A CV is short for curriculum vitae; it is a personal marketing document used to promote yourself to prospective employers. Your CV is like your shop window and needs to sell you and be easy to read. It should tell your next employer all about you, your professional history, your skills and achievements. Ultimately, it should highlight why you are the best person for the job.
‘Must have’ CV content
* Introduce yourself
* A ‘CV’ or ‘Curriculum Vitae’ title is not necessary
* Full name
* Town or county you live in, full address is not required
* Mobile
* Email address (if you have a quirky email address, like fluffyduck92@outlook.com, create a new, more
professional sounding one. Try basing it on your name e.g. your first name and surname followed by
your favourite number)
* If you have one, include a link to your LinkedIn profile – but make sure it is up to date first, and features
all your experience relevant to the role that you’re applying for. Ask former colleagues who worked
with you in those roles to write a recommendation on your profile too
Personal statement / personal profile
This is a crucial aspect of your CV! A personal statement is a short opening paragraph offering an overview of the type of person you are, your overall experience and what you are all about. It should be tailored for every job you apply for, highlighting specific qualities that match you to that role.
Aim to keep your personal statement no longer than a few sentences, addressing the following: Your current role and the industries you have worked in, such as: Hospitality, Leisure, Retail or FMCG
Your experience and skills
Your team or management style
Example
An experienced Assistant Manager with over 10 years’ experience within Hospitality and Retail, working in: pubs, casual dining, and high street retailers. Highly organised with excellent communication skills. Customer focused, always delivering and offering a first-class customer service, ensuring the customer is comfortable, welcome and happy. Able to motivate and develop teams, ensuring training is always provided. Skills (optional) Make sure you list any technical skills, qualifications or certifications relating to the role you are applying for, such as, Personal License or Health and Safety. Or if you have software experience with Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Photoshop, Adobe etc., list them here.
Key achievements
Stating your key achievements is extremely beneficial and shows the employer that you can deliver.
It demonstrates what you did and the impact it had for your company, or for you personally. It illustrates a result that you specifically delivered whilst fulfilling a particular role. This is not the same as a responsibility, which fits into your job description.
List your achievements as bullet points, which should address:
* What you improved
* An idea that improved a process
* A delivered and on-time project
* When you coached or developed a colleague
* A new introduction (technology, training, staff rotas)
* The difference you made e.g. revenue growth, footfall increase, staff retention, savings made, partnerships built
* Awards won
* Compliments received from your supervisor or co-workers
Employment
For every position held include the following information in reverse chronological order. This means list your most recent position first.
* Your job title
* Start date to end date
* Details of the company you work(ed) for, such as, number of employees, number of sites, company/group turnover, location
* Duties, responsibilities and tasks in bullet points
* Ensure this information showcases where you were positioned within each company and the size of the company.
If you have taken a year out or even a few months to go travelling, include details e.g sabbatical, parental leave, caring, education or illness. An unexplained gap on a CV will raise questions and sometimes eyebrows!
Before you apply for a role, make sure a friend or relative has read your CV. A fresh pair of eyes goes a long way!
They’ll be able to offer constructive advice, whilst also checking for any errors. Remember a great well-presented CV can be the difference between getting an interview or being overlooked.
Employers are most interested in the last three to seven years of your experience, so write more about your latest roles.
Education
Depending on how long you have been out of education, we suggest anything over five years can be at the end of your CV.
1. Start with your most recent education
2. Degree courses
3. Any further courses that you have completed including any Diploma or NVQ courses
4. Secondary school and further education
All the above should include dates, the name of your university/college/school, subjects, grades,
and qualification results.
Additional sections (optional)
If you feel your CV is lacking, boost it by inserting a Hobbies and Interests section at the end. This can help to show how you will fit in to the team, company or the industry. But be cautious! Avoid listing hobbies that do not add value to your CV or highlight that you may be a risk. Instead showcase interests that make you stand out or highlight a skill that will be of use to your future employer e.g. good communication, teamwork, outgoing, problem solver, goal focussed.
Finally
* Keep your CV plain and simple – the recipient is likely to be reading several, so keep it to the point and make sure your relevant skills stand out
* Use sensible margins and a readable font
* Try to keep your CV to two pages, but it can be more, especially if you have a wealth of relevant experience
* Don’t reduce margins or use a smaller font to squeeze more information in – it is not easy to read, can look messy and it may imply you are unable to prioritise
* Only ever print your CV on plain white paper
* Important! Keep it up-to-date as sending an old CV will look unprofessional
