CV Advice
Your CV is a sales brochure.
Your CV is the first point of contact with potential employers - so make an impression. A CV is your opportunity to "sell" what you have to offer based upon your education, experience and your personality. It is worth spending time and effort in considering the content and layout for easy reading - it will pay off in the long run.
Here are some of our key tips to consider when creating your CV:
CV Do's
- Tailor your CV for each job application - pick out key areas of your education, experience, achievements and personality that best match the stated requirements for the job
- Include a short paragraph at the beginning with a summary of your career - again tailored to the job
- Your most recent employment should be at the top with the rest following in descending order
- Use a mixture of bullet points and paragraphs for information to be read easily
- Provide all the contact details you can so that employers can easily get hold of you - ensure your answerphone message and email address are professional
- Describe your employer's work and the responsibilities you had - include any key achievements at work
- Include interests if they are substantial and relevant - socialising is not worth mentioning!
- Once finished get a friend to check your CV for spelling mistakes, grammar and overall appearance - this check is very important
- Accompany your CV with a one page covering letter which states why you are interested in the vacancy and what you have to offer. There will be some overlap with the CV but this needn't be a problem if you write it in a different way - do not be afraid to sell yourself!
CV Don'ts
- Make it overly formatted - only use colour, graphics or tables if they help clarify the message
- Lie - if you get an interview you will need the facts to back up your CV
- Use the same CV for all applications - each job is different, for best results tweak it to show how you meet the job specifications
- Exceed a maximum of two pages - the ability to write succinctly is an asset
De Lacy Executive Recruitment CV template:
This Microsoft Word (.doc) template is free to use. We recommend you save your CV with a relevant descriptive file name which includes your name and a date, e.g. "Joe Bloggs CV April 2000"
Once your CV is complete, you can return it to the consultant handling the vacancy you are interested in, or upload it to our database if you wish to register with us or upldate your profile.
Referees
Insert your referees contact details at the end of your CV but do not take up too much space. Alternatively, especially if you are currently gainfully employed, state that you can supply details on request. It is our policy only to contact referees once you have accepted an offer of employment, unless we need the reference earlier in which case we will ask you if this is acceptable to you.
It is very important to take time to consider who will ask to provide a reference. The main questions you will need to ask yourself are:
- Have you asked their permission to use their name as a referee?
- Will they make a good impression on your potential employer? Your brother or sister will not do!!
- Will they be positive about your application?
- Once a reference is requested will you be able to brief them on the company and the job about which a reference will be sought so that they are prepared?
