What is a CV?

Curriculum Vitae: an outline of a person's educational and professional history, usually prepared for job 

applications

When should a CV be used?

• When an employer asks for applications to be received in this format
• When an employer simply states "apply to ..." without specifying the format

• When making speculative applications (when writing to an employer who has not advertised a vacancy but who you hope my have one)

What information should a CV include?

What are the most important aspects of CV that you look for?

One survey of employers found that the following aspects were most looked for 

(From the brilliant 2010 Orange County Resume Survey by Eric Hilden)

45% Previous related work experience 

35% Qualifications & skills

25% Easy to read

16% Accomplishments

14% Spelling & grammar

9% Education (these were not just graduate recruiters for whom this score would be much higher!)

9% Intangibles: individuality/desire to succeed

3% Clear objective

2% Keywords added

1% Contact information

1% Personal experiences

1% Computer skills

What mistakes to candidates make on their CV?

One survey of employers found the following mistakes were most common

• Spelling and grammar 56% of employers found this
• Not tailored to the job 21%
• Length not right & poor work history 16%
• Poor format and no use of bullets 11%
• No accomplishments 9%
• Contact & email problems 8%
• Objective/profile was too vague 5%
• Lying 2%
• Having a photo 1%
• Others 3% (listing all memberships, listing personal hobbies, using abbreviations)

What makes a good CV?

There is no single "correct" way to write and present a CV but the following general rules apply:

• It is targeted on the specific job or career area for which you are applying and brings out the relevant skills you have to offer
• It is carefully and clearly laid out: logically ordered, easy to read and not cramped
• It is informative but concise
• It is accurate in content, spelling and grammar. If you mention attention to detail as a skill, make sure your spelling and grammar is perfect!

How long should a CV be?

There are no absolute rules but, in general, a new graduate's CV should cover no more than two sides of A4 paper. In a survey of American employers 35% preferred a one page CV and 19% a two page CV with the others saying it depends upon the position. CVs in the US tend to be shorter than in the UK wher the 2 page CV still dominates for graduates but I do see a trend now towards one page CVs: as employers are getting more and more CVs they tend not to have the time to read long documents!

If you can summarise your career history comfortably on a single side, this is fine and has advantages when you are making speculative applications and need to put yourself across concisely. However, you should not leave out important items, or crowd your text too closely together in order to fit it onto that single side. Academic and technicalCVs may be much longer: up to 4 or 5 sides.

- :Personal details    

Normally these would be your name, address, date of birth (although with age discrimination laws now in force this isn't essential), telephone number and email.