How to write a great CV

How important is your CV and what sections to include?

Our first advice to our applicants looking for work is to make sure their CV is as best as it can be. 

There is a lot of competition out there at the moment and your CV is the first thing recruiters and potential employers will see about you. 

Based on that they will make a decision to either invite you for that job interview or not. 

So it is worth spending time and effort on the content and presentation to make a good first impression. 

It should be tailored specifically to help you get the job you are applying for so make sure to include all your relevant work experience, qualifications and skills.

It should be clear and simple with a great structure and no longer than two pages. The first page is the most important so it’s key to get it right at the beginning with really important information on your front page. 

PERSONAL DETAILS: include your name and address, a phone number, and your email address. You may also add your picture, nationality, gender and date of birth if you wish, but they are not obligatory. 

PERSONAL PROFILE: This should be a short paragraph of about 4 or 5 lines. It needs to summarise three key things; your experience, your key achievements to date and your personal qualities. 

Make sure you say something original and memorable about yourself which makes you great at your job and avoid clichés such as dynamic, punctual and good communicator. 

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Start with your most recent employer first, start and end date, job title, number and ages of the children when you started, type of a contract e.g. live in or live out, full time or part time and bullet point your duties and responsibilities. 

Include the brief reason for leaving each position. This is particularly important if you had short term jobs. If employers are looking for someone to commit to their job they will also look at how long you’ve stayed in each of your roles so be prepared to talk about it. 

In this section, you can just list the duties you had at the particular job from the moment you started in the morning until you finished. For example: 

·      Preparing breakfast, changing nappies, dressing children 

·      School and nursery drop off 

·      Playing with the baby, taking him to the park, 

·      Going to day centres and libraries 

·      Arranging play dates with other nannies and parents

·      Cooking lunch

And so on, listing all your particular duties at each job. 

This is generally where any decision about calling you to an interview will be made, ensure it is complete and up to date and clear representation of what you did at each job. So don’t miss out important bits. 

For example if were working as a mother’s helper then say: 

·      Working as a team with the mum

If you were working part time you can say: 

·      When I arrived at 1pm I started by tidying up children’s rooms and sorting their laundry. 

If you had any gaps in your employment for any reason it is good to mention this in your CV. 

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS: 

Write a list of your school, college and/or university qualifications with the names of the awarding bodies and your grades. 

INTERESTS: 

This is optional but gives you a chance to say about your hobbies but keep it brief. 

At the end you can add: References available on request.