How To Get The Job You Really
Really Want - Creating The
Perfect CV - What To Include
In this
section I will cover what should be included on your CV and how to
present the information you are putting in. I will cover
layout a little later.
A. Name
Self explanatory, I hope!
B. Address / Telephone Numbers / E-Mail
Ensure you give as many points of contact as
possible. I know it may be difficult to talk if you are at
work, but if someone needs to contact you urgently, it can be fatal
to your application if the other candidate is easily contactable and
you are not! Even if you are unable to talk freely from your
desk at work, you can always pop out of the office for five minutes
to call someone back in an emergency. So, make your self easily
contactable, this really can be crucial with the way things
move so quickly nowadays. If you are in the temporary
market, it is an absolute must to be contactable.
C. Date of Birth
Put it in! I know it
can be a touchy subject, but if you don't put your date of birth in,
it shows you are touchy about it! If you have the
skills the potential employer wants, age, in most cases, will not be
a barrier. I know it can be, and I am in no way defending the small
amount of ageism that does exist, but don't let it bother you.
The law now states that hiring policies are not
allowed to be ageist in any case.
Incidentally, do put a date of birth as this always
remains right. If you put your age as thirty five, you have to
remember that next year you are thirty six! Your CV will then
be wrong.
D. Marital Status
Married, Single, Divorced, Separated, Widowed plus
the number of children you have, if relevant.
E. Nationality
Self explanatory. If you are an overseas
national, it helps to put your visa or patriality situation here.
F. Hobbies/Interests
This is a bit of a thorny one. It is good to
show you have outside interests that indicate added skills,
physical health, competitive spirit and achievement.
However, some interests will turn a potential employer off, and
having too many interests can be taken to mean that you have a
lack of interest in work, ie: more interested in other pursuits
than work. So be careful about what you put, and how
much of it you put in. There are also arguments as to where
this information should appear on your CV, some say on the personal
bit on the front page, others say right at the end. If the
balance is right it probably doesn't matter, but for the record, my
personal favourite place is at the end.
G. Education
When documenting your education always put
down which institutions you attended and the dates you were there.
You should indicate what subjects you passed as well. For
GCSE's and A-Levels, it's not really necessary to put the grades,
however, you can if you want. On the other hand, for a degree
qualification, my experience tells me it is better to put the grade
on. If you are just leaving university, documenting the
individual subject grades is a good idea.
If you did not, for some reason, complete any part of
your education, always note it on your CV. If for
example, you only took two years of a degree course and make it look
like you completed it on your CV, you will get tripped up when
the employer that has offered you a job asks for a copy of the
certificates or references. If that happens, I can
guarantee your offer will be withdrawn.
Do not try to pull the wool over your prospective
employers eyes. In 99% of cases you will be found out and lose out.
It can be worth giving a reason as well, as this can avoid an
awkward line of questioning come interview time.
If you leave questions in the interviewers mind, he
may rush to incorrect conclusions. If he does this, he will
form his own (often wrong) conclusions. Once
this has happened, you will find it extremely difficult to change an
interviewers' mind, regardless of the situation.
You should also include any professional
qualifications or memberships here.
H. Professional Training
Any professional training you have completed should
be included on the front page. Make sure the training is
relevant, and if you have attended a large number of courses,
keep it to the most recent. Obviously, if a course from the
distant past suddenly becomes relevant to a current application,
make sure it is included.
I. Additional Information
Here you should add miscellaneous information such as
driving licence, any language skills or specialist capabilities you
might have. If you are in a technical role, for example an
Analyst Programmer, you should include a Technical Summary
before the main body of the CV. This summary should be in an
order that is relevant to the skills you have, so, if you are a
software developer, something like;-
-
Operating Systems
-
Languages
-
Databases
-
Packages
-
Utlities
J. Personal Statement
Most people nowadays seem to like to include a
personal statement or mini profile at the beginning of their CV's.
Now, I have nothing against this, but if you are going to put one
in, it's damn well got to be right. You see, the
problem with this sort of "overview" is that if you just happen to
put the wrong thing in the statement, you can find yourself excluded
before your CV gets read.
Having said that, the idea is to get three or four
of your main selling points over to draw the reader further into the
CV. It's the same as writing an advert, the only
difference is that the product is you.
So, if you are going to use this technique, you must ensure that you
catch the essence of what you are about, and what you want, in that
short paragraph.
This is a situation to blow your trumpet, but be
careful it is the right one. This could well be one part of
your CV that is written specifically for the job you are applying
for. If this gives you trouble, I have included a couple of
examples, and later in the chapter are a list of words and phrases
that will help give added umph to your CV. It is helpful to
get a few of these phrases into your mini overview.
O.K., here's a couple of examples of a personal
statement or overview.
A highly motivated Sales Manager who is used to working with, and
motivating a sales force in extremely competitive markets.
Successfully achieved stretching targets for the last five years,
believing that success comes through working with people to help
achieve common goals. A leader with a strong but infectious
personality who is used to getting results.
I am a highly motivated, well - organised administration
professional. I am always prepared to work hard to complete
the task in hand, and have achieved significant improvements in
departmental productivity during each of the past three years.
I lead by example and believe in generating success through
effectively dealing with people.
I hope these two examples are helpful, let's move on.
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