A Guide to Writing Your CV

Haven't written a CV in a while? Here are some useful guidelines to help you along.

Mandy Garner

Mandy Garner is a freelance journalist and editor. She was the former managing editor of WM People and is a communications officer at the University of Cambridge. She has experience working in a range of roles, including senior broadcast journalist at the BBC, former features editor of Times Higher Education and researcher for the writers organisation International PEN.

If you want to start looking for work, you’ll need an up to date CV (or resume) But if you haven’t written one in a while, that can be a daunting task.

Types of CV

There are two main styles of CV – a chronological CV and a skills-based or functional CV. The chronological style is more common, where you list your work experience in date order, working backwards from today.

A functional CV focuses more on your skills, abilities, and achievements rather than the chronological order of your work history. It typically prioritises key skills and experience rather than time.

Choosing Your CV Style

Chronological CV

A chronological CV is generally a good choice if you have a strong, consistent work history without significant gaps, and your career path shows a logical progression.

It’s particularly useful if you’re looking to advance within the same field or industry, and if you’re applying for positions where your previous job titles or companies would impress or directly relate to the new role.

Functional CV

Choose a functional CV if you’re changing careers or have significant gaps in your work history. This way the recruiter will focus on what you can do rather than the time spent in previous roles.

A functional CV is useful in showcasing how you meet the job description from diverse experiences, which might include volunteering, freelancing or something in your community.

Hybrid CV

A hybrid CV can also be effective, using elements of both chronological and functional formats. It’s a way to highlight your work history while also emphasising key skills and accomplishments.

Layout Tips

Your CV needs to grab attention fast and be easily digested. Aim to keep it on two pages as a maximum, with no dense text. Bullet points, headings and concise sentences will make it easier for the recruiter. There are lots of templates available to help inspire you.

What to Include on Your CV

Key things your CV should include…

Summary/ Personal Profile: Start with your name and a brief professional summary, outlining your skills, experience and what you can offer. This can be tailored to match the job description.
Skills: Whether you are using a chronological format or a functional one, find ways to highlight your most relevant, recent skills. Technical skills are particularly valuable.
Achievements: Highlight your successes and give details wherever possible. Instead of saying ‘Managed a team’ say ‘Managed a team of 15 individuals and drove a 20% increase in productivity in 2 years.’
Work experience: Focus on the most recent 10-15 years of your work and skills. If older experience is relevant you can summarise it, or choose a skills based format to match the job requirements.
Education and Training: Place your education section after your work experience. If your education is older, just include the institution and degree rather than the date. Highlight recent qualifications and training.

What Not to Include

Your CV should only include information that’s relevant to work. You shouldn’t include:

Your date of birth
Religious beliefs
Marital status
Sexual orientation
Whether you have children

There’s also no need to add dates to educational qualifications, and you can describe O-Levels as ‘GCSE equivalent’ if you’re concerned about age discrimination.

As mentioned earlier, don’t include every job you’ve ever done – only the most relevant or recent from the past 10 to 15 years.

You also don’t need to include references or say that they’re available on request. They aren’t needed at this stage in the process – but it is a good idea to consider who you will ask for a reference when required.

Tailoring Your CV to a Job Description

You’re likely to have more job success if you tailor your CV to each job you apply for. Key steps to consider are:

1. Match your personal statement/profile to the job.

Avoid repeating it word for word, but if the description is seeking ‘a self-starter with experience in the retail sector’, you could describe yourself as a ‘proactive team player with xx years’ retail experience’. You could even explain why you want the specific role at the hiring company.

2. Highlight required skills.

Ensure specific skill keywords in the job description are obvious in your CV. Make it very clear how your skills, experiences and achievements align with what the employer is seeking. Use relevant examples to personalise your CV [‘tell your story’] and using relevant statistics to show the impact you had in a previous role, for instance, I checked in x clients a day.

3. Show you understand their language.

If the job description uses technical terms of jargon, including these in your CV will demonstrate that you’re familiar with the industry and its terms.

Explaining a Career Break

Career breaks are increasingly common and won’t necessarily be a disadvantage. It’s important to be clear and honest. Give dates and summarise the reason for the break, whether it be poor health, caring for family members or anything else.

If you’re returning after a break, you might consider the skills-led CV structure over the chronological type, so that your skills and experience are more prominent than the break itself.

Bear in mind that voluntary work or community activity you have done can be just as relevant to a new job. Organising an event like a village fete or fundraiser will require lots of transferable skills – consider what you did and present those to a potential employer.

Summing Up

Getting your CV ready is important, but it’s not something to agonise over. Think about your key skills and what you want recruiters to know about you, and start there.

There are lots of helpful tools online to help you, and you can keep shaping and improving your CV as you apply for each job. One important factor is to make sure there are no errors, so get a friend to read it through for you.

Bear in mind too that even a perfect CV won’t work every time – so don’t expect to get an interview for every application you make, and stay positive throughout your job search.

This article was first published on workingmums.co.uk, whose assets were acquired by 55/Redefined in 2024.