You should always spend a fair amount of time perfecting your CV and tailoring it to each vacancy. However, you can waste a lot of time debating over how to do the CV, what to include and how to set it out. So here is a quick run through of what I believe to be the key things to include. No debate.
Appearance
- A4 paper (good quality) white/off-white.
- Font: Times New Roman, Arial or Verdana. Size point 11 or 12.
- Use Bold or Underline to separate sections
- Have “White Space” so it reads easy
- Use bullet points
- Staple, don’t paper clip.
The Content
- Third person
- Check Spelling and punctuation
- Check for typos
- Avoid repetition, find some creative action words to use.
- Reverse Chronological Order
- 2 pages max
- Personal Info: Name, Address, Phone Number and Email
- Profile/summary
- The rest: education, career history/work experience, further training and other details (achievements/interests)
Saving and Sending
- address to a specific (and correct) individual, if possible
- if sending by email don’t just name the document CV.doc, but also include your name e.g. troutycv.doc
- include a “Subject” if sending by email – job title / reference
- if sending by post – preferably use a C5 Envelope.
- allow for posting (when considering deadlines!)