Get the interview:

Writing the perfect CV

A Huxley Associates career guide
Contents
Introduction................................................................ 2
The basics.................................................................. 3
Tailoring your CV.................................................... 3
Selling your skills................................................... 3
Formatting your CV................................................... 4
Chronological......................................................... 5
Skills based............................................................ 6
Use of language......................................................... 7
Avoid common CV mistakes...................................... 8
Getting your CV found online.....................................8
How to be found on a CV database.......................8
Tips for raising your online profile.......................... 8
CV checklist............................................................... 9

Introduction
Writing a professional CV is your first step towards securing a new job. It is the first impression a potential new employer
will have of you and can either open or close doors showing how important it is to get it right. Job hunting is a very
competitive process, often because of the number of candidates in the job market, and it is your CV that can put
you ahead of other candidates and secure you an interview. The key to a successful CV is to present your skills and
experience in the best light possible. Your CV should therefore be viewed as a selling tool rather than just a summary of
your working history.

Follow our simple guide to writing your CV to ensure you capitalise on your most valuable asset.

Your CV can either open or close

doors - showing how important it
is to get it right.

Writing the perfect CV 2

The basics During the shortlisting process many recruiters will screen
CVs for must have qualities. If these arent included
According to research employers spend an average of 30 in your CV, you wont even make it past the shortlisting
seconds screening a CV - highlighting the importance of process, so make sure your CV covers all of the key
demonstrating your suitability for the role from the outset. requirements in the job description or shows the recruiter
Before writing your CV it is therefore essential that you you are willing to develop relevant skills.
have clear career objectives and can communicate where
you are now and where you want to be.
Selling your skills
Your personal profile and the language used throughout
your CV should be in line with the direction you want to go Remember to sell yourself through your key achievements
and reflect your career goals. You need to be clear about and successes, rather than simply listing your
your core experience and qualifications and what your responsibilities. By demonstrating how you can add value
personal strengths and weaknesses are. By emphasising to the department and wider company you will gain the
your strongest skills and experiences you will be able attention of a potential employer. Similarly, talk about what
to demonstrate how you would fit the role and position you were personally responsible for rather than talking
yourself correctly for your next career move. Your CV is broadly about what your team may have delivered.
also an opportunity to communicate your personal traits,
for example by demonstrating a positive attitude to all of
your previous roles and highlighting your ambition and
willingness to learn new skills.

Tailoring your CV
Your CV isnt just a short-term investment - you need
to know what your next role needs to be to meet your
long-term career goals and tailor your CV to fit this profile
accordingly. Always remain focused on what you want to
achieve in the long-term and strengthen your CV wherever
possible to help you reach this goal.

It is important to customise your CV for each role you

apply for. For example, if a role requires you to have
worked across international teams make sure you pull
out and highlight your relevant skills and international
experience. The key is to emphasise the areas where you
fit the job profile, making it easy for the recruiter to draw
out quickly why they should invite you to an interview.

Employers spend an average of

30 seconds screening a CV.

Writing the perfect CV 3

Formatting your CV
Ideally your CV should fit on two A4 pages - this means
you will need to be succinct and selective with the
information you include. There are different ways you
can format this information including chronologically or
by skills and attributes, these formats are outlined on the
following page.

Whichever format you choose it is essential that your CV is

easy to read. Use clear headings to break up the content
and ensure your personal details can easily be found at the
top of your CV. Use a clear universal font such as Arial and
avoid going smaller than 10pt.

Chronological CV Skills based CV

A chronological CV focuses on presenting A skills based CV focuses on the skills,
your employment history on an employer-by- abilities and expertise you have gained across
employer basis, with your most recent role your career history, rather than when you
listed first and all previous positions listed gained the knowledge. A skills based CV can
in reverse order. This allows you to focus help highlight the abilities and skills that are
in more detail on your most current and relevant, without focusing on your previous
relevant experience. A chronological CV will employers and industries. This is particularly
also usually contain a personal statement, useful if you wish to communicate the
education and qualifications and interests. transferable nature of your skill set, however,
This is the most common type of CV. it limits descriptions of your past roles and
responsibilities.

An example of a chronological CV can be An example of a skills based CV can be

found on the following page. found on the following page.

Writing the perfect CV 4

Chronological CV

Jane Bloggs
123 Anystreet, Mytown, London
T: 01234 567 890 E: jane.bloggs@email.com

Personal profile
This is the initial pitch; it will act as a positioning statement and provide the hook for your CV. It will include your skills,
achievements and provide a functional summary.

Employment history

Key Account Manager Sep 2007 present

Global Recruitment Consultancy

This section will include your key roles and responsibilities
This information must be relevant to the role you are applying for
Use a bulleted list to ensure you remain concise and the information is clear and easy to read
Do not waste space on minor skills or by repeating facts shown earlier in your career summary
Summarise the early part of your career and focus on the things that will make employers want to invite you to an interview
Create a brief sketch of yourself that positions you as the right person for the job.

Key achievements
This section allows you to highlight where you added value. It should list your principal achievements in the role referenced
These will be bullet-pointed concise statements of fact, and should be quantified where possible; for example:
--Established a key account team focused on delivering cost effective recruitment solutions the result of which increased profit
margins by 3%
Make sure the achievements listed are linked to the role/s you are applying for
You do have the option of linking roles and responsibilities and key achievements together to focus on how you added value
in each part of your role.

Education & training

Include those qualifications that are directly related to the job and would specifically enhance your chances of moving to the
next phase of the job search
For example, if you have an MBA in Marketing and are applying for a Marketing Director role, you should include that
qualification in this section
Non-tertiary qualifications should only be included if they are particularly relevant.

Additional information
This could include things such as computer skills, (genuine) foreign language skills and whether or not you have a driving
licence (preferably clean)
It will also include your membership of relevant professional bodies
Make sure to avoid irrelevant and trivial facts.

Hobbies and interests

Keep this brief and to the point;
As your career progresses this should become reduced as you focus more on your experience and expertise
If you are starting out in your career and you have done something that could be valuable to potential employers, you might
want to include that here, for example:
--Running an annual skiing trip for 12 people including research, budgeting etc.

References
If you are in a position to include your references at this stage then do so
If not, then its fine to say Available on request

Writing the perfect CV 5

Skills based CV

Joe Bloggs
123 Anystreet, Mytown, London
T: 01234 567 890 E: joe.bloggs@email.com

Personal profile
This is your initial pitch; it will act as a positioning statement and provide the hook for your CV. It will include your skills,
achievements and provide a functional summary.

Account Management: include a section for each key area of your career
For each area of your skillset focus on your key roles and responsibilities
This information must be relevant to the role you are applying for
Use a bulleted list to ensure you remain concise and the information is clear and easy to read
Do not waste space on minor skills or by repeating facts shown earlier in your career summary
Create a brief sketch of yourself that positions you as the right person for the job.

Training & development: key areas should be driven by the role applied for
These sections do not have to reflect your career history but focus on key areas of responsibility
Group all activities under the main heading no matter how long ago you were responsible for them
You might want to include key achievements within each area
See the section example below:

Reward management
Devising new and effective company incentives schemes the result of which reduced absenteeism by 10% and attrition
by 8%
Managing the development of flexible benefits packages, including payment of quarterly and annual bonuses, annual salary
benchmarking and salary review processes
Managing pay and grading initiatives, including external benchmarking and internal review procedures
Development and administration of the executive reward strategy.

Work History
2007 present: HR Manager: 123 Company
2004 2007: HR Advisor: ABC Ltd

Qualifications & Training

List formal training and qualifications and soft skills training, where relevant to the role, for example:
-- CIPD Diploma in Human Resources Development
-- Presentation skills training

Education
List your formal education history; this usually means qualification earned at University, High School etc.
You may want to join together this section and your qualifications section shown above.

Additional information
This could include things such as computer skills, (genuine) foreign language skills, whether or not you have a driving licence
(preferably clean)
It will also include your membership of relevant professional bodies
Make sure to avoid irrelevant and trivial facts.

Hobbies & interests

Keep this brief and to the point
As your career progresses this should become reduced as you focus more on your experience and expertise
If you are starting out in your career and you have done something that could be valuable to potential employers, you might
want to include that here, for example:
-- Running an annual skiing trip for 12 people including research, budgeting etc.

References
If you are in a position to include your references at this stage then do so;
If not, then its fine to say Available on request

Writing the perfect CV 6

Use of language Technical jargon and industry acronyms
Ensure you use relevant industry terminology this
Once youve organised your CV content into a structured will help your CV to be picked up by recruiters and
framework, review and revise your language and grammar hiring managers when they run keyword searches.
so that it follows CV writing conventions. By using the Be mindful, though, that overstuffing your CV with
correct language your CV will have more impact and will technical language could be perceived as pretentious,
help ensure the reader understands what you are trying to and result in confusion rather than clarity.
communicate as quickly as possible.
Write in the first person understood
Word power That is, write without using pronouns instead of
Use positive words to describe yourself and your writing I managed a team of 5, write Managed a
achievements. team of 5
Use language that you feel comfortable with. --Do not use first-person pronouns (I, we) - your name
Use keywords that recruiters or hiring managers will is at the top of your CV, so the recruiter or hiring
use when looking for CVs on job boards or databases manager knows its about you.
if youre looking for another IT Manager role, put IT --Do not use third-person pronouns (he, she) when
Manager in your CV instead of Technology Business referring to yourself this will make you look
Leader. pompous.
Less is more dont use three words where one word
will do. Word power less is more
Keep your sentences short and simple - complex and Where possible, remove articles (the, a, an) word
overlong sentences can distract from the point; theres count is precious on a CV, dont waste it or bore your
also a danger that the recruiter or hiring manager reader with unnecessary speech. Use responsible for
reading your CV will lose interest. budget instead of responsible for the budget.
Omit helping verbs (have, had, may, might) these
Tone of voice words weaken claims and credibility. Write managed
Keep it professional dont use colloquialisms, slang instead of have managed.
or swear words. Avoid being verbs (am, is, are, was, were) - they can
Use the active voice not the passive form make you sound stagnant. Try data collated rather
--The active voice takes the form of A does B; the than data was collated.
passive takes the form of B is done [by A].
--The active voice gives a stronger, more confident Be consistent with your tenses
delivery. Dont switch back and forth between tenses:
--Passive constructions can clog up sentences and --Use the present tense to talk about your current job.
the message loses clarity and impact. --Use the past tense for previous roles.

We have firsthand experience of employers

rejecting candidates who are perfectly
suitable for a role, simply because their CV

didnt sound professional, or worse still had
spelling errors.

Richard Booty, Director, Huxley Associates

Writing the perfect CV 7

Avoid common CV mistakes Check the frequency of keywords in your CV. Search
results will display in order of suitability based on the
Dont just list the jobs youve had, always include numbers of times the keywords appear in the CV.
a short and precise description about your key Avoid irrelevant keywords your skills and experience
responsibilities and achievements. should be clear to anyone skim-reading your CV.
Keep your CV professional at all times. Personal Keep refreshing your CV online recruiters often
details about your religion, parents and siblings or search for new CVs only. To keep your CV at the top of
even details of your primary school must not be a part the pile, upload it every month.
of your CV. Include keywords associated with the industry you
Do not include information on courses that are not work in, the products you work with, jargon, acronyms
related to the position youre applying for. and technical words, job titles (especially if there is
Avoid exaggerating your skills. Lying about your more than one descriptor for what you do) specialist
abilities may cause an unpleasant situation in your areas, brief company details and systems and
interview where you will be probed further. processes.
Dont just rely on the spellcheck, instead ask a friend Most importantly, dont just list keywords in your CV.
or family member to proof read your CV for you. Use them to describe, concisely and intelligently, what
Dont leave unexplained gaps in your CV; always you did and how you did it.
explain the gaps and be prepared for further questions
regarding those gaps.
Focus on accomplishments rather than the plain Tips for raising your online profile
responsibilities your jobs included.
Include relevant keywords so that recruiter and If you are at management level or advancing in your career
companies can find your CV - no matter how well then chances are someone may look for you on the search
written it is, it wont help you find a job if no-one is engines with a view to checking you out. So how do you
able to find your CV. make sure you will get found?
Blog you can set up your own Blog page. Dont
Getting your CV found online forget to link to your CV from your blog.
Buy and create your own webpage - you can buy
To make the most of your CV, you should also post it to your own domain name - get it as an exact match, i.e.
online job boards and recruitment websites. When posting FirstnameFamilyname.com or .org .net .co.uk .org.
your CV online, there are several methods you can use to uk.
get your CV found, which will allow prospective employers Google Universal Search - this is Googles new
and recruiters to contact you about relevant roles. emphasis on bringing non-traditional returns, such as
photos, books and PowerPoint, to a Google search.
Recreate your CV in PowerPoint and you can use
How to be found on a CV database this new online tool to heighten the visibility of your
CV. Theres no rule that every CV has to be created in
If you are dealing with a recruitment agency it is highly Word, and PowerPoint does give you certain design
likely that your CV will end up on their CV database but functionality that is missing in MS Word.
you should also put your CV on the many job board After you have finished creating your PowerPoint CV,
databases out in the market. you need to post it where search engines can find it.
SlideShare (a free service) is a good place to start. All
Recruiters look for candidates on CV databases using PowerPoints on SlideShare are searched by Google,
keyword searches. If you want your CV to be found, make and since Google is eagerly searching for PowerPoint
sure your CV has the appropriate keywords in it. as a search return, you should be a top return for at
least some of your keywords. Use this leverage to
Use descriptive words - the search programme will be establish yourself as a credible expert in your field.
looking for specific phrases.

Writing the perfect CV 8

 Host your CV with Google Docs (http://docs.google. YouTube if your personality is your greatest asset,
com/), create an account and upload your CV. You why not showcase it on YouTube? A video CV will
can then easily link to your CV, collaborate with others give employers an idea of your presence and persona.
about your CV, set your CV to be searchable by However, be careful with this option - you dont want
Google, embed your CV right onto a website page and to become a YouTube sensation for all the wrong
most importantly, publish your Google Doc to the web. reasons!
Remember to enable it to be indexed by the Google
search engine so that recruiters and hiring managers For more information about how to manage your online
can find you online (pick the Public on the web reputation, see our guide: Get the profile: Managing
sharing option). You can even create a customised your online reputation
bit.ly link to your CV, so that you can share and track
clicks to your CV online more easily.

CV checklist
Before you send out or upload your CV take a step back and run through our quick CV checklist. Remember your
CV is one of your most valuable tools for opening doors and securing that all-important interview, so make sure its
perfect before you release it to prospective employers.

Are my personal details up-to-date and easily visible?

Is it easy to read and well structured?
Do my most important skills and experience stand out?
Are the spelling and grammar correct?
Is my tone of voice appropriate?
Have I given a brief summary of the main duties and responsibilities for each of my previous roles?
Is the CV tailored to the job I am applying for?
Is there any irrelevant info? If yes, remove it.
Would I want to read it?
Have I included relevant keywords so employers and recruiters can find my CV online?

Writing the perfect CV 9

Our career guides
This guide is part of Huxley Associates dedication to supporting our customers and delivering market-leading
recruitment solutions. As one of the worlds leading recruitment consultancies we pride ourselves on being a key
recruitment partner for professionals and organisations across a range of sectors.

Our series of career guides offer best practice advice and an insight into the latest recruitment news to help you
secure your next job.

Other career guides in the series:

Get the job: Successful interviewing

A Huxley Associates career guide

Get the profile: Managing your online reputation

A Huxley Associates career guide