How to Compile a CV

Please find below some points which we believe you should bear in mind when putting your cv together:

1. Make sure your personal details are at the top, followed by a brief summary of your strengths and qualities. Ideally, this should not exceed 50 words.
2. List your qualifications and places of study chronologically beginning with your most recent qualifications.
3. List any relevant training course you have attended ie Health and Safety, specialist short courses, etc.
4. Detail your career chronologically, beginning with your most recent job first. You should give your place of work (or alternatively a brief description of what your company does), job title, duration and job description remembering to include any specific software used, staff supervision and general duties. You may find it useful to utilise bullet points – it’s easier to compile and easier to read.
5. If you have been temping or contracting for a while, try and precis this instead of listing each assignment individually.
6. If your work experience goes back 10 years or more, don’t worry about putting in too much detail unless it is of specific relevance. It is acceptable to just list Employer, Position and Dates. It is your last 10 years experience that employers will be interested in generally speaking.
7. Unless specifically asked for, don’t list salary on your cv – it is better to discuss this face to face.
8. It is acceptable to list hobbies and interests at the end of the cv but keep it brief unless it is something that could be directly linked to your job application.
9. Finally, make sure there are no spelling errors on your cv and that it is grammatically correct. It is also very important that your cv is up to date; if you have already finished working for your last employer, make sure your cv clearly portrays this. If possible, get someone else to read your cv through before submitting to a potential employer.

We do hope you have found the above useful, but if you would like to use our template to give you further assistance, please download our template here.

Good Luck with your applications!