At Grad Central we see hundreds of CVs every day. Your CV is your first chance at making an impression and it needs to say the right things about you to a prospective employer. Finding a job starts with writing a good CV that promotes your skills, your interests and your personality.
Grad Central has collected useful CV tips that we believe can help you write a good CV that will help you stand out in a crowd.
DO – Tips for writing a winning CV
- Write your name at the top of your CV. This makes it very clear to a potential employer whose CV they are reading. How many people do you know who are called “Curriculum Vitae”?!
- Use a clear font such as Arial or Tahoma and a minimum 11 point font. Remember that some more rare fonts may not be able to be read on the computer of the person you send it to.
- Keep it to a maximum of 2 sides of A4. Employers will quickly get bored if they have to read much more than that.
- Include your address and contact details. Under the Age Discrimination Laws, you are not required to give your age and neither are you required to give information on your nationality or marital status. Employers should be able to make a decision about your skills and abilities without this information.
- Adjust your CV depending on the job to which you’re applying. Try to include information on your skills, experience and background which will demonstrate to an employer that you have what they’re looking for. A “one size fits all” CV is not an effective strategy when job hunting!
- Check your spelling and grammar. If you have any doubts, ask a friend to check it too. Remember, computer spell checks are useful but should not be relied upon to “sense check” too.
- Use good quality paper (at least 100 gsm) if submitting a CV through the post. And remember, the envelope should be as neatly presented as the CV itself. You never know who might open it.
DON’T – What to avoid when writing a CV
- Use inappropriate email contact details. Many graduates will continue to use personal email contact details they have had for years when it didn’t matter that they were . If your email address looks dodgy, get another one, ideally based on your name that you use purely for job hunting.
- Use template CV writing tools. If you use one of these, your CV has the potential of looking like everybody else’s! Take some time and structure your CV yourself. That way, you have more chance that it will look different from the rest and stand out.
- Cram your CV with too many large blocks of writing. Your mission is to make your potential employer’s job at reading your CV as easy as possible.
- Lie on your CV. If you got a 2:2 in your degree but claim you gained a first, don’t be surprised if you’re then asked to prove it on receiving a job offer. Employers have every right to withdraw a job offer if you’re found to be falsely representing yourself.