Help me write an excellent CV

[GraciousPiglet]

I need some top tips. Haven't written an actual CV for about 10 years now as I've been a teacher and teachers don't tend to use CVs.

Prior to that I only ever really wrote one to get me my first job - in marketing. I then just didn't really need one when I moved jobs during the 6 years I was in marketing.

I now want to leave teaching behind me and get another job. But I need to write a killer CV.

Top tips please!!!

Name CV as headline.
A profile that describes your professional personality and values in 4-5 lines.
Work history (newest to oldest) include bullets with key achievements (or if they are relevant to the job youre applying for responsibilities)
Education newest to oldest.
If you have linkedin thenput a link to your profile with your contacts.
Languages if relevant
IT skills/key skills if relevant

Make it look nice. Word has some decent templates. So does canva.com. Use the same template for applications so they match.

Any good?

Yes! Thank you!!

Is it ever worth paying a professional to do your CV for you?

I've just redone mine - the free templates on word are really good for nice clear formatting. I used bits from my 2 favourites together and I think it looks really "polished" now.

I have gone for a skills based CV with education at the top, then skills (lots of specific software), then experience at the bottom (as its all pretty standard). I think skills based CVs are recommended for career changers.

Watching with interest as am in same boat! It's a bit hard to know where to start, isnt it?!

Do you know exactly what kind of job/industry you want to be in?

I was told to remember that it is a starting CV. Needs to be tailored for each job that you apply for to highlight the things they want.

Don’t say it’s a cv in the headline
Everyone knows what it is

Do you know what job you want? Because you need to tailor to that

Ive always thought it should be

• name

-Contact details

-A blurb about yourself (relevant stuff, not your love of chocolate and long walks on the beach)
-Then bullet point your top/relevant skills (communication, working with children, writing reports - that sort of thing) as well as any things you need to include like relevant industry qualifications/certificates or anything that you need

• Then you list your jobs and the skills you obtained from that role or key relevant achievements

Listing the most important skills/achievements first for each role

I would personally put education last, it’s presumed I have GCSEs, a levels and a degree in my job, so it’s irrelevant, but if it’s relevant in yours, or you have particularly interesting and relevant qualifications then you may want to list these above your job

Good luck!

I went to a free government coaching session about writing and evaluating CV's.

One thing the guy said was "treat it like getting a date off tinder. The opening paragraph wants to snare the reader's attention. It makes them want to consider taking you on a date (interview). You then need to prove what you have said further down your page.

He got me to do a quick 5 minute personality test. From this it lists qualities that you excel in. It is hard to write positive points about yourself but doing this tests makes it easier.

icould.com/buzz-quiz/

It is a good idea to get independent advise on your CV. My friend applied for a few jobs through an agency. The agency offered to rewrite her CV for a fee.

Good luck x

@Msfoxy17 nope I haven't a clue! I have seen lots of jobs I'd 'like' but they are all quite wildly different so I'm just not sure what to do really.

Amazing advice thanks everyone!!!

I did a skills based one last time I was looking. Found it really easy to tailor to specific jobs, especially if the actual relevant experience was a couple of roles back because I could pull it to the top.
Lets you pull out transferable skills or group them too so I had technical skills, people management, change management, made it easy for the recruiter to see what I offered. Then had two or three lines for each company so they could see where I had gained the experience, how long I was there etc.
Not all recruiters like them though so I also had a conventional version. (Skills based one got me my current job).

@GraciousPiglet - best of luck with it! I've got my first draft I did over a week ago now and going to take some of the above consideration into account and get it finished in next week. I hope! I've never dine a skills based one but going to give that a try.

Once you have a version you are happy with be prepared to edit it slightly for every application.
I would always edit mine to match the advert/offering by matching the key attributes or shifting the relevant skills to the top of the bullet points etc.

same with the cover letter, make a draft the situation for individual application.
When you save these make sure you name the file correctly so if you go in for an interview you can print and take the correct one with you.
I always put my contact details in the footer so it's on every page.

Sorry that should say make a draft then edit for each application. Fat thumbs tonight!

Never more than two sides. Don't include hobbies etc. unless they're useful for something to do with work.

All recruiters/hiring managers like different things but tailoring your cv to the job advert will give you the best chance to highlight your suitability for job. Hobbies - hated the virtue signalling volunteering type...it felt cheap but otherwise I'm neutral on hobbies - if your tight for space they should be the thing to trim.
Professional CVs are loved by marketing people so might be worth it for that kind of job but otherwise probably not worth it - I was looking for content and clear presentation.

There's no one CV that fits all. It should be adjusted for each application.