7792 CV Prep Guide MMK without Location

At Morgan McKinley, we are serious about your careerWe listen in order to understand your ambitions, career goals and most importantly help you to realise them. This guide provides you with advice and guidance on how to write your CV.

PREPPREPARE REVIEW EVALUATE PERFECT . . .

A CV is one of the most important parts of your job search and therefore requires a lot of attention, to add as much

value as possible. Talent Acquisition Specialists, Hiring Managers and Recruitment Consultants have a trained eye when it comes to evaluating your CV and deciding whether or not to reach out to you and invite you for

a job interview.

When deciding upon the format for your CV, it’s important to keep in mind the target audience who is usually someone who sees hundreds of CVs on a weekly basis. It is their job

to create a shortlist of the top candidates for a role and to do that as efficiently as possible. If they come across

a CV that looks unprofessional, they are likely to put it aside.

Introduction

Why it's’ important to tailor your CV to the position

It’s very important you tailor your CV to the specific job advert or job description. Often the Hiring Manager will skim your CV for the skills they have outlined in the job advert, so ensure you have tailored that section accordingly.

What Should You Consider When Writing Your CV? Top Tips

Research the Company

Look for the mission statement, the vision and information on the company’s values on their website and align your CV to them if possible (e.g. teamwork, collaboration, leadership).

What is the optimum length?

Style & Structure

• The length of your CV will vary depending on your experience.

• If you are applying for your first job you most likely will be closer to 1-2 pages in length.

• If you are applying to a job that requires 10+ years experience, your CV will be closer to 2 pages. • However, keep in mind if you have lots of years experience it doesn't mean you need to include every task you have ever completed. You should be able to clearly and concisely demonstrate how your skills and experience align to the role you are applying to.

• Fonts, colours and font size and all formatting should be consistent. Keep your font sizes simple, 12-14pt for section titles and 11-12pt for the body text. Some of the best fonts to use are Arial, Calibri and Times New Roman.

• Is the information well-organised? Use a clear, uncluttered layout without too many special effects.

• Use bullet points - Bullet points help hiring managers use those precious 5-7 seconds looking at your achievements rather than wasting time trying to find them.

• Alignment of paragraphs is essential, unaligned content is difficult to follow.

• Make use of white space - Enough white space makes it easier to find the information they need quickly.

• Make room for important information - As you know, your CV should be concise and short. However, you don’t need to use up all the space equally! Make sure you give the most important information, such as recent qualifications and experience, more room.

• List your experience in Chronological order - start with your most recent work experience as that is often what the employer is most interested in.

• Use positive language, when describing your work achievements use power words such as ‘launched’, ‘managed’, ‘coordinated’, ‘motivated’, ‘supervised’, 'liaised’ and ‘achieved’.

While CVs can vary significantly based on which country you’re applying for a job in, we’ve put together details of what they all have in common and a standard approach to layout..

Layout of CV

Contact Details:

Name, Phone Number, Email, Right to Work(if applicable)It might sound obvious but don’t forget to include your email/phone number and full name as a minimum.

Personal Profile / Professional Summary

A Personal Profile/Professional Summary is an eye-catching statement of your career intent that’s placed on top of your CV. It provides a 2-3 sentence snapshot of your professional experience, skills, and achievements, and explains why your skills align to the role.

Example: Digital Marketing Manager Professional Marketing Manager with 5 + years of experience in digital marketing. Social media marketing experience ,including Facebook, Google and LinkedIn advertising. B.A in marketing management.

Education:

List your education and educational achievements and highlight those that are most relevant to the job (e.g. highlight your English major if applying for a writing position)

Ensure to include full title of Qualification along with Year Achieved

List any professional bodies you are a member of example: CIPD

Work Experience:

Include start and end dates using the month and year.

Name of the Company A few lines to describe the company

Job Title

Key responsibilities and Achievements Ensure you explain any gaps in your employment history

Extra Curricular Activities / Hobbies & Interests:

This is a good talking point at the interview, the hiring manager could share similar interests with you. List any sports or instruments played, what you enjoy doing in your spare time. Also list any non-academic or work related achievements here e.g. charity and fundraising activities

References:

Available on Request

Skills:

Here you can convey all additional skills you might have, such as IT skills or foreign language skills.Note: When it comes to IT skills, you don’t need to include basic software skills such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, these days those skills are usually expected.

Close

Remember while it’s good to sell your experience in the most positive way possible, steer clear from exaggerating any skills or experience you have gained.

Your CV is going to form the basis of any questions that are asked of you during an interview – if you write about it, make sure you can speak about it!

Proofreading Your CV

You’ve structured your CV, included everything necessary and left out what’s not appropriate or important. Just like any content piece, you should review it before submitting - once it’s gone there’s no tweaking or correcting! Check for spelling or grammar mistakes. Does it all make sense or is there information that’s hard to understand? Once you have fully reviewed, send it to your La Crème Consultant and have them proofread it too.

Once you are happy with the latest version of your CV, you are now ready to apply for that dream job!

Your CV and your LinkedIn Profile

It’s important that your LinkedIn experience matches your CV experience. Prospective employers may look for gaps or discrepancies between the two profiles so make sure both are up to date, correct and matching. When it comes to your CV and your LinkedIn profile, one will rarely cancel out the other but it’s important that they complement each other instead.

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