How to Write a CV That Gets You Hired

… Or at least interviewed

 

A CV is your first opportunity to tell a potential employer about yourself. They say you only get one chance to make that all-important first impression, so here is how to make it count.

 

The one rule of good CVs

The rule behind writing a good CV can be explained in one sentence.

Make it easy for the hirer to see why you are great for the role.

While there is more to it than that, if you keep that in mind, you won’t go far wrong. Forget making long lists of everything you have ever done or including long words for the sake of it. Just make it easy for them to see your best points.

 

One tailored CV is better than 100 mass-produced ones

Writing one CV, printing it off 100 times and sending it to everyone who might want to give you a job may seem like an attractive and even effective approach, but it’s a bad one.

Instead, find a few jobs you are a good fit for and create a tailored CV showing why you are the best choice for each. Each time, write a personal profile that is unique to the role (see below). Make the most of relevant experience, minimise space taken by irrelevant roles, replace qualifications that don’t matter with extra info on those that do, and do the same with skills.

 

Stand out

Focus on uniquely valuable skills and experience that make you stand out from the others and illustrate why you are motivated to do a better job than them. Saying you are a hard worker is fair enough, but everyone will make that claim.

Maybe this is your dream job, or maybe you want to do well so you can show everyone that you can succeed in this industry. Either way, tell them why you want to do well at the job, as well as why you can.

 

Laying out your CV

Your CV should cover one or two sides of A4. Below is an example layout filled with tips.