The C.V. that gets you Interviewed!

A. Personal Details
Personal details should include the following:

• Name

• Address

• Contact Details – Tel. No., Fax No., E-Mail etc.

• Date of Birth – if you wish to offer this information

B. Personal Profile
Your personal profile should give an insight to the type of person that you are. It is an opportunity to expressly outline some key personal characteristics that you may not get the chance to highlight anywhere else on your C.V.

C. Key Skills
This is your opportunity to expressly state the skills that you have acquired over the course of your career and your life that may be of interest to a potential employer.

D. Objectives
You should clearly state your career objectives with due consideration to the position that you are applying for.

E. Key Achievements
Employers are interested in candidates who achieve results. Every employee is expected to get results and add value his/her employers company. This again is an opportunity to state expressly your achievements to date. This will also act as an important talking point at the interview stage.

F. Career Summary/Work Experience
Work experience should be presented in reverse order starting with your most recent/current position. There should be a brief description of each company, the job title, the relevant dates and the Key Responsibilities and Result Areas. Details should be in bullet point format and each point should be made in terms of results or achievements. This will indicate that you are a “results focused” individual and that your key performance indicators are based on tangible achievements.

G. Educational Details
Provide brief details of your educational details, starting with your highest qualification. Do not give details of individual grades in subjects.

H. Further Development
 Detail any additional training / development that you have completed that may be of interest to your target audience.

I. Interests and Achievements
Your interests and personal achievements can act as an indicator to your orientation in relation to people skills, interpersonal skills and teamwork etc.
However, do not give too many details in relation to minor achievements that were completed in the distant past.

J. Referees
It is now commonplace to only offer referees on request.

More Practical Tips…

• Your CV should be coherent and should act as a logical progression of your career history. The dates should be easily identifiable. Within any given point, you should not combine unrelated topics/points.

• Your C.V. should be easy to read and digest.

• Use the appropriate font types, font sizes, Headings and underlines, Italics etc. that make your CV attractive and easy to read. Use strong headings.

• Use bullet points - not lengthy paragraphs.

• Your C.V. should be 2 - 3 pages in length only.

• Your CV should be customized to meet the requirements of each individual position and company. Different positions will require the candidate to emphasise various different areas of experience and expertise.

• Allow a friend or relative to “proof read” your C.V. and to check it for mistakes / errors. 

• Ensure that there are no spelling or grammatical errors on your CV. This will demonstrate that you are particular about attention to detail and quality.

• Do not print your C.V. on both sides of the same page.

• Use A4 white or cream, high quality paper.