Our Guardian CV Clinic
 Dynamic CVs was invited by the Guardian newspaper to conduct their first CV Clinic. This involved analysing the CV of a student studying English and French and suggesting ways in which she could improve her chances of success. There are many ways of writing a successful CV. Different employers are impressed by different things. However, there are fundamentals: a CV is a self-marketing document. It should be:  aimed purely at persuading an employer to invite you for interview; a concise, easy-to-read summary of what you can offer - your capabilities, experience and achievements.Natalie's CV is put together neatly. However, a potential employer would find difficulty in interpreting what she has to offer, and, on this basis alone, the CV would probably hit the junk pile. The first page merely lists part-time/vacation jobs (1) without even specifying their nature. 
It is not until reaching page 2 that the reader even knows that Natalie is an undergraduate. More than half the space on the CV is taken up with dead information (e.g. addresses) (2) that has the added problem of making it difficult to pick out what relevant information there is. I would advise that Natalie restructures her CV. For most people, Education/Qualifications (3) should be on page 2. However, for an undergraduate, Education is usually the most important thing on offer and it needs to be on Page 1. Also on page 1, there should be a summary of the skills, knowledge, capabilities and experience that she has to offer, and perhaps a brief statement of her goals. This should take the form of a Profile. If Natalie knows her preferred career path, this profile should reflect it. The profile is not a wish list: each skill etc should be backed up, either in the profile or in the work/other experience that follows. It should be punchy and dynamic: the prose should be tight; use of bullets can often help with this. The work experience (4) should be laid out more clearly, with headings of company name, dates and job title. In specifying duties (5), bear in mind those that facilitated the development of useful skills; again, using bullets for the duties is useful for clarity. More could be made of volunteer experience/awards/leisure interests (6) by specifying the skills developed. Natalie comments: 'The advice is good. Before now, I . . . didn't know how to properly sell myself as an employee. The way they described my CV as a self-marketing tool really opened my eyes to the purpose of it. A personal statement does seem a good way to open a CV. It's good to know that I shouldn't just list my work experience, that I have to make it relevant.' |