CV Advice
Introduction
Curriculum Vitae literally means "direction of life" and is your first opportunity to impress a potential employer.
When a vacancy is advertised a candidate specification is created, identifying the skills and experience required for the role. During the selection process the CVs will be reviewed to see how closely they match the person specification, in an attempt to find the most suitable candidate possible.
These days agencies and employers are receiving hundreds of CVs for each role so it is vital that your CV and covering letter stand out from the crowd.
A well written CV will be something that paints a picture of you, whilst detailing achievements and future aspirations to get you that all important interview.
The Format
We find that the use of our Cv builder - Primetime innovate cv is the most effective way to compile a cv .the ease of use and professional appearance is something that clients comment upon
Alternatively- MS office has a number of very good templates to use, pick one and write your CV around that.
Choose an attractive style, keep it simple, avoid boxes, graphics and photos.
Get your fonts right (Tahoma and Verdana are the best when you email your CV to recruiters and you can use 9.5 point size to give yourself space)
Limit yourself to a maximum of two pages
Preparation
Before starting to write your CV, take out a clean sheet of paper and ask yourself:
What do I want them to know about me?
What makes me an attractive proposition?
Example: I want to tell them that I am such a good Home Manager, that the homes I have been in charge of have provided exceptional care services and this has been proven by the CQC ratings and my staff retention levels.
Example: . I want to tell them that I am a very experienced Nurse that has worked within both private and public services and have been in charge of a staff team that has provided exceptional care. Through my day to day work I assisted in an improved CQC rating.
At this stage, don't worry about the words just the messages that would impress someone who might recruit you.
Forget about your personality: do not tell them you are enthusiastic, tenacious, good at teamwork. Paint a picture to shows these.
Then starting writing your CV around this message.
Writing your CV
The Basics
You have 10-15 seconds to impress the reader, it is important to sell yourself using positive language that emphasises your key skills, experience and achievements.
Be precise, be concise and entice
Short snappy sentences are easy to read and grab attention
If you think of a recruitment consultant writing a very concise report about you then you wont go far wrong
Include information that is consistent with the seniority of role you are applying for, to create interest in you as a candidate
Decide where to place your emphasis: if you are recently out of college / university it could be knowledge and education; it could be results; it could be intangibles such as changing organisational culture - this depends on what stage you are in life and what type of professional roles you have had
Remove the personalisation such as "I", "my", "our" and "we" and write like a journalist in your approach.
Opening statement
Prioritise your information so that the most important information comes first and not trivia about where you live, how old you are and what schools you went to. Far better to create a brief sketch of yourself that positions you at the right level so that the reader knows at once that you are a relevant candidate for the job.
Now take the message you decided on earlier and mould it into recruitment language and substantiate it.
Example:
An experienced Home Manager - Registered General Nurse who has achieved NVQ 4 and RMA. Stable work history with five years management experience in current position.
Work History
- When you come to describing your work history, you are looking to build a story of your career in which the strongest, most recent experience has priority and the rest of the story goes back in time without repeating the minor roles over and over.
- Dates and employment should be easily found and consistent.
- Lead with achievements, use active verbs and positive language.
- Follow up all claims with proven examples, be quantitative as well as qualitative.
- Include awards or recognition received for work well done, together with professional memberships and relevant training.
- Ensure every line sells you at your best.
- Prioritise relevant content.
- Take ownership and use words such as Determined, Implemented, Created, Devised, Coordinated, Conceived.
- Include figures i.e. number of staff you managed or budget size and achievements against targets or budgets.
- Focus on what you have to offer the employer rather than listing what you have done.
- Ensure that you write about your achievements. Don't write about things you are not so good at - it might be unwise to mention things that could count against you when the employer might not have considered them anyway!
Example:
ABC Care Home. 3/07 - Present
Home Manager
- Manager of an 80 bed elderly nursing home with full budget responsibility. (Add in actual vs budget achievements)
- Consistent work history in care home management and achieved high CQC ratings across them all. (Add in example of ratings)
- Then you would go on to describe the actual roles and evolution of roles with this employer in slightly more detail but not too many more bullet points.
Points to remember
- don't date your CV.
- don't put your irrelevant personal details first i.e. date of birth and nationality.
- don't include salary.
- don't include reasons for leaving.
- don't include negative or irrelevant information.
- don't embellish the truth
- don't put education first if it could be years out of date.
- don't allocate the same space to all positions, prioritise the content.
- don't quote unsubstantiated superlatives.
- don't use a jokey email address, keep it professional and just use your name e.g. Joebloggs@hotmail.co.uk
Checking and Rechecking
Always check and double-check your CV for spelling errors and punctuation. Think about the employer's likely reaction if they feel you have not even considered it important enough to check your CV properly.
Try your CV out on friends, have at least one person proof-read it; there is no room for error and spell-checkers do not find every mistake.
