How To Get The Job You Really
Really Want - Creating The
Perfect CV - Career History
O.K., this is probably the most important part
of the CV, if, and bear that in mind, if, the
prospective interviewer gets this far. As always, there are
potential pitfalls in the earlier parts of your CV that could easily
result in it being classed as a bin job! I will deal with
presentation in a while, but for the sake of this section let's
assume the reader has got this far, here are some tips to help make
sure your CV is picked as one of the candidates for interview.
i) How To Present Content -
The first rule for the actual job description part of
the CV is to use effective job headings. The following is the format
I have found that works best;-
June 2003 - Present
Crustie Socke plc
Sales Manager
This is unambiguous about who you worked for, when
you worked for them and what your role is / was. I like to have
this title in bold, with a one line gap underneath before the actual
job content starts.
There are a few ways in which content can be
effectively presented.
a) Three Tier - In this approach
three sections are used to describe each of the relevant recent
jobs. Section 1 will contain details about what the company does,
this section should be only one short paragraph.
In Section 2 you will detail what your actual role
entailed. It is in this section you will include your skills and
attributes, both those used and developed during your time in the
role. Depending on the type of role you fulfilled, and the variation
inherent in the role, section 2 can be up to three paragraphs long.
Section 3 will cover your achievements whilst in the
job. Again this will probably be one paragraph, but could be
stretched to two if circumstances dictate.
b) Project Approach -
In this approach you detail the job by the projects you completed
whilst in the role. The maxim is try to keep it to one or, at a
stretch two paragraphs per project. Be sure to get in the skills
and abilities used, as well as achievements. This type of CV
presentation is becoming more relevant, as jobs become more task
focused in the 00's.
c) Job Description -
This is exactly as it sounds. You write your CV as if it were a job
description. I have to say that this is my least preferred method
of writing a CV. Job descriptions are very clinical, and only give
what the actual role is. Some are more enlightened nowadays and
talk about the key competencies (skills) required, but as far as job
descriptions are concerned this is rare. If you do decide on this
method, you must make sure you include the skills and abilities you
have, and the achievements during your tenure of the role.
d) Technical
- The technical CV is probably the easiest to produce. Technical
work tends to be project split and have highly defined skills. The
best way to approach a technical job on your CV is to give a
technical summary right underneath the job and date heading. This
is simply a list, in a relevant format, of the technical skills you
used. Follow this by a one paragraph description of the project (s)
on which you worked. Then finish off with your input to the
project, and how it affected (positively) the eventual outcome.
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