Writing a Great CV
I could probably write a book on this but, as with my general job seekers advice, I will try to keep it to “My Top 10 things to consider when writing your CV”
Firstly let’s answer the number one question I get asked by candidates
“What makes a great CV”?
My answer is simple… “One that get’s you an interview”
Let’s not overcomplicate this; a great CV will give enough information to get you an interview whilst leaving plenty to talk about during interview.
Think about who your audience will be before you write your CV
By far the best CV’s I have reviewed have been written and tuned to be inline with the expectations and desires of the person who will be reading it and making the decision on whether to interview or not. In reality this means you will often have a generic template CV that you tweak and re-write for each new position you apply for. Here are some general tips depending on who you think is most likely to review your CV – A good recruiter will know who is reviewing your CV so don’t be afraid to ask!
Internal Recruiters – Often employed by the larger corporates, these people have busy and demanding roles and your CV will probably be read very quickly. Often decisions are made within 15-20 seconds of reading over your CV!!! With this in mind think about the following when writing your CV –
- Don’t worry too much about things like your address and education at the top of your CV.
- Instead replace with 5-10 bullet points that clearly demonstrate your skills and competencies against the job spec.
- Keep them short, clear, measurable and punchy.
- Save the technical details for later in your CV or for interview.
Human Resource Managers – Again most likely seen within the mid – large sized organisations these people are highly experienced HR professionals who will consider a number of factors when reviewing your CV – so again make sure it is easy to establish the following –
- A complete career history – be sure to explain any gaps.
- Your complete education with grades. Missed details will raise questions.
- A clear skills section showing what skills you have utilised and for how long. Stick to your commercial experience.
- Be honest and mark permanent or contract positions. You can always add a note to explain why you took a contract role.
- Your reasons for leaving each role can be great to explain short positions. i.e redundancy or restructure.
- A short covering letter is often good to explain very clearly why you are the right person for this role. Again match against the job spec.
Senior Managers/Directors – Again very busy people who will quickly want to understand what value you can bring to their organisation. Remember most new recruits are hired to either save a company money (i.e improve economies through better systems) or make the company money (i.e by designing a valuable product to take to market). Think about the following when writing your CV-
- Senior Managers and Directors will rarely have time to read your whole CV so keep it short – no more than 3-4 pages and make sure the content is concise, relevant and easy to digest.
- Highlight in bullet points your key skills & competencies.
- Don’t be afraid to give specific examples of when you have saved or made companies substantial amounts of money. Be as specific as you can.
- Give examples of your proudest achievements at work. Again think about the specific value you bought to the table.
In reality a great CV often combines all of the above but it’s a great starting point to think about who your audience will be.
Study a full job spec before you tweak your CV
Pick out all the key required skills and competencies and ask yourself honestly if you can clearly find evidence of all of these requirements on your CV. Use Bullet points to make this information easy to find and read and give specific examples of what you did and how you achieved the necessary results with your previous employers. If you don’t have direct experience within a key area required, try to think of similar tools, languages or skills you have used that can be easily transferred and tackle it head on within your CV or covering letter.
Technical Skills matrix’s
Your CV will often be reviewed by non-technical people so be sure your technical skills are clearly listed with the number of year’s commercial experience you have with each. Resist the temptation to list every skill you have ever used, as this just makes it harder to see what you have actually done that is relevant. As with the rest of your CV, study the Job specification in detail and talk about what is relevant to the specification.
The length of your CV
I have seen great one page CV’s as well as fantastic eight page CV’s that have maintained my interest the whole way through. So this is a difficult question to answer, as it is not a one size fits all question. A few golden rules to observe would be as follows –
- Limit detailed information to your last three years experience only as beyond this is rarely of interest.
- Try not to waffle and use bullet points where appropriate.
- Keep the content of your CV factual and avoid long detailed descriptions or opinions.
- Formatting – Your CV should be well formatted and easy to read.
- 3-4 pages is a good guide length for most experienced technologists. If it is going over this ask yourself if all the information is really relevant?
- Include examples of your work by means of hyperlinks to keep your CV length down. Great to provide code samples or a portfolio of your previous work, whilst at the same time reducing the size of your overall CV.
- Previous Achievements – Ensure these are prominently located towards the top of your CV. Choose your top two or three and once again think about how you have made a company money, saved them money or created an amazing new product. What did YOU do and what were the end results?
Covering Letter: Yes or No?
Personally I like a covering letter, but on the proviso that it’s not just a standard template letter, the same for every application. If you are going to write one, tune it into the company and exact role requirements. In theory a great covering letter should, in no more than two or three sentences, explain why you are the right person for the role. Do not just do it for the sake of doing one!
Be Honest
Trust me the days or fabricating experience on a CV are long gone and many companies now employee 3rd party companies to check every detail on your CV before you are requested for interview. Don’t lose an opportunity through a silly mistake – better to be honest and clearly explain any discrepancies or gaps on your CV.
Attention to detail
Really there are no excuses for spelling errors or typos. Check online and get a friend to give it a good once over. Again a good recruiter should do this as part of his service to you, but be aware that some recruiters can be just as picky as their clients are, especially when managing large volumes of applications.
And finally
Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and think like a salesman. The reality is that when you are nothing more than a four page CV you have to think carefully about how you sell yourself.
- What are your Features (i.e skills and competencies).
- How do they give you an Advantage? (i.e Speed, Quality, Creativity)
- And what Benefit will they provide to your prospective employer (i.e make/save money, save time, outperform the competition or invent the next big thing.
- Include one or two real references from previous employers. Not just the contact details but actual copies of real references. These can really make a difference and are so easy to gain from previous employers.
“The thought of relocating myself, my family and my life to the USA filled me with fear and I don’t think I would be here today without Stuart’s Even when I had problems with airport Immigration, Stuart was on hand to help. At gone midnight UK time, Stuart managed a difficult situation with both the US immigration department and my new employer. Beyond the call of duty & truly outstanding candidate care.
David – Engineer – November 6 2011
Call us now on (+44) 207 099 1087 to discuss how our recruitment services will bring a breath of fresh air to your job hunt or contact us here