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CV Writing tips

There is a plethora of different styles that different people use to present themselves in what is known as a CV (Curriculum Vitae) or Resume. Most of these styles can be grouped into two main types:

Chronological

Functional

Most employers expect your CV to be honest and accurate, but they also want to see some "spark" and evidence that you're the right person for the job and for their organisation. The CV writing method explained here, while not set in concrete, can be used as a guide to how you can best achieve a positive career move.

Two points are important in this context. Firstly, you need to show some consistency of approach. However, in counterbalance, you need to avoid being "yet another clone", and that a tailored individual approach should be emphasised. Above all, you, the jobseeker or "career mover", need to be happy with your CV. Treat it as an opportunity to sell yourself. In fact, never attempt to write your CV when you're feeling flat, wait until you're on a roll again - it will show in the overall style of the finished product.

In the analysis below, the following heading sections are common to both styles of CV:

Chronological CV / Resume

We recommend using a Chronological CV when you are following a continuous career path where previous positions are in line with your career direction. It carries impact, in terms of reader appeal, and will impart information more efficiently due to its systematic and ordered structure. Many employers like to receive CVs in this format, and, of course, are even more impressed when they can see clear examples of your work achievements.

The Chronological CV is structured as follows:

Every CV commences with your name and address, then...

Career Highlights

This is your opportunity to highlight your key career achievements and the potential benefits that you can deliver to your prospective employer. Don't use more than three or four sentences for this, or you'll quickly lose your audience. But make sure you emphasise your strengths and quantify your achievements.

For example, a sales person would highlight key sales accounts, winning new clients and exceeding sales targets; a manager could highlight profit delivery performance, change management successes or team building experiences. You should also talk about your work style and how you interact with your work environment and colleagues. The prospective employer has a role in mind and is looking for specific outcomes as the result of employing you. This section is your opportunity to sell the employer on your ability to deliver those outcomes.

Career Outline

The Career Outline is simply a reverse order listing (that is, your latest job first and your oldest job last) of positions, companies, and dates, placed perhaps in a table, either on the front page following the career highlights, or if it is too long, placed at the top of page 2.

Your Career Outline gives the reader a 'quick read' of the progression of your career, from outset to current position. It has the effect of priming the reader to be more receptive to the information that follows. Please pay attention to the fact that it is just an "outline" - keep it brief - if you get too wordy you run the risk of irritating your audience who has to wade through three or four (or more!) pages before they start to get a handle on what you're all about. They could quickly lose interest, whereas what you want is make them want to read on.

Career History

Start the next page with the heading "Employment" or "Career History". Your prospective employer really wants to know about your most recent work experience. Therefore, structure your career history in reverse chronological order, the same as Career Outline. Follow the same order as your Career Outline but now add an "Achievements" section.

Whatever you decide to write here, don't start any sentences with "I was responsible for .", or "We did .". Always talk about yourself: "I did .", "I achieved .", "I managed .", etc. Just listing responsibilities doesn't tell a prospective employer whether you actually met your responsibilities or not. Therefore you have to tell them quite definitely, "I did this.", and "I achieved that .". This leaves doubt in the employer's mind, and besides, it sounds much more positive and confident than "my responsibilities were .".

Of course, you do need to record your responsibilities, but only to put your achievements into context, so please, keep the definition of your responsibilities to a minimum, and focus on your achievements. To help you describe your achievements, think of times when you've solved problems, added value to your company, shown initiative, been creative, taken responsibility, shown leadership, worked effectively in a team, reduced cost, increased revenue, demonstrated certain competencies, and so on.

The real value for you is in thinking through and writing out your achievements. This process is perhaps more important than actually having the finished document because the CV is designed to initiate a job interview. The job will be won by being able to articulate yourself effectively in the interview. Thinking about achievements and committing them to paper helps you express yourself clearly and confidently in the interview.

As a rule, your most recent work experience is the most interesting and relevant to your prospective employer, so describe this with more detail than jobs held in the more distant past. However, this decreasing emphasis should be altered where the position you're applying for is closely related to a position you've held prior to your most recent position.

Generally, a description of positions going back ten to 15 years is sufficient. What you did before that is interesting but often not relevant. If it is relevant, it may be worth considering a different format known as a Functional style CV, which focuses on the functions that you have performed, not necessarily in chronological order.

Education

Your record of educational achievements should start at Higher School Certificate (or equivalent level), and include formal qualifications, the institution you attended and the year you completed. Place this information towards the end unless there is greater merit, in terms of job criteria, in placing it up front, i.e. before the start of Career History.

You could also place it up front if you had a very limited or short work history. Letters placed after your name on the front page, will immediately communicate an educational level, but should only be done if academic achievement is appropriate to the job application. If you are completing a qualification, include current course programmes. Often the reader will subconsciously assume you already have the qualification unless you say otherwise.

Other Training

List any other training completed, either in-house or external. A good way to list this but differentiate it from your formal education is to list it under the title "Professional Development".

Interests

It is up to you whether to include your interests or not. If you include them, make sure that they cannot be used to discriminate against you, e.g., member of a particular political party, or participate in dangerous sports (hang gliding, motor cycle racing, etc.). A positive impression can be conveyed by showing your interest and participation in the community, e.g., Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, secretary of the local soccer club.

Professional Memberships

If you are member of any professional organisations, it is a good idea to include this in your CV - prospective employers are usually impressed by a person's association to professional organisations.

Licences

Include these as appropriate.

Referees

The best thing to do regarding referees is to list them as 'available on request', and place this at the very end of your CV. Make sure you let your referees know that you have named them as a referee and inform them that they could expect a call from your prospective employer. Not only is this good manners but it allows them to prepare for the call.

Giving them fair warning usually results in their giving the prospective employer a favourable and positive response. It also reduces the risk of them being caught 'on the hop.' Often an impression is formed through what is not said, or the way something is said. By including referee details up front, you run the risk of them being contacted without being prepared.

Functional CV / Resume

It is a good idea to use a Functional style CV when you want to change careers or career direction, to the extent that your employment history to date is not particularly relevant and may detract from your application. However, a record of achievement is always impressive so we use the functional format which tracks your development in a prescribed function.

Writing a good Functional CV takes the emphasis away from your employment history, and places it on your achievements, knowledge, skills and abilities. This style of information can provoke suspicion, however, and will be transparent to the trained eye. It is a real alternative if you are planning a significant change in career direction. In this case, it is very appropriate to use this style because many skills are transferable between industries. The functional CV is an ideal vehicle to demonstrate this transferability.

Where a chronological CV is targeted to the audience, the functional style is even more so. The first step you need to make is to identify the competencies, or criteria for the position, and list these as categories. You can usually glean these categories from the job advertisement. For each category, list your skills in terms of achievements, selected to illustrate that you have performed/problem solved, with that competency.

And, because you want to draw attention away from an unrelated career history, you should place your Career Outline at the end of your CV. Hopefully you will have sold yourself before this becomes a deterrent to getting the interview.

Presentation Aspects

There is a sure way to turn a reader off before he even reads a single word, and that is through poor presentation. Presentation is about impression, and impressions, by definition, are formed very quickly, and have a habit of being unbending. You can ensure the formation of a favourable impression by presenting your CV well.

Don't overcrowd your information with too many words per page. A good CV writing tips to Create lots of white space using left and right margins, and space between paragraphs. Use an appropriate font size, and, by all means, use different styles to effect, e.g. bold, Italics, etc. Don't let creativity get the better of you and utilise a too many different fonts, sizes and styles - your audience will get confused, annoyed, or will think you've just discovered the 'joys' of word processing! Try to create a polished document. Your peers can offer valuable advice - show the finished product to a few friends and ask them for their honest opinion.

You should be conservative in your choice of paper colour: white, off-white, or light grey are good choices (of course, there are some industries, e.g. advertising, design, new dot.coms, who might appreciate a more creative approach, but do your homework on your prospective employer first, before you decide on a more daring look). It can also look professional if you use a slightly heavier paper. Sometimes this is all it takes to make your CV stand out from the rest. And finally, in this context, never fax your document as it instantly destroys the quality you've just spent hours working on.