How to write a successful CV

There is no "one best way" to construct a CV; it is your document and can be structured and presented as you wish within the basic framework set out below. It can be set out on paper or on-line or even on a T-shirt (a gimmicky approach that might work for "creative" jobs but is not generally advised!).

When should a CV be used?

• When an employer asks for applications to be received in this format
• When an employer simply states "apply to ..." without specifying the format
• When making speculative applications (when writing to an employer who has not advertised a vacancy but who you hope my have one)

The order in which you present these, and the emphasis which you give to each one, will depend on what you are applying for and what you have to offer. For example, the example media CV lists the candidate's relevant work experience first.

If you are applying for more than one type of work, you should have a different CV tailored to each career area, highlighting different aspects of your skills and experience.

A personal profile at the start of the CV can sometimes be effective for jobs in competitive industries such as the media or advertising, to help you to stand out from the crowd. If used, it needs to be original and well written. Don't just use the usual hackneyed expressions: "I am an excellent communicator who works well in a team...... "

You will also need a Covering Letter to accompany your CV.

What makes a good CV?

There is no single "correct" way to write and present a CV but the following general rules apply:

• It is targeted on the specific job or career area for which you are applying and brings out the relevant skills you have to offer
• It is carefully and clearly laid out: logically ordered, easy to read and not cramped
• It is informative but concise
• It is accurate in content, spelling and grammar

How long should a CV be?

There are no absolute rules but, in general, a new graduate's CV should cover no more than two sides of A4 paper.

If you can summarise your career history comfortably on a single side, this is fine and has advantages when you are making speculative applications and need to put yourself across concisely. However, you should not leave out important items, or crowd your text too closely together in order to fit it onto that single side. Academic and technical CVs may be much longer: up to 4 or 5 sides.

Tips on presentation

• Your CV should be carefully and clearly laid out - not too cramped but not with large empty spaces either. Use bold and italic typefaces for headings and important information
• Never back a CV - each page should be on a separate sheet of paper. It's a good idea to put your name in the footer area so that it appears on each sheet.
• Be concise - a CV is an appetiser and should not give the reader indigestion. Don't feel that you have to list every exam you have ever taken, or every activity you have ever been involved in - consider which are the most relevant and/or impressive.
• Be positive - put yourself over confidently and highlight your strong points. For example, when listing your A-levels, put your highest grade first.
• Be honest - although a CV does allow you to omit details (such as exam resits) which you would prefer the employer not to know about, you should never give inaccurate or misleading information.
• The sweet spot of a CV is the area selectors tend to pay most attention to: this is typically around the upper middle of the first page, so make sure that this area contains essential information.
• If you are posting your CV, don't fold it - put it in a full-size A4 envelope so that it doesn't arrive creased.

Research by forum3 (recruitment and volunteering for the not-for-profit sector) suggested:

• Graduates sent out 25 letters per interview gained.
• The average graduate will send out about 70 CVs when looking for their first graduate job. Of these, the average number of responses will be 7 including 3 to 4 polite rejections and the remainder inviting the graduate to interview or further contact.
• There was a direct link between the number of CVs sent out and the number of interviews gained: the more CVs you send out the more interviews you will get.
• Applicants who included a covering letter with their CV were 10% more likely to get a reply.
• 60% of CVs are mailed to the wrong person: usually the managing director. Applicants who addressed their application to the correct named person were 15% more likely to get a letter of acknowledgement and 5% more likely to get an interview
• Applicants sending CVs and letters without spelling mistakes are 61% more likely to get a reply and 26% more likely to get an interview. "In the age of the spell checker, there is no excuse for spelling mistakes". The most common mistakes to not show up in a spell check were: fro instead of for, grate instead of great, liased instead of liaised and stationary instead of stationery.
• Other turn-offs include:
  • misspelling the name of the company or the addressee,
  • not having a reply address on the CV
  • trying to be amusing.

Fonts

• Times New Roman is the standard windows "serif" font. A safe bet - law firms seem to like it! A more interesting serif font might be Georgia.
• Arial is the standard windows "sans" font. Sans fonts don't have the curly bits on letters. As you can see it's cleaner and more modern than Times and also looks larger in the same "point" size (the point size is simply how big the letters are on the page.) However Arial and Times Roman are so common that they're a little boring to the eye.
• A more classy choice might be Verdana or Geneva - these are both common sans fonts.
• FONT SIZE is normally 12 points for the normal font with larger sizes for subheadings and headings.

• or 10 points. My favourite CV font is 10 point Verdana with 12 or 14 points for sub headings.
• 14 points is too big - wastes space and looks crude.

• and 8 or 9 points too small to be easily readable by everyone, especially in Times New Roman.
• Although many people use 12 points, some research on this suggested that smaller point size CVs were perceived as more intellectual!

Different Types of CV

• Chronological - outlining your career history in date order, normally beginning with the most recent items (reverse chronological) . This is the "conventional" approach and the easiest to prepare. It is detailed, comprehensive and biographical and usually works well for "traditional" students with a good all-round mixture of education and work experience. Mature students, however, may not benefit from this approach, which does emphasise your age, any career breaks and work experience which has little surface relevance to the posts you are applying for now. See an example chronological CV here
• Skills-based: highly-focused CVs which relate your skills and abilities to a specific job or career area by highlighting these skills and your major achievements. The factual, chronological details of your education and work history are subordinate. These work well for mature graduates and for anybody whose degree subject and work experience is not directly relevant to their application. Skills-based CVs should be closely targeted to a specific job. See an example skills-based CV here

If you are applying for posts outside the UK, remember that employers in other countries are likely to have different expectations of what a CV should include and how it should be laid out. The "Global Resume and CV Handbook" (available from Reception) and the Prospects website will help you prepare CVs for overseas employment. See our work abroad page.

Targeting your CV

If your CV is to be sent to an individual employer which has requested applications in this format, you should research the organisation and the position carefully.

If your CV is to be used for speculative applications, it is still important to target it - at the very least, on the general career area in which you want to work. Use the Careers Information Room or general careers websites such as www.prospects.ac.uk to get an idea of what the work involves and what skills and personal qualities are needed to do it successfully. This will enable you to tailor the CV to the work and to bring out your own relevant experience.

Even if you are using the same CV for a number of employers, you should personalise the covering letter - e.g. by putting in a paragraph on why you want to work for that organisation.

For example CVs, application forms and covering letters see www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/cvexamples.htm with notes highlighting points relating to the content and style.

Emailed CVs and Web CVs

• Many employers who accept applications in CV format are happy for you to send your CV as an attachment to an email.
• Put your covering letter as the body of your email. It's probably wise to format it as plain text (use the format heading on Outlook Express to do this), as then it can be read by any email reader.
• Your CV is then sent as an attachment. This is normally in MS Word (.doc) format, but Rich Text Format (.rtf) and html (web page format) are acceptable alternatives. Also say you'll send a printed CV if required. PDF (portable document format) also quite widely used and you can download a pdf converter such as Cute pdf www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp  for free: you install it and then "print" the document to a folder on your PC. If in doubt send your CV in several formats.
• Email it back to yourself first to check it.

Web CVs and Electronically Scanned CVs

Web CVs use HTML format. You can include the web address in an email or letter to an employer. They have the advantage that you can easily use graphics, colour, hyperlinks and even sound, animation and video. The basic rules still apply however - make it look professional. They can be very effective if you are going for multimedia, web design or computer games jobs where they can demonstrate your technical skills along with your portfolio.

Electronically scanned CVs have been used by Nortel, Ford and others. Resumix is the main package used for this. The system has artificial intelligence which reads the text and extracts important information such as work, education, skills. For more information on this see www.kent.ac.uk/careers/onlineapps.htm

Further Help

• The Careers Service runs talks and workshops on CV preparation throughout the year. Ask at Reception for details.
• If you are having difficulty your CV, you can consult the duty careers adviser from 10.30a.m. - 12.30 p.m. and from 2.00 - 5.00 p.m., weekdays.
• See our example CVs, application forms and covering letters www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/cvexamples.htm
• Booklet: "Making Applications". Ask for your free copy from Careers Reception.
• DVD "Looking good on paper" ask at Careers reception to view this in the Careers Service or borrow overnight.
• LearnDirect online CV Builder https://www.cvbuilder-advice-resources.co.uk/learndirect/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2 can help you build your own CV in just 12 steps. Very good!
• Great CVs www.greatcvs.co.uk over 70 articles on how to create a CV.
• How to Prepare a Killer CV www.journalism.co.uk/features/story1953.shtml
• Explore Writing www.explorewriting.co.uk/home.htm public interest website focused on how to write almost anything including CVs

Page maintained by Bruce Woodcock B.E.Woodcock@kent.ac.uk Please email me if you wish to make any suggestions which would improve our services.
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