Whether a potential employer asks to see your curriculum vitae, CV or resume, they're looking for one thing – a document that proves why you're the ideal candidate to invest their time and money in. Essentially it's a sales brochure, pinpointing the interesting USPs (unique selling points) that make you stand out from the crowd.
There's no universally accepted format, but your CV should cover these elements:
- Your details - Include your name, address, phone numbers and email address so any interested employers can contact you easily. Information such as nationality, age and driving license status is optional.
- Personal statement - One paragraph that immediately captures the attention of your reader and entices them to find out more about you. Be careful not to cram too much in. Instead, take your main skill and relate it to the job you're after to show employers why you meet their needs.
- Work experience - List your most recent position first, continuing in reverse chronological order including the name, location, website and dates of your employment for each company you have worked for. Aim to use bullet points wherever possible to highlight your responsibilities and achievements in each role so the person scanning your CV can quickly match up your experience with their job description.
- Education - Again, in reverse chronological order, give brief details of your academic and professional qualifications along with the grades you achieved. If you're looking for your first job since leaving education, include this information above any work experience.
- Skills - Whether you realize it or not you will have picked up many skills over the years, some tangible, some less so. Include every IT package or programme you have used as well as any foreign language skills you have gained, and state whether you're at a basic, intermediate or advanced level. Skills such as communication and project management are harder to substantiate and should be backed up with examples.
- Hobbies and interests - Including these is optional and often used to fill up space at the end of the document. The idea is to give the interviewer a more rounded picture and, perhaps, something more personal to discuss at an interview.
- References - It's not necessary to list referees on your CV, but you should state that details are available on request. If this is your first job, it's a good idea to nominate tutors or mentors. You'll obviously need to choose references that you're confident will give positive remarks, but you should also make sure they would be easily contactable by potential employers when the time comes.
- A clear and simple layout - It should be clear to anyone reading your CV where to find the information they're looking for, with enough ‘white space' to ensure they're not overawed at first glance.