Writing a CV is an art form – too much detail can be dull but not
enough can mean that no-one will know who you are. Emma van Opstal shares her thoughts.
Legions of books, articles, and blogs have been written to
tell people just exactly how to write a CV, and recent trends increasingly suggest
a one-page limit. To be honest (and rather blunt), I don’t think this is always
a good piece of advice. In certain cases, especially those of fresh graduates
and people early on in their careers, there is nothing wrong with having a
one-page CV. Other people, however, may well need more than a single page to
adequately convey their career to date. Sure, you don’t want to be summing up
irrelevant aspects (we can be fairly certain no employer will care about the paper
route you had when you were 14), but you also don’t want to be editing out the content
that could be getting you your next job.
There is no consensus about a standardised format for CVs,
and as a recruitment firm we get a lot of variety in our inbox. Although we
will always help our candidates represent themselves most advantageously on
their CVs with personalised advice, we’d like to throw in some general
pointers.
1) Think of the intention of the document. Your CV is not
your autobiography; it is a simple summary of facts representing your
professional life. That is why you should not write it in the first person. In
fact, simple lists of bullet points are usually appreciated.
2) Think of your audience. If you were an employer trying to
hire someone, what would you want to know about? That’s right, recent professional
experience, other relevant experience, and education. That is why you should
begin by describing your most recent job, and work your way backwards
chronologically. To demonstrate how you progressed professionally and when you
obtained certain skills, it will help to list your responsibilities, tasks, and
key achievements for each job.
3) Think of what you are trying to achieve. This will vary
depending on the firm, company, or job you apply to, and influence which
experiences and skills you will emphasise. You want to present yourself and
your career in the best possible light – without lying of course – and be
different from your peers in some way. Take your time to consider which elements
are relevant, and then take all the space you need to exhibit them.
4) There is a place for skills and personal interests. It is
at the very end of your CV. Although not essential, remarkable skills or
personal interests can make you stand out from the crowd. Things we’re looking
for: unusual training experiences (e.g. Six Sigma), life changing experiences
(such as sailing around the world or climbing Everest), conference attendance
(particularly the big ones, INTA, AIPPI, etcetera), committee memberships, high-profile
publications or public speaking engagements, experience tutoring on training
programmes, and so on. Things we’re not looking for – and I quote: ‘I like reading
and going to the cinema.’
5) The key things every item on a CV needs to be can be
summarised as follows, in this particular order:
- Relevant – will the employer care?
- Concise – don’t blab on. Find the shortest way
to say something. - Consistent – if you provided the start (and end)
month for your current job, do the same for older jobs. This also goes for the
layout: use the same patterns of font, bullets, and bold/italics throughout.
Still
feeling hesitant? Send us a copy of your CV – we’ll be happy to give you personalised
advice. Oh, and we have all kinds of interesting jobs available, too!