The purpose of a CV is to demonstrate to potential employers who you are, what skills you have, and why you would be the best fit for their vacancy. However, as a recruitment agency, we review hundreds of CVs every day and often see candidates making the same errors.

This blog has been designed to provide you with some advice on how to write a great CV that will stand out from the crowd.

Ensure the format of the CV is clear and precise

Making sure your CV is formatted clearly, written in a professional manner and is easy to understand is the most important thing to consider when writing your CV.

The best format to use would be the following:

1. Personal details – include your name, email address, telephone number and first part of the postcode at the very top of your CV
2. Personal statement – include a sentence or two (maximum) clearly saying who you are and what you are looking for (EG: An ambitious English graduate with 2 years experience of working within luxury retail, seeking an administrative opportunity within the Oxford area)
3. Work experience – lay this out in chronological order starting with your most recent role, ensure you include dates of employment for every role and quantifiable bullet points to outline your key duties and achievements for each relevant role
4. Education – include specific dates of education and be selective, if you are educated to a degree level it will be less relevant to include all of your GCSE grades for example
5. Hobbies – this section can be so important in some cases, for example as a recent graduate looking for a role in digital marketing who only has customer service work experience you could use this section to explain relevant extra-curricular experience/activities

Here is a great example: CV Template!

Be quantifiable and use key words!

In order for recruiters to find your CV, it is crucial that you use keywords. The best words to use are those that are relevant to your experience and ability to do the job so be sure to consider what skills are in relevant and look through related job descriptions and adverts to mimic commonly used phrases.

We can also learn a lot from sales people! Whilst it would be easy to say that you answer the phone at work, try to be more numbers focused. How many phones calls do you take per day? If you answer emails, how many email inboxes do you monitor?

Make sure you proof read!

Proof reading your CV before sending it out to potential employers or posting it on job boards is absolutely essential! Spelling mistakes, typos and bad grammar could seriously impact your chances of landing your next job.

Make sure to read, read and read again, or even ask a family member or friend for some help. This way you will ensure that your CV shows off the best, polished and professional version of yourself!

Still need help?

If you’re looking for some more tips and tricks when writing a CV, please do feel free to get in touch with us at jobs@thompsonandterry.co.uk, or check out other pages on our website for more information!