Writing the Perfect CV
A perfect CV is your first step and it is so important to get the Company or Recruiter to take your application to the next stage. This is the first place to sell yourself so take time in putting it together and read it out loud and think – would I interview this person?
Use a plain type font and put your name, address, telephone numbers and email address at the top of the page. You will be amazed how many people forget to put their contact details on.
The first paragraph should be a Profile – a short statement about yourself, describing your strengths, achievements and the area of work you are looking for.
If you have many years work experience then your next heading should be Work History. List your jobs with the most recent first, including start and finish dates, Job Titles followed by bullet points or a paragraph describing your responsibilities and, remember, achievements.
If you are a Student put your Education Title, after your profile and list your qualifications followed by your Work History.
Remember this is the first place to sell yourself so make sure it is grammatically correct and there are no spelling mistakes. Make your CV concise and to the point and write it in the third person – you are not writing a story! At the same time you need to be looking at the Job Advertisement. Do you have the experience and skills they are looking for? If yes then those experiences and skills should be in your CV.
If you are a senior candidate and climbing the ladder then I would suggest a tailor made CV for each job role you are applying for so you are able to home in on the experience and skills that the company requires.
Last of all send your CV with a covering letter as to why you think you are suitable and personalise it for that specific vacancy.
OR you can ring us at Dovetail Recruitment for advice and we will review your CV and discuss the best format for you.
We’re always interested in hearing your views on the subject, have you got any tips or advice on how YOU would write the perfect CV?
