CV advice is always the most frequent questions from our members, even members that have left the forces and in the commercial environment, so I thought as part of my regular employment BLOG I would try and offer some generic guidelines, but these are tips and are not set in stone, just helpful information I hope….
It's true that employers will make a judgment on your suitability within the first 30 seconds of looking at your CV, so make sure it accomplishes the following:
Start with your name and contact details and consider an opening statement of no more than 2-3 sentences to outline your career ambitions. Be sure to customise this to the job you are applying for so you stand out as a perfect candidate.
List any important references to yourself such as your website or your professional social media profiles such as LinkedIn. You could include a photo to add a touch of personality but this is not to everyone’s taste.
Your education / qualifications should begin with the most recent and detail where you studied, courses, dates and grades or predicted grades. No need to include GCSE’s / ‘O’ levels, you would have proven stronger academic ability through your military career.
List the jobs that you have had starting with the most recent, including the job role, employer name and a brief outline of your main responsibilities along with accurate dates. Be prepared to explain any gaps in employment and anything that is not relevant to the role you are applying for, it needs to be kept very brief with just a line or two explaining what you did during this time. Bullet points are the best way to display this information on your CV.
The next section should be a summary of your achievements and skills, list any extra curricular activities including your hobbies, try and relate them to the job specification and the company's requirements wherever possible. You should also include extra qualifications, awards and training plus any positions of responsibility within societies / groups.
Lastly you should note that your references are available on request so when you come to this stage you are able to provide up to date and appropriate references.
Overall the tone of your CV should be positive, straight to the point, relevant to the job and it should not exceed 2 pages.
Have you got any advice you want to share with our members about CV’s?? Please feel free to comment……