How to create a
great CV:
The Takeaways
Chris Wray and Claire de Souza
May 2022
Why are CVs so important?
It’s the document that sells you.
Tells the story of you.
Explains why someone should hire you.
Ultimately…
It should explain why you
are the best person for the job
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Create value.
Not fluff
Adam Karpiak
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What type of CV
works for you?
Different styles of CVs have different purposes. A chronological CV is
great if your experience has changed from role to role and want to
highlight that. A skills-based CV is useful if you want to highlight
key parts of your experience over the course of your career.
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The Chronological CV
• Lists out everything in reverse
date order
• Shows your experience and
achievements in each role you
have been in
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The Skills-Based CV
• This highlights your key skills
• It pulls out the experience from all
your roles into different categories
• It highlights everything you have
learned in your career in once
place
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What to include:
• Your name
Getting
started
The key things to
include
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• Your contact details
• A link to your LinkedIn profile… if its up to date!
• Your professional title
Sense checks:
• Don’t call your CV a CV on the page – it wastes space. Use your
name/ contact details to be the title
• Check what your email address is – any interesting sounding email
addresses can impact you looking professional for example
funkyfish806@gmail.com doesn’t sound professional.
The verbs that create impact
Managed
Management skills are important – but
its showing everything from project
management, time management,
people management, supplier
management. It’s a valuable skill
Developed
This can range from projects,
concepts, to people. Share examples
of things you have developed to
show how you add value
Increased
Reduced
Cost or time saving
activities are a benefit to
show on your CV. If you
have handled people
reductions too, this is a
good skill to demonstrate
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The ability to negotiate is a
great skill to show you have.
It can be anything from
lower prices for contracts, to
payment terms for
customers. Use examples
Resolved
Showing you can resolve
issues that arise and
handle tricky situations,
turning them into positive
outcomes adds huge
value
Improved
Optimised
Showing you can make the
most of resources is a great
trait to show you have
Growth is important to employers, no matter where
that comes from. You may have improved colleague
metrics or grown.a customer base. Demonstrate
your contribution to different projects
Negotiated
Presented
Being able to change things that don’t work well, and
implement changes to become more effective is a skill valued
by an employer. Add examples of where you have made
improvements.
Presenting to your team, a confererence,
or pitching to clients displays confidence.
Public speaking and presentation are great
skills to show you have if relevant
Supported
Showing how you support is
invaluable – whether your team,
manager, customers, colleagues
or clients
The first thing you see is the summary at the top - your personal statement/
profile. It’s a small paragraph that is short and sweet. It has to show who you are,
your skills and strengths relevant to role you are applying for. All in about 200
words. (No pressure). It doesn’t need a title.
Think about who you are. This is the window into you. It gives someone an
overview into what you are all about. It’s the way you can really stand out from
the crowd. So what to include?
Who are you? What can you offer the company? What are your career
goals?
Don’t go into buzzword city. Tempting as it is to say you are passionate and
proficient, a fantastic communicator and a great team player – ask yourself does
that really tell your employer who YOU are? Use that word count wisely.
Is a personal statement vital? No. But if you want to stand out from the
competition, this helps you do that.
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Personal
statement
Stand out from the
crowd
Experience
Writing it the reverse
chronological way
The key things to remember when writing your experience is
to keep it simple. You need enough detail to provide insight
into your role but not write an essay. This is just one section
you can call “Experience’ or ”Employment/Work History”
The most recent experience should go first. When listing out
each employer, add in your job title, the employer name, the
dates you worked there and then add in your experience
underneath.
Include your key responsibilities. Remember the value
adding verbs, are any of those relevant to your experience?
Think about your experience in each role and create mini
sections to bring it to life. Don’t forget your achievements too
– highlighting your successes adds more value
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Your experience has to tell a story here. One section is called
‘Experience’. The next section is “Employment/Work History”
Write out all your experience from every role. Then group it by
subject, for example one bullet point might be about project
management, and you could write out your experiences, using key
examples from your career. Remember the value adding verbs, are
any of those relevant to your experience? Think about your
experience in each role and create mini sections to bring it to life.
Don’t forget your achievements too – highlighting your successes
adds more value.
In the Employment/Work History section, simply list out your
employers, most recent first. Include job title, the employer name,
the dates you worked there.
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Experience
Creating a skills based
CV
Education +
Qualifications
Adding your learnings to
your career
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Throughout your career you may have done courses, or
got certifications. Bring the most relevant qualifications/
courses/ education to the top – tailor this to the job. If it
adds value, add it in.
Most recent first:
Add in your education/ qualifications in reverse
chronological order, so the most recent is first.
What to include:
Add in your education/ qualifications in reverse
chronological order, so the most recent is first. You should
include the institution name, the course title, dates
attended and grade if relevant.
Key skills
You may have abilities that you want to highlight. This could be
platforms and systems you are familiar with, or core skills you
have learnt in your career. Make sure your skills are relevant for
the role and they are specialized. For example, knowing
Microsoft Office is not a skill – but knowing Microsoft PowerBI is,
as it is a tool. Great communication isn’t a skill – but fluency in
a language is. Try and include four to five abilities, and add your
level of proficiency.
Hobbies and Interests
These can add value to your CV and also create great talking
points in an interview. But – make sure your interests are
interesting and not run-of-the-mill. Being a marathon runner is
a great hobby but reading or eating out at restaurant,
socialising or spending time with family doesn’t set you apart.
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Additional
bits
Ways to strengthen
your CV
What not to include
The headshot
Marital status
You might be fabulous
but we don’t need to see
it.
You may have two husbands or three wives and ten children or none. It’s not important.
Don’t include your
picture on your CV. It
takes up value space that
you could use for what
you really need –
content.
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Characteristics
References
You could be pink, blue, yellow or orange. You may
identify as a female or use they/them pronouns. You
may have a disability. You could be 20 or 50. It doesn’t
matter.
You do not need to include your
references on your CV. If you really
want to, say references available
on request, but this takes up
space. Some employers don’t ask
for references, others ask for that
information on an application
form. Make your content count
You don’t need to share this information on your CV. If
you need reasonable adjustments to be made for your
disability, then you have space to do this on your
application form and those adjustments will be made
Getting your
format right
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#5
#1
Headings
Length
You are writing a CV, not your life story. Make sure your
is content concise. Try and keep it to two pages. If you need to use
three, make sure your key information is on your first page.
Split the sections up. Use headings to
separate each section, and make them bigger,
bolder and easy to read
#3
#2
Margins
White space is a
good thing. If your CV
has minimal white space it
will look cluttered. Keep
your margins around 2/2.5
cm but not less than 1.27cm.
Font
Simple does it. Use a clear, easy to read font such
as Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, avoid creative fonts
or any handwritten ones. Keep the size of the font for
the main body between 10 and 12, and in one colour.
Don’t use multiple fonts, keep the consistency.
#4
#6
Saving
Keep your formatting.
Send your CV out as a PDF. This
means your formatting will
remain as you want it look and
also means it can be opened on
any device.
Tailor
Different roles mean different CVs. Every role you apply for will be
different. So make sure you tailor your CV to the roles you apply for (and of course
keep a generic copy for yourself)
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Make sure you
proofread
When you look at a document for a long time, you get tired
eyes. You no longer see mistakes. So ask someone else to
proofread it. Spell check it, use tools like Grammarly.
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Remember
Your CV is a way to
celebrate you, and show
all of your achievements
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Take your time
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
So don’t try and write your CV in one go.
Pause. Reflect. Take your time to write it
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How to write a personal summary
Using the right font
Additional
Resources
Examples and tips to format your CV
Tools and tips to help
you on the way
Skills that can be learnt from volunteering
Writing a reverse chronological CV
Writing a skills based CV
Writing a HR focused CV
Writing a finance focused CV
How to write a general cover letter
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Thank you
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