Tuesday 16 August 2011

CV Workshop - Top 5 Headings for Your CV

For those that missed out, I have posted a blog talking about how to make your CV impressive.

CV’s are what can make or break an application whether it is for a full time internship or job. Below I am going to create an outline template of CV headings to make sure that you’re including relevant and good information.

At a later date, I’m going to follow up this blog post with 5 blog posts dedicated to these 5 different headings. See below for the useful headings that you can implement in your CV.

What is a profile? Well, a profile a small blurb about yourself (4-5 lines), typically at the beginning of your CV. I think that the ‘Profile’ is one of the most important headings, because here the employer can get a feel of what kind of person you are. The great thing about profiles is that they can separate you from other candidates. This is the part where you can specifically aim your CV towards the sector you’re applying for. For instance, if you are applying for marketing, then it’s best to talk about your passion for marketing here. Sometimes, it’s best to leave out all the company specifics and put that in your cover letter instead.

This is compulsory and for me, the heading sits under my profile, it details all educational qualifications that you have obtained, and also what qualifications you are predicted (if you haven’t completed them). Keep this as simplistic as possible to avoid any confusion.

Many employers will go to this heading first, along with education, as they’re both extremely important. Make sure you detail every job you’ve had because the more experience you have the better your employability will look.

Under this heading it’s good to put down any extracurricular activities, especially if this involves gaining good ‘work experience’. For example, if you were Editor of the student newspaper, you would have gained leadership skills etc.

List any skills that could increase your employability, e.g. computer skills. Also, make sure you list any skills that don’t seem obvious, for instance you could be an English Literature student with a lot of ICT skills – make sure you list all of them. Most of the time employers do ask for certain requirements that aren’t essential but are desired and they’ll look out for these when reading your CV.

This is a relatively brief outlook on what a CV could look like, obviously, this is only a guideline, so by all means include and exclude headings which suit you. Stay tuned for my next CV workshop where I will discuss further the ‘Profile’ heading.

For more help with CV writing check out the 'dates for your diary' page.

*UPDATE Each heading is now click-able and will elaborate on the brief explanation above.

2 comments:

  1. Cv templates can be an excellent way of getting the support you need in writing your own CV..

    Cv Templates

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    ReplyDelete