How to write a CV

A great place to start building your CV is using a template. Steer clear of fancy fonts, inane graphics and colours unless you're a graphic designer or someone who needs to prove their creative ability. Your CV will only end up looking like a GCSE school project.

Instead, stick to a clean, simple layout in a format that your prospective employer will be expecting.

Here are some free CV templates you can download and adapt using a word processor such as Microsoft Word.

A standard CV will have most of the following sections:

• Name and personal / contact information


• Title/summary and objective


• Work experience


• Qualifications


• Professional memberships / accreditation / honours / awards


• Skills


• Languages


• Interests and hobbies


• References and availability

A CV for a doctor / clinical position may also have a section for 'publications' and 'presentations'.

Looking at the list of 'ingredients' for your CV above, we'll go into each section a little bit more.

Name and personal / contact information : include your name, address, phone number, email, whether or not you have a full driving licence and your own car (if relevant), and if your gender isn't really obvious from your name, put your gender in too.

Title/summary and objective : sum yourself up in one line and then write a couple of lines about what you want. For example, my title could be "Commercial property solicitor with 6 years PQE" and my summary could be "I am an experienced solicitor with a busy caseload, mainly commercial property but some planning cases. I am looking to relocate to the East Midlands and seeking a position in a firm with partnership potential in the near future."

Work experience : list your work experience, most recent first. Give your job title, dates worked and company where worked. Briefly describe your duties (a little more detail on your most recent or most relevant role) and list any key achievements. These should be specific and verifiable. If there are genuine reasons for leaving a position, state them, especially if you've moved around quite a lot.

Qualifications : list these with the most recent first. Give the qualification, institution where you studied, dates and grade achieved. Unless you're a bit short of things to put in your CV, it's not usually necessary to list all your GCSE and A level subjects, unless there's anything of particular note, or unless the job description makes specific mention to certain subjects being required.

Professional memberships / accreditation / honours / awards : list any, with the date you joined - or delete this section if not applicable.

Skills : this section is for hard skills and any particularly noteworthy soft skills - see the advice below on these.

Languages : list any you can speak with your level of fluency. If it's just English and you're applying for a job in a country where English is the first language, delete this section.

Interests and hobbies : offer a select few hobbies and interests, preferably those that are relevant in some way to the job. Fitness/sport interests are also worth noting as it shows you're likely to be a healthy employee. Don't include anything that may lead your employer to jump to negative conclusions about you, such as 'partying' 'socialising' and 'drinking'.

References and availability : offer two references - one is usually your most recent employment. If you haven't yet spoken to the referees, write 'References available on request'. State your availability, e.g. immediate, 2 weeks, 4 weeks etc.

Although it's good to include a list of hard skills anyway if you have the room, you might need to make this more comprehensive if your CV is a bit lacking in other areas. Here are some ideas for valuable hard skills (include a competency level such as 'basic' 'intermediate' or 'advanced'):

• Use of word processing software such as Microsoft Word


• Use of popular spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel


• Use of database software such as Microsoft Access


• Use of presentation software such as Microsoft Powerpoint


• Dictation


• Typing/Audio typing


• Taking minutes


• Familiarity with technical language (useful for, say, a medical secretary)


• Bookkeeping


• Accounting


• Shorthand


• Copywriting (e.g. for websites or print)


• Ability to write press releases


• Programming (list which languages)


• Social bookmarking


• Link building


• Proofreading/editing


• Graphic design


• Use of Adobe software e.g. Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign


• Familiarity with particular phone systems


• Event management


• Creating internal newsletters


• Maintaining company intranet


• Managing company social media profiles

The hard skills you list should be those which you've demonstrated in an education or work environment. So don't just look through the list and say 'Yeah I can do that!'. You may need to provide examples of projects or achievements that demonstrate these skills to prospective employers.

Soft skills are very important to employers - these are skills such as communication, leadership and motivation. Sadly, most people use these words freely on their CV without any evidence that they are true. It's important to demonstrate any soft skills you have on your CV but this must be done by reference to your roles and experience. For example. your work as part of a team can demonstrate skills of communication and facilitation as you need to deal with your workmates and other stakeholders. Having good interpersonal skills is one way to make sure that you will be able to meet the needs and expectations of project stakeholders through the right communication and attitude.

Here is a useful list of soft skills to consider - remember, you need to weave these into your experience on your CV, giving practical examples of them rather than littering them throughout your CV as buzz words that only serve to irritate and distract:

• Communication (verbal, non-verbal, written, and interpersonal)


• Creativity and innovation


• Facilitation (coordination, resolution)


• Handling difficult people and situations


• Influence/persuasion


• Interviewing


• Learning


• Management and leadership - make sure you know the difference. Very briefly, management is often about setting direction and strategy whereas leadership is about communicating, inspiring and driving people forward.


• Mentoring/coaching - again make sure you appreciate the difference.


• Negotiation


• Networking (online and offline)


• Organising and multitasking


• Presentation (demeanour, appearance, the way you engage with others)


• Selling (goods, services, ideas, talents, organisational change)


• Teamwork

Are you wondering how the above quote applies to job hunting? The answer is simple. It's easy to gain brownie points with your prospective employer by offering some ideas that relate to their business. Don't give away too much in your application - just enough to get them interested and get you a foot in the door. You can expand on your ideas at the interview (more job interview tips).

Practical ideas that show you're a generator and make you stand out from others. For example, if you're applying for a business or marketing role, suggest one or two promotions in your covering letter that your prospective employer could try to generate awareness or new business. Make sure you've thoroughly researched your employer's business and marketplace first, and thought your ideas through in terms of how they would work and the likely cost/return.

When you're applying for a job in a different country, pay special attention to what is expected of your application. Failing to do this means you're highlighting to an employer that, although you would like to work in that culture, you have not taken the time to find out what is appropriate or, for some reason, wish to ignore the rules. Follow these tips to help you succeed with international job applications:

• Research job applications in your target country carefully, asking locals for advice where possible. There are many cultural differences. For example, different countries use different terms to describe the specific aspects of what your CV should contain. Cover letters are called "letters of interest" in some countries and "motivation letters" in others. Another example is that it is not appropriate to attach photographs to resumes in the United States, and if you include one, the employer is required to dispose of it.


• Education requirements differ country to country. In almost every case of cross- border job hunting, merely stating the title of your degree would not necessarily be an adequate description. The reader still might not have a clear understanding of what topics you studied or for how many years (i.e., in some countries, a university degree can be obtained in three years and in other countries it takes five years to receive a degree). Provide your prospective employer with details about your studies and any related projects and experience - this is especially important if you are a recent graduate and depending heavily on your educational background to get a job, . The general rule is that educational background becomes strictly a line item on your resume (i.e., no further details needed) once you have five or more years of professional experience.


• If you have specific training, education, or expertise, use industry-accepted terminology in your description. Use language and terms that any professional in your field would understand, no matter where in the world he or she lives.


• Try to find out whether it is usual in your target country to write your CV in chronological or reverse chronological order. Chronological order means to start by listing your first or oldest work experience. Reverse chronological order means to start by listing your current or most recent experience first. Most countries have definite preferences about which format is more acceptable. If you can find no specific guidelines, the general preference is that a CV be written in a reverse chronological format.


• If you are submitting your CV in English, try to find out find out if the recipient uses British English or American English. There are numerous variations between the two versions, both for spellings and phrases. A reader who is unfamiliar with the variations just presumes that the resume contains typos. Most European companies use British English, though most United States companies - no matter where they are based in the world-use American English. Almost every computer today provides you with both options.


• Double-check the correct title, gender, and spelling of the name of the recipient of your CV. Don't assume their gender - for example, in the United States, "Jan" is usually a woman's name whereas it is a man's name in Europe.


• If you can, get someone who is a native speaker of the language in which your CV is written to review your document. CVs written by non-native- language speakers tend to include terms which, though correct in the exact translation, are never used on an everyday basis. For example, sometimes foreign CVs submitted to U.S. employers describe university/college education as "tertiary" education. Although "tertiary" is literally correct, it is a term that is almost never used in theStates. One goal of your CV is to show your familiarity with the culture by using culturally appropriate language. Anything else just highlights that you may not be a candidate who can hit the ground running.

These tips were adapted from an excellent article "How To Write a Global Resume/CV (Give the World a Twirl)" by Mary Anne Thompson.

• Don't make your CV too long - employers expect no more than a couple of pages. The exception is professional CVs for positions such as surgeon or doctor, where you'll include publications and presentations as a section.


• Do include any registration numbers that are relevant in your personal details section (or your 'professional memberships' section if appropriate)


• Do use a nice clean template such as one of these CV templates rather than anything overly fancy and graphical.


• If your personal email address is controversial (largeboobs@aol.com for example), set up a new gmail address that uses your name instead, and give this in your contact info. Make sure you apply using the new address too!


• Never write in the third person (e.g. "Annabel has demonstrated great leadership skills"). It's pretentious.


• Don't include fluff (e.g. "James has demonstrated strong motivational skills"!!) - 'soft skills' should be supported by evidence and examples.


• Don't include a photo unless it's relevant to the nature of the job (e.g. a model). It's also not permitted in some countries (see below on applying for jobs internationally).


• Spell check your CV, read it out loud and get someone who knows their stuff to read over your CV for you.

Happy job hunting!