How to Draft a winning CV to Get That Job
Are you struggling to write that winning CV that’s going to land you your dream job? In Today’s society we know that it’s becoming ever more difficult to make yourself stand out from the crowd. What is important on a CV is equally what it looks like and what it says. So how do you make yourself stand out on paper? Here are some guidelines and tips to writing that CV.
The key elements to have on your CV:
Your Personal Details
Personal details include things like your name, surname etc. and relevant contact details. Always make sure to double check that your contact details are correct.
Work history
Although I say work history this does not mean that you should jot down the time you were a waiter/waitress in high school, what you should do is tailor this section of your CV to the job you are applying for.
Education history
Once again you should include only what is relevant, so you can start from which high school you attended to any tertiary education thereafter or even short courses which you completed.
Skills
Being able to juggle five knives while blindfolded does not count (unless you’re applying for a job at the circus). Try and avoid saying phrases like ‘energetic’, ‘good communicator’ as this should speak for itself from your CV as a whole.
Achievements
This section should be what makes your CV unique. Achievements may include for example any specific training you did at your previous job.
Remember that your CV represents you so it should be honest, accurate and relevant. Try avoiding things like spelling errors and poor grammar. Do not trust your computers spell check, but rather get someone to double check your CV for you. Avoid copying your previous job description – rather write down what you achieved whilst you were working there. Other things to avoid would be long paragraphs, being vague and breaking the two page rule.
Tips to help you make your CV stand out are the use of bullet points to break text into more ‘manageable’ sizes, the use of fonts such as; Georgia, Arial, Calibri etc. as these fonts are quite clear, for the main page header it is recommended to be 22points in size, subheadings 14points and for the body text 10-11points and remember to be consistent with fonts.
These tips should be sure to land you an interview and remember the golden rule when it comes to writing a CV would be to not lie or over exaggerate.
