Writing your CV

A CV is a marketing document that presents your skills, achievements and experience. It needs to generate interest and form the foundation for a positive job interview. 

• Formatting your CV
• Identifying your skills
• When to use a CV

Formatting your CV

There is no single perfect format for a winning CV. In fact you may receive conflicting advice on this. You should decide how best to present your strengths and experiences without being confined by a restrictive format. The Careers Service can help you decide what works for you.

• Print your CV onto good quality A4 paper
• In the UK, CVs should be no more than two pages
• Use bold, underlining, italics and blocks of text to achieve a clear layout, but avoid making it over-fancy
• Use a clear, commonly available font in size 10-12 to make it clear and easy to read.
• Present your education and work experience in reverse chronological order, i.e. most recent experience first
• Never be tempted to copy another person’s CV and be careful with using CV templates – it is best to find a format and style that suits your own purposes
• Check very carefully that there are no spelling, grammar or typing errors. Do not rely entirely on the spell checker!
• Show your CV to a tutor, friend or careers counsellor to check and get feedback.

Identifying your skills

The key skills that are needed to do the job are usually given in the job advertisement, job description, person specification or graduate recruitment literature.

It is essential to be aware of these key skills before writing your CV. You need to identify the skills you have that could be relevant to the industry or the type of work that you are seeking to get into.

A simple way to identify your skills is to list your education, work experience (full and part-time) and other activities, such as your interests and significant events in your life. Use this list to identify the skills each one has helped you develop. For example:

• presenting a paper to course colleagues may illustrate your communication skills
• acting as course representative may indicate negotiating and organisational skills
• working in a pub or shop may indicate the ability to multitask, communicate with tact and diplomacy and deal with difficult situations.

Be positive, but be truthful. Recruiters will want to see evidence of how you have demonstrated your skills. Bland “I am good at...” statements will not convince them.

For help identifying your skills see the Graduate Toolkit.

When to use a CV

• To reply to advertised jobs. Do not send a CV if an employer specifically requests an application form
• To make speculative applications, e.g. to look for unadvertised opportunities or freelance work
• To contact recruitment agencies. Try to find out whether they have a preferred format before sending your CV.