Writing your CV

Only in exceptional circumstances should a CV be more than two pages, and any shorter and you may keep the reader guessing. Avoid fancy typefaces or graphics and make sure it is black on white. Your CV is a business document and should be presented as such. Whilst the font you use is your personal preference, use only that font throughout the document. We would recommend either Arial, Tahoma or Times New Roman, font size 11.

Keep this part short and include name, address, home telephone number, mobile number and e-mail address. The more contact details you give, the easier people will find it to get in contact with you and this will inevitably speed up the recruitment process. Date of birth and nationality are optional. Whilst being married is usually viewed as a plus point as it shows stability and more life experience, we do not recommend including names and ages of children.

Your personal statement is undoubtedly one of the most important parts of your CV, so much so that it can make the difference as to whether you get an interview or not. It is your opportunity to sell yourself to a future employer (or a recruiter) so make sure you make the most of it. Ideally it should be no more than 5 or 6 lines of your CV and it should explain who you are, what can you can ‘bring to the table’, and what your career goals are. When applying for specific roles, we recommend you use the job description to help you identify the specific skills the employer is looking for and then make sure you mention you have these in your statement.

Whereabouts in your CV you include details of your education should depend on your individual situation. If your educational background is your strongest selling point and can potentially set you apart from the competition, then we would advise you include your education straight after your personal statement. Good examples where we would advise you put education before employment would be where you have recently graduated from a top university with impressive academic results or perhaps have gained a qualification that is essential for the role you are applying for.

However, if your work experience is more impressive than your educational background, we would advise you put employment before education. Either way, this section should outline both your professional and academic qualifications. You should start with your most recent first and always include dates, results and place of study. We would, however, advise you not to include details of every exam you have ever passed since infant school, just the more recent and relevant ones.

Put your current or most recent job at the top and use reverse chronology throughout. What you are doing now is what counts, not where you started.

Put your current organisation and job together with the relevant dates. Use a bold heading, and always remember that upper and lower case headings are much easier to read than EVERYTHING IN CAPITALS.

Have a heading for ‘Major achievements’ followed by no fewer than three, and no more than six, bullet points succinctly outlining your achievements. A few sentences after the bullet points should explain in more detail the role and context. Repeat the same format for each of your previous jobs but make each progressively shorter.

This point gives you the opportunity to list any skills that might be useful to a potential employer, such as language or computer skills. If listing your language skills, always give the level of ability: basic, fluent or mother tongue. With computer skills, list the software applications or programmes you can use and your level of proficiency: basic or advanced.

Adding these hobbies and interests are fine, but put them these at the end of your CV. This section gives you the opportunity to outline any major achievements or positions of responsibility you may have outside of work. Potential employers are often interested in positions of leadership or responsibility, or where you have been interacting with others.

The norm is to provide two referees from previous places of employment, but if you have only had one previous employer you may want to give an academic reference or a family friend who is in a profession. If possible provide telephone numbers, as many employers prefer to take up verbal rather than written references and this again will speed up the process. Should you find that you are short of space on your CV, you can save room by writing ‘References available upon request’ at the bottom of your CV.