Write a Good CV - A CV Centre Guide

Although it is clear that the best way to ensure you have a really good CV is to enlist the services of professionals such as ourselves, we do provide this free article to give you some useful information to help you write your own CV, should you be unable to pay for experts to write it for you.

The art of CV writing

CV writing is indeed very much an art – and a specialist one at that. It is not as easy as it looks to produce a professional CV that is designed to attract the attention of potential recruiters for the right reasons! However, even practised CV writers will tend to follow a basic list of rules which help them to write winning CVs every time – and avoid the most common mistakes.

Common mistakes

Too long
A two-page CV is the ideal maximum length with one page being acceptable for less experienced people. More technical professions, such as medical or IT, can be longer than two pages but these are very much the exception to the rule. The CV should be clear, concise and easy to read, with the use of bullet points being a very handy tip to help achieve this.

Including unnecessary information
Too much detail can not only make the CV too long but can also end up simply boring the recruiter! If the information does not have a positive impact on your CV, then it is probably not worth including. Examples of unnecessary information include months in the career summary and grades at GCSE level.

Using a Key Skills section
Although the use of a Key Skills section is still favoured by some, our experience shows that these are becoming increasingly unpopular with recruiters. Evidence of your skills should be highlighted in the Career History, and a Professional Profile at the top of the CV should be used to summarise these.

Including references on a CV
Referees tend to only be contacted in the latter stages of the recruitment process so it is therefore not necessary to include them on the CV.

Too much personal information
Some people have the tendency to include too much personal detail such as marital status, health etc. Including a date of birth is no longer necessary following recent anti-discriminatory legislation. It is also not important to include detailed information about your activities and interests; a simple list will suffice as these can then be elaborated upon at interview at the recruiter’s discretion.

Professional CV services

In our opinion, and according to our many thousands of satisfied customers over the years, there is nothing better than having your CV written for you by professionals. The CV Centre can offer a wide range of services from writing CVs and letters to completing job application forms, all of which are tailored to your specific requirements. So if you feel that the process of writing your own CV is perhaps a little too complex, you may wish to consider seeking further advice from one of our experienced consultants.

"I had no idea how to write a good CV. Your CV service has prepared for me a CV that is not just 'good' - it's totally perfect!"

Sarah Stevens, Teacher, Manchester