Tips on writing a CV

Typically, CVs are typically no longer than two sides of A4, but this can differ depending on your level of experience. If you’re struggling to fit all your experience on two pages, here are some tips on to keep or remove.

What to include

• Contact details like your phone number and email address
• A personal profile with information about yourself. If you need to save space, this can be included in your cover letter instead
• Education, with your most recent at the top and tailored to the role
• Work experience and job history, including start and end dates and what you did
• Skills and achievements relevant to the role – remember to link it to the job description if you can

What to remove if you’re struggling for space

• Interests and hobbies if they’re not relevant to the role. If they show things like transferable skills, great, but if not, leave them out
• Personal details that aren’t relevant, like your date of birth
• References and contact details. Simply add ‘references available upon request’

Best practice

• Remember to read the job description carefully and pull out key words and phrases to use in your CV. This shows you understand how your experience aligns with the requirements
• When you’re finished, read your CV and cover letter out loud, or ask a friend/family member to read it for you. This will help you notice any errors or repetition as well as giving you a general feel for how your work experience comes across when being read by someone else
• Make sure the dates on your CV are up to date. If there’s a noticeable gap in your employment (three to six months or longer), you may want to reference this in your cover letter. You don’t need to go into great detail (especially if it’s a personal matter), but the team will likely ask at a later date if you don’t make a direct reference to it at the beginning.
• Make your statements tangible. For example, instead of saying ‘Good at team working’, try something like ‘Collaborated with internal team members and external agencies daily using clear verbal communication and reviewing shared expectations.”