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Compiling a CV

What should a CV be?
The CV is a personal marketing tool presenting your qualifications, skills and attributes to the employer in a way that demonstrates your suitability for the job. As well as providing an insight into your previous qualifications and experience, it should show the employer the skills and qualities you have that will match the role being applied for. Additionally, it should act as a guide to where your aspirations lie for the future. In compiling your CV you have one objective only - to get an interview in order to get the job.

A CV must be accurate, interesting and up-to-date. It must be presentable so that it makes the best impression possible and gets noticed by the right people. It should be relevant - targeted to the needs of each particular position. This means it should be reviewed and, if necessary, revised rather than re-cycled repeatedly for multi-purpose use. Furthermore, your skills and experience are evolving all the time and you need to keep making the most of these.

Preparing to compile the CV
You need to bring together:
" details of your qualifications - dates, grades, course options covered, etc;
" details of the job itself - job description;
" details of the qualifications and skills required - person specification;
" evidence from your personal profile that matches the employers' criteria. This information will help you to prioritise the detail that should be included in your CV.
Style and layout
The CV must be accurate, brief and clear. The layout and style should be neat and consistent with separate sections of the CV for particular topics. Aim to convey your skills and achievements as positively as possible. Bullet points are often a useful way of achieving an impact; they present your main selling points concisely.