CV ADVICE

Employers in the UK are very particular about what makes a good CV but by following a few golden rules you can significantly increase your chances of being invited for interview. To improve your chances of getting the jobs you want, we have partnered with CVwriting.net, the webs leading CV provider.

CVwriting.net is a comprehensive online tool that allows you to create your perfect UK CV, making it easy for potential employers to see your relevant skills by presenting them in a contemporary format that is clear and concise and immediately sets you apart from the competition. Easy to use and available in all the popular recruitment formats, our CV builder and accompanying guide is aimed specifically at the English speaking employment market and takes the guesswork out of writing an effective CV.

Your CV is stored in a secure database allowing you to update it as your career progresses and also enables you to Print, Fax or E-mail your CV as each application requires. Our high quality and affordable service gives you a powerful CV in minutes.

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MORE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE

RUK has enlisted a British recruitment consultant to tell you how to play the UK game. Lisa Peacock-Edwards is a managing consultant with years of experience within several of the market’s biggest recruitment companies.

How to write a good CV

It’s a seemingly simple task, yet this is where most job seekers fail before they have even really started. Here are a few golden rules to make sure your CV doesn’t end up in the bin.

Don’t you dare:

• Include a photo – it only helps if you’re Elle Macpherson, for the rest of us mere mortals it’s cheesy, tacky and only succeeds in giving the agency a good laugh!

• Refer to yourself in the third person, ie ‘Christopher is a highly skilled...’. Who are you talking to? It’s pretentious and impersonal.

• Include irrelevant primary school achievements – we were all milk monitors once.

Length:

• Time is precious. More than three pages and you’ll send us to sleep without even getting to the real point.

• Use the traffic light rule – one of my clients starts reading CVs at red lights and if she’s still interested when it goes green she’ll keep it. You have 30 seconds to make that first impression.

Format:

• Keep it simple, easy to read and clean. The more fancy it looks the less people can be bothered to read it.

Style:

• Remember your audience is normally an HR advisor who doesn’t really understand what you do, but has a checklist of skills they’re looking for. Make it easy for them – list experience unders heading such as company, responsibilities and achievements, in bullet points.

The ‘So What’ rule:

• Apply this to everything you write...you were in charge of stationery – so what? This means you are trustworthy and responsible, that’s what!

Relevance:

• Don’t include high-school and uni jobs that aren’t relevant for your career now, it makes you look immature and unprofessional.

Stand Out:

• Always list achievements – they’re what make you great! Percentage up-lift in sales, first success for your company, reduction in costs – we like numbers and quantifiable facts.

Personal profile:

• In the UK we all have them and hate them, but they really are a must. Include two to three sentences at the top of your CV that sum you up, so that if I read no further I will still have a snapshot of what you do and who you are.

Useful Link

Resume templates

Description: Offers resume and cover letter templates to download, writing tips and an interview guide.