Sorry it's been a while since the last blogpost, I had a request via Twitter to write about CV tips and what to include or not to include so I thought I would share my infinite wisdom with you. I should include a disclaimer here that I haven't actually had to do my own CV for years so the info here is gleaned from our Career Centre experts and I guess from looking at CVs a lot when uploading them for candidates and from interviewing for RecruitIreland.com - you learn pretty quickly what works and what doesn't work.
Firstly as my colleague Rebecca has mentioned before, the most important thing to keep an eye on and remember when writing your CV is to make SURE the spelling is correct (I will be triple checking this post to ensure I'm not being a hypocrite) - I can't emphasise enough how necessary this is, there is nothing worse than picking up a CV and noticing that there is a misspelling or a word typed typed twice.
There is a saying that an employer will make up their mind about you having read the first few lines of your CV and I have to say this is somewhat true, your CV is the only way you can sell yourself (cheesy I know), present your skills and show the employer that you will be a good fit both for their job and their company. I think if you bear this in mind when writing your CV it will keep you focussed on what's relevant and keep in mind it will probably only get 2 minutes attention.
Which brings me to my next point, relevance, it really isn't relevant to include your Junior Cert, Leaving Cert and Confirmation photo on your CV so unless the application process requests these details leave them out. Some people think they have to include a Date of Birth, Nationality and Marital Status, again you don't, it's entirely your decision - I don't include these because again I don't see that they are relevant for a role - unless of course the job requires a native German speaker or something.
Keep it short and sweet within reason, everyone says your CV shouldn't be too long, it shouldn't be too short either - remember you want them to bring you to interview stage and they cannot do this unless you show you have the experience needed so don't shy away from including detail where it's necessary. Having said that a thesis isn't going to get you anywhere either, 2 pages max I think. The interviewer/employer wants to find the info they want quickly so be sure and use Bold and Underline where relevant (there's that word again) - for example I always bold the company name and job title in my CV.
So begin with your name and contact info and be sure to include an email address here, you wouldn't believe how many CVs we come across without this. Next up is Education and Courses, make sure you include dates. Then begin your Experience with your most recent employer and role first, again dates are really important here so double check that they are in chronological order and don't cross over unless they should. Some people include Hobbies, some prefer not to, I guess it depends again on whether you can use this in your interview, for example if your hobby is Marathon running or Triathlons these would prove your determination and commitment. Last but not least is References which again you do NOT have to include, a simple line like "References available on request" will suffice.
So that's it folks, I hope this makes sense, if you have any queries or questions feel free to comment below and if you want more info our Career Centre has some killer expert advice too!