A great CV can be life changing. It can open doors to new opportunities, and have you propelled into your dream job before you can say “job search”, but with that level of hope and expectation comes
pressure. Explaining who you are and what you do on paper can be a real challenge.
How do you keep it succinct yet interesting? How can you show your personality and compel the
reader to get in touch? We have compiled our top tips on how to make your CV stand out from the
crowd and give you the best chance of success when using it to apply for your next role.
Firstly, let’s get the basics right:
Contact details
- Include all the obvious ones such as location, email address and phone number.
- Consider including a link to your LinkedIn profile etc.
Profile summary
- A few lines to include what you bring in terms of experience, approach and what you are looking for (make sure this reflects the job you are applying for!)
- If you’re applying for a creative role, include a link to your creative portfolio here too.
Experience
- Start with your present role and work backwards in terms of dates and timeline
- Try not to just list your job description - detail your responsibilities and the skills you used and developed to deliver them.
- Include your achievements within the role - highlight what you achieved and delivered in each role and quantify the results wherever you can e.g., improving customer satisfaction by 30%.
- Here’s an example to show what you do, your skills, who benefits and how:
Education and qualifications
- Typically, this section should come towards the end of your CV and again work in reverse order, starting with the most recent or highest-level qualification working backwards.
- Include here all qualifications, certifications etc and other more practical courses you may have undertaken
Activities outside of work
- Interests and hobbies can sit here along with any sports you play, volunteering roles and experience you have, committees you are part of etc. This shows more around your values and what is important to you. Keep it nice and brief.
The Detail
Our best advice it to check and double check. Yes, there’s spell checker but mistakes and typos on your CV are a big no-no. Ask a friend to check it for you and offer some feedback. Ask your Recruiter you speak to as well. At Four Talent we are always happy to share some ideas on CVs so don’t be afraid to ask.
Try creating both a PDF and a MS Word version of your finished CV. When applying online some systems work better with a pdf and vice versa. Have both and you’re ready for anything.
The overall look and feel
‘Dress for the job you want’.. it’s the same principle with your CV! If you’re going for a creative job, get creative with your CV, if it’s a super corporate role you’re after, make sure your CV reflects the corporate world. Make use of the templates that are available online and on Microsoft Office – this will give you instant structure, colour, font and formatting. Just search online for a free CV template. You’ll have so many to choose from that you can be sure to pick the one that best reflects your personal style as well as the field and industry you work in as well as your ideal role.
Oh and you really don’t need to add a photo if you’re going for a UK based role – in fact, we’d strongly discourage it..
We hope this has been useful – feel free to send over your CV if you’d like any support or feedback from a member of the Four Talent team.