Your CV is your chance to stand out to employers. It is an advertisement for you, your skills and experience.
CV stands for Curriculum Vitae and many employers will ask for one when you apply for a job.
A good CV includes information about your key skills and strengths, work experience, education achievements, and details of how to contact you.
Tailor your CV for each job you apply for. Read the job advert and look for the skills and experiences the employer is asking for and see if you can apply these to your CV.
What to include in your CV: Step-by-step guide
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1
Include your full name, email address, and contact phone numbers. Use a sensible email address and you may wish to include your postal address.
You might want to also include links to your professional social media accounts like LinkedIn.
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2
Your personal profile only needs to be a paragraph or two about your main strengths and skills. You might also want to highlight a key achievement if it is relevant to the job you are applying for.
Here are some examples of strengths employers might look for:
- Effective communication skills
- Teamwork
- Ability to work alone
- Organisational skills
- Enthusiasm
- Reliability
- Good timekeeping and punctuality
- Trustworthiness
- Ability to follow instructions
- Work well under pressure
- Motivation
Our tip: look at the job description to see what strengths and skills the employer is looking for.
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3
You may want to include a section that lists your key skills. These are the skills you have learnt that you want to highlight to the employer.
Look at the job description and try and include skills the employer is looking for. You can include:
- Specialist skills such IT and digital, project management and finance
- General skills such as communication or customer service
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In most cases, you would list your job history from the most recent to oldest. You might want to just include only the last 5 or 6 jobs, or the last 10 -15 years of experience.
Include your:
- Job title
- Company name and place of employment (not the full address)
- Start and end dates of employment
- A list of what tasks you did daily and any responsibilities you had
- Achievements or successes you had in the job
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5
- Start with your most recent and/or highest level of qualification
- Put down the most relevant qualifications to the job
- Include the qualification, the year you achieved it, and the name of the provider or education establishment
Our tip: the employer may ask to see proof of qualifications gained.
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Ensure you also include any other relevant training such as:
- Short courses like Food Hygiene or Health and Safety
- Licences or certificates
- On-the-job training
- Home or online learning
- Evening classes
Our tip: there are many free online training courses you can do to help improve your skills, knowledge and add to your CV.
The Skills Toolkit – Free digital courses to help you progress in work and boost your job prospects is just one suggestion.
Try our course search or see our page on training and skills.
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Remember voluntary work or unpaid work experience can add value to your CV, especially if you have limited or no history of employment.
Include:
- Name of the charity, organisation, or employer
- Start and end dates
- A list of the tasks you did daily and any responsibilities you had.
Our tip: even running a home and having a family can provide you with a range of skills including managing finances and budgeting, communication, negotiation, and problem solving.
Also see our Volunteering and Work Experience pages.
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You can use this section to add any other relevant information about you including:
- Sports you play or clubs you support
- Hobbies and Interests, but only include if they are relevant
- Community activities you are involved with
- Achievements and awards
- Memberships of professional organisations
- Driving licence
The disclosure of any disability or additional learning need in this section will be your own personal choice.
Our tip: its best to keep this section short and relevant to the job you are applying for.
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Most employers will usually ask you to provide at least 2 references. Generally, do not include referee details on your CV, just have them ready. Just add a line to say: References are available on request.
Remember to ask the people you want to use as referees if they are happy to give you a reference.
Possible referees could include:
- Employer - past or present
- Teacher, tutor, or lecturer
- Your support worker or employment coach
- Organisation where you have volunteered or undertaken work experienced
- Someone you know that can give you a character reference (not a relative)
Our tip: You should tailor your CV for each job, to make it clear your skills and experience reflect the employer requirements on the job advert or job description.
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10
Read your CV and correct any spelling and grammar mistakes. Get others to check it.
Keep it concise. Usually, a CV would be no more than 2 pages.
Use a simple layout and font. Try not to use an elaborate design or include lots of graphics or photos. An exception to this would be if you were applying for a creative job.
Include keywords that match the job advert within your skills and experience sections and your personal profile. This will help you to pass through the initial sift of applications.
Employers may look at your social media profiles when you apply for a job. Restrict access to your profiles or delete old accounts you do not use or posts you would rather they did not see.
Having a good, up to date, set of social media profiles will help you find a job. Some employers will use a combination of your social media profiles and your CV.
See our page on using social media to find jobs.
