CV Advice
Your CV is a very important document and has to be special enough to make you stand out from the other applicants when trying to obtain an interview. It is important to gain instant impact - a prospective employer may only spend 20 seconds reading your CV.
Content typically contains:
- Personal details (address, telephone number, email address, nationality, date of birth)
- Work experience (list the most recent first)
- Education (list brief details of qualifications)
- References (provide name & contact details of two referees - make sure that you ask their permission to do so)
- Hobbies (your interests away from the workplace)
Try to have several versions of your CV which are tailored to suit different objectives.
Other things to consider:
- Sell yourself but do not over exaggerate your skills
- Do not say negative things about yourself - concentrate on the things that you can do, rather than those that you can't
- Be careful about what abbreviations you use as these can easily be misunderstood
- Avoid long sentences - use short sentences and bullet points
- Check thoroughly for spelling and grammatical errors
- Keep to a maximum of 2 pages where possible, one A4 sheet is much quicker to scan
- Print it out using a laser printer on good quality paper
EDP publication On
Your Marks has produced a guide to creating the ideal
CV.
