Writing a CV is one of those things which you know you need to do, but never get round to actually doing. Although it may seem like a daunting task, it’s not actually as bad as you think, so we’re going to share our best tips on how you can make your CV stand out!
Tailor your CV to the job
It’s common to begin your CV with a personal summary, and while this may be a useful thing to do, it’s often the same as everyone else’s. If you’re going to include a personal summary, our best tip is to tailor it specifically to the job you’re applying for, rather than have a generic one that just gets sent out for every job application. This shows that you’re passionate about the job you are applying for.
Order your CV appropriately
Our next tip is to order the sections of your CV in the order of most important to least important. You always want the employer to see your most relevant information first. The order in which you should have your CV often depends on the job you are applying for but a general rule to put either your experience or education at the top and references at the bottom.
Keep it short and simple
Quite often, employers get bombarded with CVs and a lot of the time, won’t have time to read through all of them completely – especially if it’s really long. When writing a CV, stick to the main points and if you need to expand on anything specific to the role, this is what a cover letter is perfect for! We recommend keeping your CV to 1-2 pages. An extra little tip is if you have a lot to say, playing around with the layout can often mean you can fit more onto a page.
Include the right things
When writing your CV, it’s always important to include everything that is relevant to the job. However, one thing many people forget about is transferable skills. Although something may not seem directly relevant to the job, it’s still a good idea to include it and talk about the skills you gained from that job and how you would go forward in this role using those same skills.
Tell the truth
There’s nothing wrong with telling a little white lie on your CV to help you get the job, right…? Wrong! The last thing you want to do is lie on your CV because not only will you end up being asked to do a task that you’re not actually capable of doing, it’s also extremely awkward!
Stick to a template
Using a template for your CV can be so useful in making sure that you don’t miss out any important information, as well as helping you lay your CV out in the best way. There are so many CV templates online for all kinds of CVs, so we definitely recommend taking advantage of this!
Avoid grammatical errors
Once you have written your CV, it’s extremely important to go through and check the spelling, punctuation and grammar of everything you have written. Failure to spot a grammatical error results in much less professional looking CV. It’s also a good idea to have someone else look over your CV as a fresh pair of eyes can often spot something you missed.
Speak to our careers team
We have a wonderful careers team here at the university (based in the Elm Grove Conference Centre) who you can speak to for advice all about employability. Head over to their webpage here for more information or email them at careers@roehampton.ac.uk!