Learning Centre How to... write your CV Alternative formats available If you would like more help and advice on finding information or using any of the resources available in the Learning Centre, please ask a member of the Learning Centre staff. © Coleg Gwent Learning Advisors 2011 You can find this document at: http://moodle.coleggwent.ac.uk … Learning Centre Online 2 What is a CV? Your CV (Curriculum Vitae – Latin for ‘course of life’) is a summary of all your achievements, experience, qualifications and all-round skills. It is your opportunity to sell yourself to a potential employer. Your CV will not necessarily be the same for every job you apply for. You will need to change the layout, emphasis or wording depending on the requirements of the job. What should be in my CV? There is no set layout or order you have to follow but most CVs contain information in the following sections: • • • • • • • Personal details Personal profile Work experience/employment Education and training Skills Interests Referees The size and order of each section will depend on what you are applying for and your current situation. If you are about to finish, or have just finished, college it will make sense to have the education section first, followed by work experience and skills. Personal details The essential details to include are: • • • • • Jo Farthing 12 Glen Close Twining TW3 6HG Full name Home address Telephone number Mobile number Email address Tel: 01542 765389 (Home) 07986526315 (Mobile) Email: [email protected] Personal profile This is a section that more employers are expecting to see in your CV. It gives you the chance to describe the sort of person you are and to show how this makes you the ideal person for the job. 3 To get started on this section make a list of ten positive words that describe the good points of your personality, for example: motivated, calm, polite, loyal, thorough, hardworking, accurate, determined and good team worker. Choose six or seven that are most relevant to the job you are applying for and write a sentence or two about yourself. I am mature, very adaptable and can work cheerfully under pressure. I am painstaking in my work, honest, punctual and trustworthy. I make friends easily and enjoy working as part of a team. 2 My sales training built on my persuasive skills and natural determination. I learn quickly and my sense of humour helps in any team when deadlines approach. I try to be creative in any task and work hard to contribute with energy and ambition to agreed team goals. Work experience/employment Include: • • • All types of work experience from paid, voluntary and community to work placements. Your achievements (anything that you are proud of), e.g. customer service awards, community awards, etc. Describe the work you have done in detail, including job title, start and end dates and employer’s name and address. Now decide which information will impress the employer. • • • Which skills or experience will be useful in the job you are applying for? Does it show personal qualities required for the role, e.g. enthusiasm and self-motivation? Be choosy and use recent relevant experience geared toward the job application. Finally, enter your chosen details into your CV using bullet points. • • • • Most recent employment first. Include start and end dates (month and year), employer’s name and your job title. If you are still with your current employer, it is acceptable to put the start date and insert the word present instead of an end date. Give a brief description of your responsibilities. Outline your achievements using strong positive words, such as managed, negotiated and coordinated (see Appendix 1). 4 School leaver February 2003 – December 2005 Secretary, Social Club, South London High School Responsibilities: • taking minutes of weekly meetings • actioning incoming correspondence • organising mailshots to students on club activities Achievements: • awarded school prize for community involvement • achieved an increase in membership from 10 to 17 members following mailshots that I initiated • succeeded in dealing with all incoming mail within 7 days of receipt Mid career September 2003 – present Senior Quality Assurance Technician, Chocolate Biscuit Ltd, Cardiff Responsibilities: • managed all quality assurance at Chocolate Biscuit Ltd and reported directly to the Factory Manager • managed and motivated an enthusiastic team of 6 people • performed Quality Audits at the factory Achievements: • saved the company £50,000 a year by implementing a new quality assurance system • increased the acceptance level of finished goods from 96% to 99% • introduced and implemented training plans for all staff in the section Education and training Although your CV outlines your school career, you do not have to start way back at primary school. Put your most recent education first and go back as far as secondary school. Alternatively, detail everything that you have done in the last five years. Start with your official qualifications (GCSEs, A levels, BTEC, NVQ, BA, BSc, etc) and list them with the most recent and/or highest qualification first. If you have other qualifications or training list them separately to your official qualifications and put the most recent first. The essential details to include, for each qualification or training course you have done, are: • • • • The start and finish dates. Name of the qualification or training. Name of the school, college, university, training organisation. Inserting the address is optional. You would normally insert your grades but if the result or grade is weak, keep the qualification but leave out the grade. 5 Education 2000–2002 Littletown Community College BTEC National Diploma Sports Science 1997–2000 Littletown High School English Language (B) Mathematics (B) Biology (B) English Literature (C) French (C) P.E. (A) Short Courses 2001 Littletown Adult Education Centre Appointed Persons First Aid Course for Sport Coaches Skills Your CV should include detailed examples of where you have gained relevant skills through your studies, employment, interests and any other experience, e.g. time management skills and computer skills. Either refer to these skills through each section of the CV, or create a separate section on the skills and qualities relevant for the job, giving the best examples of where you have demonstrated them. These examples should reflect the competencies sought by the employer. The most common skills and qualities employers look for are: • • • • • • • • Communication skills Team player Attention to detail Energy Initiative Ability to handle pressure Enthusiasm Leadership Communication skills I have been developing my public speaking skills whilst competing in public speaking competitions. This experience has given me the confidence to express myself clearly and confidently. I regularly use my written communication skills in composing of correspondence and promotional material for the Social Club. Time management skills While completing my A levels I have held down a part time position at W H Smith as well as being coordinator for the local football team. These extracurricular activities have put additional demands on my time and without careful planning my college work would have suffered. I have never missed an assignment deadline or required an extension to complete work. I prioritise and believe that these skills will transfer well into the workplace. 6 Interests Including an interest section will give the employer a fuller picture of who you are and highlight skills developed outside the workplace. • • • Try to avoid a simple list of words such as ‘football, reading, travelling’ and don’t lie; you may have to expand on these at interview. For each item, write a sentence that describes what you do and highlight where you have taken on responsibilities and what you have achieved. Unless very relevant, examples from several years ago are less useful than recent experiences. Interests • I am sociable and enthusiastic and have been able to use these qualities as the club treasurer for the local fishing club. I am responsible for collecting weekly fees, maintaining accurate banking records and organising fishing trips. • I enjoy most outdoor pursuits. These activities have developed my self-confidence and interpersonal skills. I have also represented my local team in the county championships. Referees Two referees are normally required. If you are a current or recent student one would normally be a tutor. You should always ask your referees if it is OK to use them before you put them on your CV. You need to insert their names, position, address and contact details. If you do not have room for the full details it is acceptable to write “References available on request” at the end. Referees Mr Bob Goode, Personal Tutor, Coleg Gwent, Newport: (01633) 466600 Mrs Kay Shine, Manager, WH Smith, Cardiff: (02920) 514621 7 What should my CV look like? • • • • • • • • • • Do not put the words Curriculum Vitae at the top of your CV. A CV is usually no longer than 2 x A4 pages. Choose a font that is easy to read, e.g. Arial. Use bold, capitals, italics and font size to highlight content – underlining can make a CV look messy and font sizes less than 10pts are too small. As a rule, put your name in size 20pts; the major sections e.g. Education in size 14pts; sub-headings in size 12pts and the text in size 10pts. Allow generous page margins of 2.5 cm on all sides. CV templates are tempting but they can restrict layout and content, as well as making the CV look less original. Be aware that employers will have seen these layouts many times before. Use good quality paper and do not use both sides of the paper. Set out your CV to maximum effect using various size gaps between heading and sub headings. Finally check the spelling and grammar. It is always a good idea to get someone to read through your CV before you send it off. An example CV is shown in Appendix 2. For any further help you can speak to: The Careers Advisor – Tim Summers The Learning Advisors in the Learning Centre Support for Learning staff Bibliography BRIGHT, J & EARL, J. (2001). Brilliant CV - what employers want to see and how to say it. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd CORFIELD, R. (1999). Preparing your own CV. 2nd Edition. London: Kogan Page Limited STRETEN, K. (2006). Brilliant Career. [Online]. Available at: http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/B/brilliantcareers/survival/ surv_cv_fs.html (Accessed: 20 February 2006) COURSES & CAREERS UK. (2006). Constructing a CV. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ca.courses-careers.com/cv.htm (Accessed: 21 February 2006) 8 Appendix 1 Be positive! Here is an alphabetical list of favourite positive words to use when describing your achievements and qualities in your CV. Achieve Acquire Administer Advise Ambition Analyse Aspire Budget Build Capable Clarify Complete Conceive Confidence Conscientious Co-operate Co-ordinate Create Decide Delegate Demonstrate Dependable Determined Develop Devise Direct Display Distinctive Educated Effective Efficient Encourage Enhance Enthusiasm Establish Evaluate Exceed Excellence Exceptional Execute Expand Experience Facilitate Finalise Finance Formulate Participate Perceive Perfect Perform Permanent Pilot Pioneer Place Plan Play Popular Practical Praise Prepared Prestige Produce Proficient Progress Promote Propose Prove Punctual Generate Govern Graduate Head Helpful Honest Humour Imagination Implement Improve Improvise Increase Influence Ingenuity Initiate Innovate Inspire Integrity Reasonable Recognise Recommend Reduce Regulate Reliable Reorganise Report Represent Research Responsible Launch Lead Liaise Locate Loyal Maintain Manage Market Mediate Motivate Satisfy Schedule Select Simplify Sincere Solve Stimulate Streamline Structure Substantial Succeed Success Supervise Support Negotiate Nominate Notable Obtain Operate Opportunity Organise Originate Overcome 9 Thorough Thoughtful Tolerant Train Transfer Transform Treble Understand Useful Utilise Verify Vital Vivid Win Wise Write Appendix 2 Example CV Sara Brown 12 Heol Coed, Llantrisant, Glamorgan, LL5 9RG Telephone: 01764 867655 E-mail: [email protected] I am a hardworking, friendly Beauty Therapy student with strong communication skills, seeking full time work. Education and Training 2007 – present Coleg Gwent, Pontypool Campus Beauty Therapy NVQ Level 2 2002 – 2007 Llantrisant Comprehensive School GCSEs: English Literature (B) Welsh (C) Science (single award) (D) English Language (C) Mathematics (D) Short Courses 2006 First Aid qualification achieved through Coleg Gwent, Pontypool Campus Skills While completing my Beauty Therapy course I have held down a part time position at New Look. This has given me an opportunity to further develop my team working and customer service skills, and I have shown the ability to work long hours while completing my college work on time. I am confident in performing manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing and body massage, and I am computer literate in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher. 10 Work Experience/Employment 2005 – present Part Time Sales Assistant, New Look, High Street, Llantrisant Responsibilities: • Serving customers in a polite, friendly, helpful manner • Operating an electronic cash register • Re-stocking shelves • Supervising changing room area May 2006 Beauty Basics, High Street, Llantristant: two weeks’ work experience Responsibilities: • Reception duties • Keeping working areas clean and tidy • Observing treatments Interests I enjoy travelling and socialising which has helped develop my communication skills through meeting a variety of people. I also like to keep fit by swimming and going to the gym. Referees References available on request. 11 Suggested Resources Books Preparing your own CV by Rebecca Corfield Creating winning CV’s & Applications by Kathleen Houston Writing a CV that works by Paul McGee Interactive Tutorial Log onto www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/ Under Schools, Ages 11-16, click on A-Z in Quick Links, select Go Get It, select, Get that job Finally, on the left hand side of the screen, click on CV Tips Or go direct to www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/11_16/gogetit/getthatjob/cvtips.s html Log onto Career Wales at http://www.careerswales.com/ Select CV Wizard and click on Tutorials and Guides Select CV from the options Or go direct to http://www.careerswales.com/progressfile/default.asp?conid=6 12 13 You can find this document at: http://moodle.coleggwent.ac.uk … Learning Centre Online The image below is a QR 2D bar code. 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