2. What to include in a CV
There are 5 main components employers look for when looking at your CV. They are:
Name and contact information such as phone number, email address, social accounts such as LinkedIn, Facebook etc. This is so employers can
easily contact you with any information regarding the job you have applied to or any questions they have for. you.
Personal statement. A personal statement for a CV should include some information about yourself. It should outline to an employer who you
are as a person, what you value and what it is about your chosen field that makes you attracted to it. You will need to include your unique
selling points to convey to the employer that you are the best fit for the job over anyone else and what you can bring to the table. Explain why
you are applying for the job and why you are the best fit for the job. This will make your application stand out more than others as it shows you
are passionate and eager about the job position.
Work experience. Include your current job and when you first started at this job if you are currently employed and your most recent job and
when you started and finished working there. Include a brief summary of your job position and the responsibilities you have there. Include any
achievements you have gained working there and any relevant skills you learned from your position.
Education and qualifications. In chronological order, list all qualifications you have received including the course title, institution, type of
qualification you received and when you achieved it and what grade you achieved.
Soft skills and hard skills. Soft skills describe traits of your personality that are useful in the workplace and are specific to the type of job you are
applying to. These can include teamwork, time management and leadership skills. These are important to include as they convey to an
employer a general idea of your skill set and how you will fit in with the rest of the workforce. Hard skills are practical skills that you have and
are usually industry specific and are learned over working in a certain position for a while. These can include skills operating software such as
Excel and Photoshop, analysing data, writing code, marketing skills etc. An employer can judge from your skills and decide weather you are a
good fit for the company, so they are important to include
3. How to structure a CV
Name and contact details and
job title
Name and contact details are the first thing to include on a CV. This is because they will be the first thing the person viewing your CV will see,
making it easy to contact you regarding the job. The name and job title also acts as though you are introducing yourself to the employer, making
them feel as though they are meeting you personally.
Personal statement
Position this second as it tells whoever is reading your CV a bit about yourself personally, what you are like and what you hope to
Achieve. They may already have a picture of what you are like before they read the rest of the CV. This should be around 4 â 6 lines
Containing around 200 words.
Work experience You should name your job title, role and the date you started and left. Use bullet points to list your main responsibilities, the
impact you made on the company and key achievements such as awards and honours.
Education and qualifications Name all educational institutions you have attended and list in bullet points the qualifications you received and which courses
you studied along with the time you attended.
Key skills
List in bullet points your key soft skills and hard skills and how they can be useful in the workplace