.
  • Be specific, and show what you learnt or gained from the activity (such as perseverance, teamwork, communication skills), and if you were on the society or helped organise anything emphasise this.
  • Keep this section very brief, do not list all of your interests and hobbies.

 

 

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