How to Improve Your CV - Let JR Personnel Help 

Let’s face it, writing a CV is not exactly an enjoyable task, nor is it probably how you want to spend your free time when there’s so many other important or fun things to be done, BUT a good CV can really make you stand out from the rest and, when the average employer only spends between 5-7 seconds looking at a CV, every word really does count.

See our tips below to help make your CV be top of the pile!

LAYOUT 

Consider your layout when creating your CV – it’s always handy for employers to be able to see your name and contact information clearly, this should be at the top of the page and include your address (your post code will suffice) contact email and telephone so hiring managers can get in touch to arrange easily to ask further questions and arrange interviews etc.

PERSONAL STATEMENT 

Your personal statement should be a short paragraph or a few lines giving a brief insight into who you are and what your skills and ambitions are. Try to avoid generic phrases like “hard working individual” and “good team player”, draw on specific skills which you have picked up from education, previous employment or life experiences. Keep it short and sweet!

PREVIOUS ROLES AND EDUCATION 

If you’ve had previous roles you should list these with your most recent first, make sure you include job titles, start and end dates and also why you left or are looking to leave the role. Bullet point or write a few lines of your main duties and responsibilities, this will give hiring managers a clear and concise view of your skills and experiences. List education after job roles, most recent first. If you have several qualifications save time and space by stating how many pass grades you have, for example: “8 GCSE’s grade C and above including English, Maths and Science”.

If you are applying for your first role you can list education first and lengthen out your personal statement, detailing what kind of role you’re looking for and any skills and experiences you’re hoping to learn. You can also include a hobby and interests section where you can list any additional skills or interests which give an insight into your personality, it's good to also provide some character references, a teacher or club leader will do.

CV RELEVANCE 

I can’t stress this enough; it is so important to ensure that your CV is relevant to the position you’re applying for. This may mean you need several variations of your CV if you’re applying for a number of different roles but it will one hundred percent be worth it. You can do this by looking at the job specification of a role you’re applying for and pick out key words to reiterate and offer examples of in your CV. If a hiring manager is looking for Team Leader experience detail examples of this and be specific with how large a team you’ve managed before.

AND FINALLY...

Remember to try and keep your CV as short as possible, ideally one or two pages of A4 paper. If you’ve had a lengthy career with numerous positions this can be tricky, but you don’t need to bullet point duties and responsibilities for every single role, just the ones relevant to the position you’re applying for or within the past ten years. 

And remember, if you need further CV writing advice, someone to check your CV over and offer further tips and improvements feel free to send your CV in to us at: [email protected] and one of our consultants will be happy to assist. This is a completely free, no pressure service so why not get in touch today!