If you are considering a career move in 2016, here is our new guide to writing a great CV. Its designed for executives working in the life sciences sector, but much of the advice is transferable across industries.

1. A NewSearch guide:
How to write a great CV

2. Your CV can take you out of the running for
the job you want in under 30 seconds.
(the average time a hiring manager or
recruiter will scan it).
With more than twenty years experience as executive
search consultants, specialising in senior appointments
across the global life sciences industry, we understand
exactly what recruiters and hiring managers look for in a
CV. !
!
Here is our guide. !

3.
Preparing an effective CV is a time-consuming
exercise, and demands preparation, self-analysis and
reflection.
Don’t just update your last CV, strip it back and really
analyse the content: make every word count.

4. Start with a new mindset…
Think of your CV as the equivalent of your sales brochure.
It should provide a summary of your career history and
achievements, but think of it primarily as a forward-looking,
strategic document.
Its function to explain why you are the right person for the
job that you are applying for.
It’s not supposed to tell every detail, but to entice the
reader, and predispose them to think of you as the person
they need to hire.

5. What were my most significant achievements?
What did I actually deliver?
What impact did these achievements have?
For my company, team, project or brand’s performance?
How can I demonstrate or validate this?
How is this relevant to the role that I want?
Before you begin
make sure you
can answer
these questions,
for each position
you have held.
The answers are
the essence of a
great CV.

6. Find out as much as you can about the role you are applying for – what will
you be required to DELIVER in this role ( as opposed to the tasks will you be
performing).
Too many job descriptions focus on tasks rather than deliverables.
Find some job descriptions for similar positions online and use these to
inform yourself about the key skills and experiences required.
Find out as much as you can about the company culture too. !
!
!
!
Start, not with what you have DONE, but with what
you want to do NEXT.

7.
Detail achievements rather than responsibilities.
• Too many CVs, even at a senior level, read like a cut and paste from a job
description (usually because they are).
• Focus on what you have DELIVERED, especially where you (and your team)
have exceeded expectations or overcome significant challenges.
• Try to include facts and figures. Tangible metrics validate your achievements
and value. What was the project? Did you meet project milestones early? What was
the impact for the organisation? What percentage of growth did you deliver? What
was the impact of your market access or regulatory strategy?
• Many people feel reticent about articulating their achievements, and worry that
they may be perceived as blowing their own trumpet. Ignore those feelings -
you can expand at interview on how you achieved it through your team.

8.
What to leave out ….
The recruiter or hiring manager scanning your CV wants to see evidence
of what you have DONE, not to hear that you are a “team player” or
“capable of working under pressure”.
As a quick check, count the number of uses of the following words;
strategic, driven, proven track record of success, dynamic, commercial,
and vision.
These adjectives have no place in your CV, so take them out and replace
them with FACTS.

9. Your CV should include the following sec:ons:

10. 1. Summary
Include the aspects of your experience and
achievements that you need to get across quickly, in
order to motivate the reader to continue.
These must be highlighted in the context of the role you
are applying for.
This section should be no more than three to four lines
of narrative, or a similar number of bullet points. Don’t
include too much. You can expand on your experience in
the body of the CV.
Consider adding a short “ Key Achievements’ section,
immediately after the summary, as a lead into your career
history. Use this to highlight the most significant (and
relevant) achievements of your career and make sure
that they align with the requirements of the role you are
applying for.
The summary
section is your
elevator pitch.
Your goal here is
to make the
hiring manager
think - 'this is
exactly what we
need”.

11. 2. Career History
Is it easy for the reader to assess the scale of your
responsibilities? Give your experience some context :
number of reports/ revenues/ geography can be useful
here.
If your job title is not meaningful outside of your current
organisation, or has multiple uses e.g. Business
Development, make sure that you define the context.
Avoid the use of internal acronyms.
It’s not necessary
to include equal
levels of detail on
every position you
have held. The
most effective CVs
have content
carefully selected
and weighted to
emphasise the
most relevant parts
of the candidates
experience for the
role.

12. Personal email and mobile phone will suffice.
(Bear in mind that CVs can stay in a recruiter’s
database for many years – make sure that you use
a personal email address that will not change.
Consider also including a link to your LinkedIn
profile- it’s usually the first stop for an interested
recruiter.
Include first and postgraduate degrees, relevant
industry qualifications and prestigious business
courses. Leave the rest, there is more valuable use
for the space.
3. Contact Details
4. Qualifications

13.
The right format and layout make a
difference.

14. Style notes
Your CV should be easy to read, with plenty of white space, and consistent use of
headers to denote different roles and sections. Ariel or Calibri fonts are clean, modern,
and easy to read. Make sure that your use of fonts, headers and point sizes is consistent
throughout and avoid complex layouts (charts, graphics, etc.)
Keep it concise. A 10-page CV does no one any favours. Two pages are ideal, three if
you have a lot of ground to cover. If it doesn’t fit on three pages, it needs further editing.
There are some differences in CV style between commercial and scientific profiles,
(scientific CVs are often longer and may, for example, include publications) but both
should be achievement focused, and, in general, less is more.
Give your document a meaningful file name. It’s important that your CV can be easily
searched, located and managed by recruiters and hiring organisations. (John Smith CV.
2015 rather than JBSCV.doc)
Send it in Word format rather than PDF. So that it can be easily cut and pasted, to
provide candidate summaries and reports.
Style matters

15. Check and recheck for typos and grammar.
Ask someone else to proofread it too.
Remember to use the present tense for your current position and the past tense for
previous roles.
Keyword search optimised.
Many companies now use Applicant Tracking Systems, which utilise keywords - have you
included relevant words?
(If in doubt, refer to the job description or Assignment Brief for clues).
It’s ok to use industry-wide acronyms and terminology, but make sure your CV does not
contain company-specific acronyms without explanation.
Always

16.
If you are looking for a new role, it’s important that your Linked In
profile is also up to the job. It’s frequently the first stop for
headhunters and internal recruiters, and so it’s important that you
present yourself consistently.
Invest time in developing a great summary that quickly conveys
your skills and experience. Be sure it includes relevant keywords,
to ensure that you show up in searches.
Don’t simply cut and paste your CV into LinkedIn. The style here
tends to be more conversational (and gives you more room to
expand on your skills and achievements).
If you are in transition and actively seeking a new role, state this
in your summary paragraph (and include a quick summary of
what you’re looking for).
Include an appropriate photo, and if you are hoping to be
headhunted, your contact information.
!
And finally …
don’t forget
your LinkedIn
Profile.

17. Thinking about your next career move?
We are always delighted to build new relationships with senior and
emerging high-performers across the life sciences industry. If you are
considering your next move or would simply like some advice, please
get in touch.

18.
NewSearch is a new
boutique executive search
firm, specialising in senior
medical and commercial
roles across the global life
sciences industry.
As our name suggests,
we’re different.
It reflects our approach - and our belief that there is a
better way to recruit great people.
We want to make recruiting scarce talent more cost
effective, and less painful and time consuming for our
clients and candidates, so we have built our business
offering around wish lists from both hiring managers
and top talent about how recruitment should be. lists f
Our motto?
“If you always do what you’ve always done,
you will always get what you always got.”
managers and top talent about how recruitment
should be.

19. Why we are different…
We understand how challenging it can be to find
great people. Our mission, quite simply, is to
make it easier and less time consuming.
We believe that its time for a new approach in
life sciences executive recruitment; delivering
better hiring outcomes, better client service and
better ROI. We want to help you outsmart, rather
than outspend, the competition for the very best
talent in the life sciences sector.
Because of our focus on candidate assessment
and fit, over 80% of our candidates stay with
their new employer for at least three years and
two promotions (and many for much longer)*
We can therefore offer a two year guarantee on
all of our placements. *48% of hires in the life science
sector fail within 18 months.
We are absolute specialists- in senior medical
and commercial roles across the global life
sciences sector.
We target the top 5% of high performers – the
individuals who have the ability to really deliver
and transform outcomes. By investing time in
building long term relationships, we have the ear
of many top performers who do not routinely
respond to recruitment approaches.
We are a small company … and we want to stay that way.
Because unlike big recruitment firms with huge client lists, we
have unrestricted access to the talent you need ( and because
it means that you can be sure that you are always our top
priority).
Our recruitment approach is always built around your needs,
budget and timelines. It can include extended global search,
defined search, selective introductions, managing a LinkedIn
or social media campaign, or helping you build your own
talent pipeline (or something completely new!). We
We want to deliver long term value in return for the
investment you make in working with us with us. At the end
of every project, we can help you build your own talent pools
in areas where it’s difficult to hire, or where you want to build
a more diverse talent network. So that in the future, you can
hire more quickly and cost effectively.
While we are a new company,- our approach is rooted in
decades of experience – we have helped some of the life
science sector’s most successful companies to hire great
people. We understand the industry, its roles, and we have the
hard earned trust of a a global network of high performers.
With over twenty years of senior level recruitment experience
advising some of the most successful companies in the
industry, you are in safe hands.

20. Talk to us
We are always happy to help -
whether you would like to know
more about our approach, need
advice on how to fill a key role, or
you are a high performer who would
like some advice on making your
next career move.
NewSearch Life Sciences Ltd.
T: +44 (0) 1727 537370
E: info@newsearchlifesciences.com
W: www.newsearchlifesciences.com
© NewSearch Life Sciences Ltd 2015