GUIDE TO CREATING THE PERFECT CV
Keillar Resourcing receives a large number of CVs every day of the year. This is the first contact that you will have with an agency or employer - a well constructed CV gives the impression of a conscientious and professional candidate, whilst a badly put together CV can destroy any chance of securing an interview.
Choose the right software.
Most companies now have vast amounts of spam protection on their networks. An employer is likely to have trouble opening a CV that is filled with images and artistic fonts on a fancy new piece of software, and that's if your CV gets through at all. A simple CV put together using Microsoft Word or a similar word processing package is best.
Covering letter.
Agencies and companies receive many CVs, so a short covering letter can be great at making you stand out from the crowd. Include a brief summary of your skills and why you would like to be considered for the role. And ALWAYS make sure that you are sending your CV to the correct contact - call the company beforehand if you aren't sure.
Include your contact details.
It is amazing how many CVs come through without the necessary contact details attached. You should always include your home address, telephone numbers (home, mobile and work if possible) and an email address, with a note of which form of contact is best between the hours of 9am and 5:30pm.
Include details of all relevant qualifications.
Beware of including photographs.
Whilst a smart, business photograph can be an asset (it is always good to put faces to names) a photograph of you smiling on a beach with a marguerita is probably best deleted.
Use a simple font.
Arial or Times New Roman are the most suitable. Be particularly wary of some of the 'handwritten' looking fonts as they can be incredibly difficult to read.
Place roles in reverse chronological order.
So your most recent role first. Most companies only really need large amounts of detail on roles that you have held within the last 10 years, although it is good to include company names, dates and job titles of any earlier positions.
Include responsibilities and achievements for each role.
The clearest form is to use bullet points. Include succinct descriptions of your responsibilities and also include any notable achievements for each role, with supporting figures where possible.
Reasons for leaving.
This can be a minefield. You only need to include reasons for leaving if you are conscious of the fact that you were not in a position for a reasonable period of time. Try to make your reasons for leaving sound positive in terms of your career - it is not a good idea to go into long descriptions of arguments and problems that you had with your previous boss or colleagues. If you can't say anything good, it's probably best not to say anything at all at this stage.
Interests and hobbies.
These can be fantastic for employers - voluntary work or a range of sporting interests can create an excellent impression. But be careful of making yourself appear uninteresting. 'Socialising', 'going to the cinema' and 'reading' are real clichés and are best avoided. Conversely, be careful of including too many out of work activities.
Spell check!!!
ALWAYS proof read your work and use the spellcheck function on your PC to double check. Nothing creates a worse impression than a CV that is littered with spelling and grammatical errors. If you can't be bothered to proofread a CV, then how likely are you to be a conscientious employee?
