CV Writing – Stand Out From the Rest!

As a search firm, hundreds of CVs cross our desk each day, all shapes and sizes, some with pictures, different fonts, fancy designs… none of that matters if the wording and content does not capture your audience. A CV is a document which should show how valuable you could be to an employers organisation… make sure your CV writing is on point.

Below we have constructed a basic template explaining how we believe a CV should be written/constructed. Please feel free to share it, comment on it – positive or negative. We are available via our website at anytime should you wish to ask any questions about the below…

 

Page 1 – The Data Page:

Get all key information on to this page

• Personal Info – Address, Numbers, Email, Picture
• Personal statement – 4/5 lines – describe you – ambitious, team player, how do you stand out from the rest?
• Education (Where, qualifications, dates)
• Key Skills

 

Page 2 – Career History:

(Current position first – work back through your career)

Title – Director of Golf Date – Sept 2011 – Present

Company – DPSM Golf Club, United Kingdom

 

1st Paragraph:

Description of the Club/Company, not all recruiters/employers are going to know the company you work for! Define the scale of your business, the number of employees, the markets you operate in

For example: 

DPSM GC is a 18 hole private members golf club owned by DPSM Ltd. We have 786 members, 43 employees and a £2.3 million turnover.

 

2nd Paragraph: (Use bullet points!)

This should be focussed on your position within the company:

• Who you report to, direct reports
• Team size
• Key responsibilities

 

3rd Paragraph: (Use bullet points!) – Figures, Figures, Figures…

Your achievements during your time in your current position:

• What did you do?
• How well did you do it?
• What did the company get from it?

 

What not to write – “I managed a £4 million budget”. This does not say a lot about you, it tells the reader that you were trusted with the budget but you could have made a mess with the budget.

“I implemented XYZ,” Again this doesn’t say anything about the achievement.

What to write – WE is always better than I… We gained 50 members through a new golf membership initiative which increased annual revenues by XYZ and improved member retention by XYZ whilst also improving member satisfaction by 24%.

These are going to be the aspects that you are judged by… Make sure they are positive, make sure they are quantifiable!

Do this for the past 10-12 years of your career.

 

Early Career:

Early Career Section should outline previous positions: Position, Company & Date. Experience attained over a decade ago is unlikely to be as relevant to the position you are applying for.

 

Interests:

Mention any interests you may have, there could be a common interest with the recruiter/employer which could be the difference in being asked to interview or not.

Examples – Golf, Travelling, Cooking, Theatre etc.

 

Punctuation:

Once complete, read through your CV two or three times, make sure there are no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors… have a friend also read through. I have experience of candidates applying for marketing positions where a key skill requirement is copy writing, although their experience was fantastic, they have been ruled out through the employer spotting a spelling mistake on their CV.

 

Additional advice:

Know your CV back to front; always be able to give an example of anything detailed on your CV.

Don’t worry if your CV stretches to 3 or 4 pages, we would rather have more information than less information!

 

If you would like assistance with CV writing, please feel free to contact us via our website…