The Do's and Don'ts of writing a CV

Posted by Andrew on April 18, 2019

Your CV helps you get a foot in the door by making a first impression, introducing you to future employers. Your skills, experiences and achievements are your greatest assets and will help you stand out. One of the most important thing is to make sure that you tailor your CV to the role you are applying for.

Do:

• Use the most simplest fonts while writing your CV such as Times New Roman or Calibri, stay away from fonts like Comic San and such, keep it neat and tidy.

• Remember to include your full contact details such as Name, Address and Phone Number.

• Include a brief personal statement. A short paragraph at the beginning of your CV with a little about yourself and your current situation.

• Keep your CV to at least 2 pages, no more than 3, keep it short and concise.

• List your employment history in chronological order with dates (Month, Year), we want to see your career path, if there are gaps then be ready to discuss to why and what you did in that gap.

• Make sure that your cover letter is customized to the specific role and not just the generic ones.

Don't:

• Use multi-colored texts and different fonts, stick to one font.

• Use jargon, acronyms or technical terms, keep your CV as simple as possible.

• Put up a selfie/picture of yourself on your CV, we don't not hire based on looks it just takes up the space you could have used to describe your skills.

• Use long sentences or paragraphs, instead use bullet points, keep it concise.

• Forget to check for spelling errors, have someone proofread your CV before finalizing.

• Make Vague statements such as “I have excellent communication skills” - Back them up with real examples instead.

• Lie about your skills, abilities or achievements.

If you need some help getting that CV "work ready", then give us a call. We can also provide you a simple template to help write up your CV.