CV Guidance

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As recruiters we see many different CVs and there are some really great tips that we can provide you with, that will ensure you are giving yourself the best opportunity to stand out! 
 

Format, uniformity and detail 
 

• Keep it clear, concise and professional. 

• Use clean uniform formatting, consistent spacing, and a professional font.

• Avoid long paragraphs - bullet points make the detail easier to digest.

• Don’t necessarily remove things so that you are keeping to two pages, a good long career should be celebrated, but 4 pages should be more than enough to summarise your achievements.

• Check and check again - always spell check your CV and have someone read through to ensure it flows and that there is no overuse of certain words/phrases.

• Check your dates – first, ensure your chronology begins with most recent roles first and ensure your dates are accurate. Are there any gaps you may need to explain at interview? Does you CV mirror your LinkedIn profile – these should match!  

• Contact details – is your email address appropriate to a professional setting? Include your most accessible contact number and do not include a photo. 

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Tailor your CV to the role 
 

• Where possible, mirror the key skills and language from the job description.  

• Prioritise the experience you have that is most relevant to the role.

• Structural flow – should your education come after experience? This will largely depend on how much experience you have – practical experience, if significant, should come before qualification.  

• Move strong, role-specific achievements higher up the CV.

• Include a profile introduction – keep it focused, avoiding too many ‘buzz words’ and ensure it remains relevant to your aim. 

• Include industry sectors you have worked in or specialisms that you may have – worked in a practice and managed a portfolio of charity organisations? Let us know! This may be useful information. Worked in a manufacturing business with specific systems or reporting requirements – this is all useful experience that could be either transferrable or specific to the role. 

• Additional skills - have you worked with specific accounting systems? Do you have language skills? These are all worth adding. 

• Key skills - often worth listing under your profile; a way to summarise the detail you are going to give further into the CV. 

 

​Where possible, detail achievements as well as duties 
 

• The further into your career you are, the more you will have achieved in the workplace – let those achievements stand out. They are the difference between you being ‘able’ to do the job and really excelling at it.

• Perhaps you are at a more junior stage in your career but have particular strengths, that’s great – let us know!  

 

We are here to support you in presenting a standout CV. Remember, this is your first opportunity to meet your potential new employer, and they want to understand you and the value you can bring to their organisation. Let us help you create something that really reflects your strengths! 

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