Making a CV - tips, websites etc?

What sort of jobs are you looking for?

My tips (and I have recruited many people too, mainly in sales):
  • Try to keep to 2 pages
  • Don't put a photo on (unless applying to a German based company as that is whats expected)
  • Start with bullet points on key experience and strengths - keep it relevant and as factual as possible. Try and avoid the clichés like 'good IT skills', try to put something more tangible in (I.e Good knowledge of Microsoft application, CRM, Sage and XYZ software)
  • Don't waffle!
  • Use a template by all means to make it look neat
  • Highlight achievements in roles, rather than just describing what you did
As a basic example one of my jobs on my CV would look like this:

Sales Manager XYZ Co Sep 15 - Present
Responsible for £2m pa in sales for a widget making company covering East
Anglia, Primary role was to manage a team of 6 ensuring they were motivated,
trained, and achieving set KPIs and financial targets, dealing with performance
as appropriate. Also managed 10 key accounts worth £900k.
  • Exceeded last years target of £2m (£2.1m achieved)
  • YOY profit growth of 18%
  • Top branch out of 11 for software sales
  • Created a new recruitment plan which led to better staff retention
  • Passed my ILM Qualification
  • Team were top out of 11 for the behaviours and non financial KPIs
Profile could be:
  • Over 20 years sales experience, with 10 managing sales teams
  • Experienced in managing remote & internal teams of 6-14 people
  • Sector knowledge includes pharma, FMCG, software, media
  • Proven ability to motivate underperforming teams with low morale
  • Use a range of tools and tactics to improve behaviours, skills and results of the team through coaching
  • Worked on over 50 tenders with a success rate of 40%
Bit rough and ready but just to give you a flavour of making it mean something to the person reading. Often CVs will get scanned in less than a minute so it needs to be clear and easy to read and not too crowded. Obvously if you are going for more of a role which qualifications are important then you would need a section which goes into more detail.
 
Simon has covered this very well. The only thing I'd add is to write clearly (don't use complex sentences etc); and check grammar/spelling carefully. Ask someone else to proof read for you too.
 
MartynK said:
Simon has covered this very well. The only thing I'd add is to write clearly (don't use complex sentences etc); and check grammar/spelling carefully. Ask someone else to proof read for you too.
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Good point, its easy to become blind to what write and then to read what you think it should be!

Its always good to have a few variants of CVs too depending on the roles you are looking at, I have one that focuses on more new business that account management and vice-versa plus a couple of others highlighting different things so it is most relevant to the role I am applying for.

You also need a good cover letter to include, same things, keep it clear and conscise, focus on outcomes/results/achievements and repeat the language they put the in brief, as well as making sure you cover off the main points they are looking for (candidates must have....)
 
Good advice here tbh.
I'd add....tailor your CV specifically to the position you're applying for every time.
Avoid key words/phrases which have been done to death over the years:
Highly motivated.
Team player.
Hard working.
Results driven.
Etc.
 
Contact a CV Specylist and pay a few quid for some templates !
 
What's a CV specialist?
(Assuming that's what was meant.)
 
Mr Bump said:
someone who does CV's Duhhhhhhh
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Thank you.
It must be so nice to be so.....

....nope, can't say it....

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to raise s CV.
 
viv1969 said:
Thank you.
It must be so nice to be so.....

....nope, can't say it....

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to raise s CV.
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have you seen how many applicants there can be for one job nowadays?

paying to have someone to help you with a CV is money very well spent.

duhhhhhhh
 
Mr Bump said:
have you seen how many applicants there can be for one job nowadays?

paying to have someone to help you with a CV is money very well spent.

duhhhhhhh
Click to expand...

Actually yes.
Last July I found myself looking for a position which I got quickly.
Turns out I didn't like it, so on may 1st this year I started to look for another.

I started my current job on may 8th.

So, did I need a "professional" CV assistant?
No.
 
viv1969 said:
Actually yes.
Last July I found myself looking for a position which I got quickly.
Turns out I didn't like it, so on may 1st this year I started to look for another.

I started my current job on may 8th.

So, did I need a "professional" CV assistant?
No.
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whatever
 
you will get all sorts of advice here, meaning well, but actually useless if you are not seeking work in the specific field that those offering advice have experience

cv specialists etc make money not from helping you, but keeping up to date with fashions and trends



unfortunately, someone is already using this thread to practice her expertise in legal tea making by picking an argument. pathetic
 
Another good idea for your CV, is the appropriate use of capitalisation and sentence structure.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm hoping that I can get enough onto the CV to get an interview ( I'm much better in person than on paper.....)

I also need to try and convince work to cut my 9 week notice period down a bit which could be fun.
 
EspressoJunkie said:
Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm hoping that I can get enough onto the CV to get an interview ( I'm much better in person than on paper.....)

I also need to try and convince work to cut my 9 week notice period down a bit which could be fun.
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Best of luck to you! :-)
 
If you have any accumulated holiday entitlement, use that at the end of the employment period to effectively cut a few days (or more!) off it.
 
EspressoJunkie said:
Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm hoping that I can get enough onto the CV to get an interview ( I'm much better in person than on paper.....)

I also need to try and convince work to cut my 9 week notice period down a bit which could be fun.
Click to expand...

They can cut that, but you would not be paid for it. You could arrange a meeting and request that they look at say letting you go after 4 weeks. I did that at a previous place - 3 month period and left after around a month, however I don't think it went down too well with my boss and I would say that should I try to go back there I doubt I would be able to.
 
cambsno said:
They can cut that, but you would not be paid for it. You could arrange a meeting and request that they look at say letting you go after 4 weeks. I did that at a previous place - 3 month period and left after around a month, however I don't think it went down too well with my boss and I would say that should I try to go back there I doubt I would be able to.
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I did the same from a previous position. It helped lots I'd planned for my successor
 
Be aware that a lot of the reviewing of cv's is automated and looks for keywords within your CV. E.g. If you work in IT, ensure that you mention all technologies, applications, tools, methodologies, languages etc. This can be done by having a section at the end titled 'skills' and listing them, along with your experience in them.
 
nickEnackEnoo said:
unfortunately, someone is already using this thread to practice her expertise in legal tea making by picking an argument. pathetic
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boyfalldown said:
Wtf is 'legal tea'?
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Tea Act of 1773 (13 Geo 3 c 44) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The principal objective was to reduce the massive amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the struggling company survive.A related objective was to undercut the price of illegal tea.

The Act,( the Townshend tax) which received the royal assent on May 10, 1773, contained the following provisions:
The Company was eligible to be granted licence to export tea to North America.

So my best guess would be anything after 1773?

:D
 
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So OP what happened?
 
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