Posted on 20th June 2012

Top CVs

If you’re back from university for the holidays, have just graduated, or are about to leave school and are embarking on a gap year, then it is highly likely that you will be looking for a job at the moment. Perhaps you’re looking for a summer job to last a few weeks or months, or maybe you are on the hunt for something a bit more full time.

Whatever your situation, it is really important that you have a well-presented CV. In order to help you to land the job you want, here are some tips for writing yours…

A standard CV will include the following things:
• Your personal details, such as your name, address, telephone number and email address. People used to put their date of birth on CVs, but it is now illegal to discriminate against applicants of a certain age, so you do not have to write down your date of birth if you don’t wish to
• You are also expected to write down your educational history including where you went to school/college/university, which subjects you studied at each level and which grades you achieved.
• It is also vital that you write down your employment history, saying who you worked for, what you did, how long you worked there for and why you left the job.
• Do put down any achievements of which you are particularly proud.
• Many people write down their key interests, particularly if they are relevant to the job you are applying for.
• You can also write a ‘personal profile’, which outlines your best qualities and what you can bring to the position you are applying for.
• Usually people write down the names and contact details of two people who would be able to provide a reference.

The best CVs…
• Do not have any spelling or grammatical errors.
• Are concise (ideally one A4 side, but up to two is fine).
• Are really positive and give a good impression of yourself, without seeming too boasting or self-inflated.
• Are totally honest and true; if you lie on your CV you will seriously forget it!

If you click here and here you can see some sample CVs in order to help you to format and structure yours.

You can also click here to see how NOT to approach writing your CV.

For more advice, visit the National Careers Service website, which has lots of fantastic information on how to go about applying for jobs.

Good luck!