Know yourself
Before writing your CV it is important to know what skills you possess and what evidence you can provide to support this. The best way to do this is by conducting a skills audit. You should reflect on your past experiences, including your degree, previous jobs, work experience and even extracurricular activities, to work out what skills you have used and developed.
Know the job/employer
In order to give you the best chance at success, it is important to tailor your CV for each position that you are applying to. This means adapting your CV to give relevant examples of the skills/experiences that the employer is looking for.
- Make sure that you carefully analyse the job description/person specification, highlighting any key information. An annotated example of this can be found on page 5 of the CV guide
- Research the employer. What do they say about themselves? What are their values as an organisation? What type of people do they employ? Your research will give you a feel for the organisation and enable you to align your CV accordingly. Further information to aid in your research can be found on page 4 of the CV guide
There are several different types of CV:
- Reverse chronological - This is the most common type of CV and lists your education and experience in date order, most recent first. Details about tasks completed and skills gained can be listed under each section
- Skills-based - This type of CV focusses primarily on skills gained and can be useful if you don't have much experience or if the experience you do have isn't related to the sector you are applying to. Headings are chosen depending on the skills required for the job, for example, marketing, communication, leadership
- One page - In the UK CVs can be up to 2 pages in length, however certain sectors such as Finance often prefer a one page CV. These can also be useful when applying for part-time positions or applying speculatively
- Academic - CVs for applying to academic positions. These can be longer in length and feature additional sections not required on an industry CV such as conferences, awards and research abstracts. Vitae offers further information, tips and example academic CVs
- Creative - CVs used when applying for the creative industries often feature more creative formatting, designed to demonstrate skills such as graphic design. The Creative CV Guide by Jan Cole is an excellent resource and contains examples of creative CVs. Copies can be accessed at Winchester School of Art library
Some annotated CV examples can be found in our CV guide. TargetJobs also offers some good example CVs for specific sectors.
There are many different sections that can be included on a CV and these can be moved around in order to best reflect your skills and experience. Below are some of the sections most commonly found on a CV and an explanation of what to include.
Personal details:
Name, telephone and e-mail. Address is optional but ensure you are careful with your personal details if posting your CV online.
Other personal information is not required, however you may wish to disclose this in certain circumstances. If you are unsure and would like to discuss this further, come along to our Ask the Adviser Service.
Personal profile:
This is optional and can offer employers a quick summary of your key skills and experience that relate to the role. Personal profiles can be tricky to write so have a look at the guide above for some tips and examples.
Education and Qualifications:
- Degree subject and classification expected/attained. Describe your degree but be selective - think about what the organisation is likely to be interested in such as projects or dissertations. Consider including what you have gained in terms of skills and technical abilities, for example, research skills, report writing, problem solving, project management
- List A levels or equivalents with grades. Summarise GCSEs, for example, 9 GCSEs grade A* - C including maths and English language
- If you have obtained non-UK qualifications, you may be asked to provide the employer/university with the equivalency of your qualification in UK terms. UCAS may initially be a useful resource to try, however, if this does not provide you with the relevant information, try NARIC - although please be aware that they make a charge for their services
- If you are interested in working and/or studying abroad, you may need to translate your UK qualifications, for example in the USA to a GPA score. See Fulbright Commission. You could also try World Education Services
Work Experience:
- As well as placements and internships, consider including volunteer work, part-time jobs and vacation work
- Summarise long lists of short-term temporary work
- Include name of organisation, job title and dates and give a brief account of your duties and responsibilities. Ensure that you also include what you gained from these experiences such as skills and knowledge
- Use action words such as achieved, developed, managed
Annotated examples can be found in the CV guide.
