How to update a CV from Evolution: Tips for 2018
What is a Curriculum vitae?
Your CV, short for curriculum vitae, is your personal marketing document used to sell yourself to future employers. This should tell them about you, your professional history and your skills, abilities and achievements. Finally, it should highlight why you’re the best person for the job. A CV is required when applying for a job. In addition to your CV, employers may also require a cover letter and a completed full application form.
What to include in your CV for the new year of 2018?
While the structure of a CV is quite flexible, bending to your unique skill set and experiences, there are specific sections that employers expect to see on your CV.
Here are some examples on what you could include to your CV:
Name, professional title and contact details
The first part of your CV, positioned at the top of the page, should contain your name, professional title and contact details. You shouldn’t put your title of your CV with ‘curriculum vitae’ or ‘CV’ as it’s a waste of valuable space. Treat it with your name as the title instead.
When it comes to the contact details, email address and phone number(s) they are essential that they are your updated. Once upon a time, it was normal to include your full address on your CV. Today, you simply need to list your town and county.
If you would like, you can also include a link to your LinkedIn profile in this section – but only if it’s up to date!
Personal profile
A personal profile, which is also known as a personal statement, career objective and professional profile. This is one of the most important sectors of your CV. It’s just a simple short paragraph that sits underneath the name and contact details giving potential employers an overview of who you are and what you’re all about.
You should tailor your profile to every job that you apply for, highlighting the specific qualities that match you to that role. Try and aim to keep your personal statement short and sweet, and no longer than a couple sentences. To make the most of specific section, you should try to address the following:
- Who are you?
- What can you offer to the company?
- What are your career goals?
Experience and employment history
Your employment history section gives you the chance to outline your previous jobs, internships and work experience.
List your experience in reverse chronological order as your recent role is the most relevant to the employer.
When listing each individual position of employment, state the job title, the employer, the dates you worked and a line that summarises the role up. Then bullet point your key responsibilities, skills and achievements, and boost each point with powerful verbs and figures to support each claim and showcase your impact to that business.
Education and qualifications
Like your experience section, your education should be listed in the reverse chronological order. Include the name of the organisations and the dates you were there, followed by the qualifications and grades you have achieved. If you have a degree, you could possibly list a few of the most relevant modules, assignments or projects underneath.
Additional sections
There is a range of additional sections that could strengthen your CV and highlight your skills to secure the job you are applying for. Here are just a few you can include:
Key skills: If you’re writing a purposeful CV, or have some abilities you want to show off to the employer straightaway, insert a key skills section underneath your personal profile. This should aim to detail four to five abilities at the very most.
Hobbies and interests: If you feel that your CV is lacking, you can lift your document by injecting your hobbies and interests section at the end. Be careful though; avoid listing hobbies that don’t add value to your CV or are run-of-the-mill, like reading. Draw on interests that make you stand out or are relevant to the job role that you are applying for.
References: Like including an address to your CV, adding your referees to the end of your CV is no longer consistent. You can include a line that reads ‘references available on request’, but if you don’t have room, it’s acceptable to just remove it altogether.
Get your CV right from the kick-off, and you may well find a job more quickly. Your CV is the chance to make a great first impression and secure yourself an interview, so follow this 2018 guide and then upload your CV to apply for your next job. Good luck!