Your CV
So now you have prepared your Employability Skills, your Achievements and your Personal Statement, you are now ready to write your CV.
CV is short for the Latin phrase curriculum vitae which means ‘course of life’
Our Getting Career Ready presentation will give you lots of guidance, examples and tips on building your CV (select the Tips for Writing your CV section from the front page). Please work your way through that, before you continue with this section.
Some parts of your CV are static (not changing) such as your personal details and your education to date. Other parts such as work experience, employability skills and your personal statement may need to be tailored specifically for the job you are applying for.
Create one CV for your own personal use, where you add ALL your skills, ALL your achievements and ALL your work experience. Then you can use this as a reference, to pick and choose the most relevant qualities for your current application.
Choose a template that looks professional, clear and easy to read. Use a sensible font style and size so your CV can be read quickly.
Study the job application first. Does it ask for applicants to evidence specific skills? Does it reference experience in specific fields such as project management, voluntary or community work?
Is your CV clear? Uncluttered? Can the reader easily spot the key points they are looking for? Try and stick to one page only. If the application requests specific skills, only include these on your CV. If the application is less specific, pick your top skills and experience only!
If you do not have a lot of work experience, promote your best achievements and accomplishments instead.
finding the right template
There are literally 1000’s of CV templates available on the internet right now and you can spend hours just selecting the right one! Your CV doesn’t need to be cool, trendy or stunning – it needs to be CLEAR and EASY TO READ. That’s all! Below are 3 templates you may want to use, rather than losing time searching, searching, searching………..
and your cover letter?
Your application may request a cover letter, or you may wish to write one in order to promote your CV. Our Getting Career Ready presentation will give you guidance on how to write your cover letter (select the Tips for Writing your CV section from the front page).
Before you prepare your letter, watch this video to ensure you know the key elements and purpose of a covering letter. As a school leaver, your experience will be more focused around your skills and achievements, do not be put off by the reference to previous careers.
