CV stands for curriculum vitae and basically it’s a brief document that outlines who you are, what qualifications and skills you’ve got. Whatever you put on your CV must be the truth. You could get the sack for giving false information!
You probably did a CV at school – but is it still up to date? It’s a must, as it will tell an employer very quickly if you’re the person they are looking for. Use information from school like your Progress file, or other school records to help you.
Personal Details
- Should be confined to Name; Address; Telephone/Mobile; e-mail address and driving licence if you have one.
Experience
- List your work record with the most recent job first
- A prospective employer will notice gaps in your employment history, so make sure that you have a good explanation
- Don’t worry if you’ve not had a job - put down your school work experience
- Don’t forget any part-time jobs
- Put in voluntary work if you've done it regularly.
Qualifications
- A prospective employer wants to know about qualifications gained at school or college.
- If you have other qualifications gained from voluntary work or leisure activities, put them in eg First Aid certificate (must be current ie within 3 years); Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award; Chief Scout’s Diamond Award or Queen’s Scout Award; Junior Coach at Football Club etc.
Personal statement
- This can show what you want to end up doing, eg "I would like to gain experience in a hair salon and study part time to become a stylist."
- It could show what skills you have, eg "I am a good timekeeper; like to work in a team; capable of using my initiative; adaptable" etc. Only use these phrases if they are true – you would soon be found out. You could give an example where this applies.
Presentation
- Your CV should be printed in black, on white or off-white paper.
- Use a plain font: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana are all suitable.
- Do not use fancy borders, pictures or any enhancement.
- You should not use more than two pages (less if possible).
- It must not contain any spelling mistakes.
Use a covering letter to say why you are applying for this job or have a different CV which may highlight different skills which are related to the job on offer.
Here are a few CV templates. Take a look and see which you prefer.
This is for someone without formal qualifications
This one is for a school/college leaver with GCSE qualifications.
Try this one if you have had a few jobs already.
If you want to use one then:
- tab through the fields replacing all the information in each field with your own details
- print two copies one to send out and one for your records.
You can use the library in your Connexions Centre too as it has information for you to read or take away.