The Guide to Writing the Perfect CV

Writing the perfect CV takes practice. It is best to tackle the process in stages, or drafts if you prefer. This will allow you to edit your work and polish your CV more accurately. CV stands for Curriculum Vitae which is actually a Latin phrase, meaning ‘course of life’. 

The standard CV should be no longer than two sides of an A4 sized paper and they are the means by which you can summarize your experience, skills and education to prove to potential employers that you are the right person for the job.

Layout

The placement of each of your CV categories is very important. Focus on your most attractive points towards the beginning of your CV so that they are the first things that an employer will see when reading through it. If you are a recent graduate, you may lack work experience so for this reason, place your education before your work experience and vice versa if you have more relevant work experience to display.

Skills

Develop and hone your skills with help from call centre jobs in Manchester. Even gaining work experience in a job like this can propel your communication and customer service skills to name but a few. When you include your skills in your CV, make sure to give an example of a time when you showcased these skills. Other desirable skills include IT skills, the ability to work well in a team and being able to manage and encourage other employees.

Referees

Don’t forget to include at least two referees that will be able to give an honest and hopefully positive opinion on you as an employee. You may want to include their contact information. A glowing recommendation will go a long way towards helping you get the right job so don’t include a referee from a previous job that didn’t end very well.

Contact Details

Your contact details should be on the very top of your CV. Be sure to include your full name, home address, mobile phone number and your email address. The email should look professional and not something that you picked out when you were 12 years of age. According to www.business2community.com, 76% of resumes are discarded for an unprofessional email address.

Work Experience

Include work experience, which can be anything from previous jobs to voluntary work and internships, etc. The most recent examples of your experience should come first followed by more dated examples. It is also a great advantage to include examples of the tasks that you carried out and the purpose of your role with the company or organization.

Cover Letters

If you are applying for a job online, you should write your cover letter in the body of your email. According to The Guardian, the email is the first impression that you will give a recruiter and therefore you must give some information about yourself and why you’re right for the role. Avoid cover letters that start like this “I am applying for X role and attach my covering letter and CV”…you want to impress the employer, not put them to sleep!