Adding your work experience
Once you’ve written your CV profile, it’s time to list your work experience. If you are an experienced candidate then this section will be the largest part of your CV. If you have little or no paid work experience you can also include:
- University work placements
- School work experience placements
- Voluntary work
Listing your work experience
You should list each previous role individually, starting with your current or most recent job, working down the CV to your oldest job – This is known as reverse chronological order. Your current job and recent roles should contain lots of detail because recruiters see them as the best way of assessing your current capabilities. Older roles can be summarised as you go down the CV, as recruiters will be less interested in your work from several years ago. If you have a lot of experience, you can omit older roles (especially if they are irrelevant). If you are making a career change, you need to be selective about which roles you include.
Structuring your role descriptions
Your work experience section is your opportunity to show recruiters how you apply your skills in the workplace and the impact you make on your employers. To do this effectively you need to structure each role clearly and provide the information that recruiters want to see.
Heading
Start each role with a bold heading to clearly define them on the page. Include the following information for each heading;
- Dates employed from and to
- Job title
- Name of employer
Outline
Build context for recruiters by providing an overview of the company you work for, where you fit within the organisation, and a brief summary of the role.
Key responsibilities
List the responsibilities within your role in short bullet points, and demonstrate as many important skills as possible – showing who you interact with, and how your actions benefit your employer.
Key achievements
To prove the impact you make in the workplace, finish the role with some achievements that have generated big positive results for the employer. Ideally you should back these achievements up with facts and figures to give recruiters a measurable idea of the impact you made.
Dealing with gaps in employment
Gaps can be off-putting for employers because it simply appears as though you have not been doing anything during that period – unless you state otherwise. If you have any periods of unemployment that lasted over a month or so, then try to fill them with constructive activities to make yourself look proactive and positive. For example;
- Studying – With details of qualifications gained or working towards
- Travel – Great to demonstrate planning, organisation and people skills
- Volunteer roles or personal projects – e.g. caring for a family member, working for a community initiative
If you’ve had time out for personal reasons such as a serious illness, then don’t be worried about including it on your CV – employers should not discriminate against you. Just keep the detail light and focus on highlighting your value throughout the rest of your CV.
Adding your education
How and where you add your education will depend on your experience level.
Education section for experienced candidates
If you are an experienced candidate your education should be a relatively short section near the bottom of your CV – because recruiters will be more interested in your work experience, and will not spend much time reading your education section. It should be a short bullet pointed list of your most important and relevant qualifications for the jobs you are applying for – you do not need to include every course you’ve ever taken.
Education section for candidates with little or no experience
If you have no experience or are a student, your education should be a much larger section and appear underneath your CV profile – this is because your education is where most of your skills and knowledge will come from. It should be detailed list of your educational activities, including the institution names, dates studied, and grades achieved.
Typical points to include are:
- GCSE’s
- A levels
- NVQs
- University degrees
- Vocational qualifications – work based qualifications that are specific to your industry
- General certificates – Such as criminal records checks or first aid courses
To counter your lack of work experience, you can include dissertations, school/university projects, exam modules etc. and endeavour to highlight the points that are relevant to the roles you are applying for.
Hobbies and interests
Your hobbies and interest are an entirely optional section and should only be added if they are somehow relevant to the jobs or companies you are applying to. Generally speaking, they work best for candidates with no experience, to help demonstrate skills outside of the workplace.
Which hobbies to add to your CV
Some good hobbies to add to your CV are;
- Volunteering – Any volunteer work is normally a great addition to your CV, especially if t’s for a good cause, or it directly relates to your target roles. Either way there should be plenty of work-related skills you can highlight from volunteer work.
- Writing – Writing is a great communicative skill that is required in plenty of jobs, so if you have any personal writing hobbies it can be worth mentioning them.
- Sports – Involvement in a fairly serious sports team or individual sport involves dedication, teamwork, and shows you have the ability to commit yourself to a cause.
- Strategy games – If you play in a chess league or similar equivalent, this can be a good way of showing recruiters that you are bright and tactful.
- Charity and events – If you have any involvement in the organising and planning of events in your spare time, it should definitely get a mention in your CV. Maybe you help to run an after-school club, or support the promoting of a local music event – lots of workplace skills can be drawn out of event planning hobbies.
- Travel – Some employers really love to see travel on a CV. Travel involve lots of planning, bravado, and teaches you a lot about different cultures and lifestyles.
- Practical work – This one applies mainly to candidates applying to engineering or trade roles, but if you have any hobbies that involve building or fixing things, it can be a great way to prove your ingenuity and technical know-how.
Which hobbies to keep out of your CV
The following hobbies probably aren’t going to make a huge difference to the success of your CV;
- Common pastimes – Common pastimes are essentially hobbies that 99% of the population take part in. Things like eating out, going to the cinema, reading or socialising. These hobbies will not set you apart from other candidates, so there’s no need to waste space on your CV by writing about them.
- Sensitive subjects – If you have hobbies that involve any subjects that could be considered sensitive (topics such as politics or religion) then I would advise leaving them out to be safe and ensure you don’t encounter any discrimination.
- Passive hobbies – Hobbies such as supporting a football team or watching television don’t require much input from you personally, so they will not impress employers.
Should you add your hobbies to your CV?
Does adding hobbies and interests on their CV actually make a difference in an application.
The answer depends on two aspects
- The role that you are applying for
- If your interests bear any relevance to that role.
If you are an experienced qualified doctor applying for a GP role, then adding your interests of going to the cinema or watching football will have little impact on your application – they just don’t add any value.
However, if you are a recent graduate applying for a management graduate scheme, but you have no relevant work experience, then adding a hobby such as captaining a football team, can actually be a great way to demonstrate leadership and organisation.
Interests are optional and in many cases, they won’t make a huge difference – but if you feel that they could make you appear more suitable and benefit your application, then you should include them.
You should now have a good idea how to write a successful CV which will land you an interview but before you do so, wait for my next blog where I will discuss some common mistakes and questions.
Enjoy!!!
Anja@350VA