Putting the theory into practice – this structure could be used to create your own winning CV.

Remember – this is just suggested as one example.

Name - big and bold
Address on one line including postcode
Tel:          e-mail: if relevant           DOB:

CAREER PROFILE/PERSONAL PROFILE

A brief, businesslike description of you, eg main areas of experience, relevant key skills and personal characteristics followed by the area of work you are interested in – tailored to the employer.

KEY SKILLS

This documents your main skills relevant to the job you are interested in, eg:
• Excellent presentational skills gained by 10 years in a sales and marketing role
• Interviewing skills – have recruited over 50 new staff during the last two years
• IT literate – proficient in Microsoft Office packages

It can either be a list of key skills or under each of the job roles you have held – eg, see examples of CVs.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Dates
Job title
company

Brief description of what you did, eg the main duties of the role, or bullet point any specific skills developed or achievements gained that have not been mentioned in the key skills section.

•
•
List jobs in reverse chronological order, give more space to the most recent job. BE RUTHLESS – briefly state the last two or three jobs. Any jobs before this or jobs without relevance to the one which you are currently applying for could be merged together, eg;

1977 – 1989
Administration work
General administration work with a number of Merseyside organisations.

Your work experience could take up a major part of your CV. However, this will depend on how much work you have had and its relevance to the position you are attempting to gain – you may need to prioritise.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Membership of professional bodies and any qualifications obtained

Dates

Expand on modules that are relevant

EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS

Dates

University/College attended

Degree/HND course

(Class/grade)

Dates

A Levels/BTEC grades achieved (if lower than D, leave off)

GCSEs, eg 9 grade C and above inc. Maths and English

INTERESTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS/RESPONSIBILITIES

This section is important as it shows that you may have developed other skills/qualities from things such as:

• Sport/team activities – such as Duke of Edinburgh Awards
• Membership of charity/interest group and related responsibilities
• Member of church/welfare group/scouting or voluntary work – what do you do and how has it helped you to
develop, what responsibilities have you held?
• Social activities – Hill walking, organising events at University etc
•Travel – where have you been and what skills did you develop?
•Artistic activities – do you create anything in your spare time?

REFERENCES AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

– This allows you to decide who you want to contact for specific jobs so they can tailor your reference.