Your CV - how to dress up your skills
Not sure how to relate your experience to your skills? Peter Panayotou at The Write Stuff reveals how to master your CV
Your CV is your advert
Your CV is more than just a list of jobs, dates and qualifications; it is a sales document in your quest for employment. Your CV is your shop window and YOU are the product. And whenever you’re selling a product and you wish to display it in the shop window, you must dress it up a bit!
'Dressing' your skills with experience
CV DO'S AND DON'T'S
DO:
- Include a section on your skills, to highlight your strengths to potential employers
- If you’re a recent graduate and your degree is a big selling point, make it more prominent by including modules or projects
- Use bullet points rather than blocks of text as they are easier to read
- Make sure you account for all periods of unemployment – gaps will raise suspicion and look sloppy
DON’T:
- Make it any longer than two pages or you risk losing the reader’s interest
- Be tempted to go in for fancy borders or jazzy fonts – keep it sober and professional
- Include reasons for leaving previous jobs – remember to focus only on the positive
- Forget to spell check and proofread your CV – spelling and grammatical errors are an instant fail.
Now go back and match your CV to these pointers. For a personal analysis of your CV and advice on writing for a specific role, more advice is available from The Write Stuff at the National Graduate Recruitment Exhibitions and online at www.thewritestuff.co.uk.
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