Writing your Perfect CV

Grania Sweeting provides some great advice for writing your perfect event CV.

So important to make your impact at the very start before you have been called for interview.

General Guidelines

No CV is perfect all of the time, and different experts will have different views on what constitutes the ‘perfect’ CV, so keep an open mind.

A CV is a living document: it will constantly need tweaking so you can highlight relevant skills according to the particular role that you’re applying for.

Get it checked by someone else and pay attention to grammar and spelling.

Be honest – don’t fabricate or bend the truth!

Don’t forget to put your name/CV/date as a footer for each page.

Format

Keep the CV to two pages – no longer, otherwise it is unlikely to be read.

Use good quality paper if you are mailing a hard copy of your CV.

Use a font like Arial – and no font should be smaller than 11 point in size.

Use bullet points and relevant sub-headings as they are easier to read.

Ensure that any white space is evenly distributed on the page.

Don’t use long words or sentences and try to avoid using the third party or “I”.

Make sure the company, job title and dates are clear.

Don’t include photos and if you have to use colour, keep it to a minimum.

Content

Start with your name and contact details at the top (and clearly written).

Then write your personal profile: this should be 4-6 lines long, summarising your key attributes and your career objective(s). Keep it concise & avoid generic statements.

Next comes your employment history or work experience: start with the most recent and work back – and leave no gaps in your history (if you’ve been travelling, say so).

Include the month and year of time spent in each job or course of study.

Include specific examples where possible i.e. client, size of events, budget, venue.

Use “doing” or “action” words words to add impact.

Only go back 10 years in terms of employment history (applies to mature students): more than that is irrelevant.

Then add qualifications and education using date, college name and merit awarded.

If you have space, list 3 – 4 key achievements and other skills not mentioned in your personal profile (with examples) e.g. IT literate, foreign languages etc.

Unless you have an unusual or highly regarded ‘interest’ leave out this category.

Finally include two references (if you have space); otherwise simply put “references available upon request”. An academic and a work reference would be preferable.