What Employers look for in a CV Carol Hobbs – May 2012

Background Been in recruitment for 30 years! No CVs when I first started Since then, seen many CVs in all shapes and sizes Most young people tell me they have been advised how to do a CV by their school, college, Training Provider or the Job Centre but have they followed advice? Forgive me if you hear nothing new today but….. The purpose of the next 20 minutes is to confirm what employers that I deal with are looking for and hopefully answer any questions you might have

General Rules 2 Pages is the perfect length no longer and no shorter Recruiters get bored easily, especially if they have several CVs to go through. They need to pick out the relevant information in the shortest time. If it’s too long they will not bother to read it and move on to the next candidate. If it is too short, it probably won’t have enough information to interest the reader. A Personal Statement should be very short and contain factual information and not personal opinions.

Further rules The layout should be clear and easy to read The employer needs to pick out skills and experience in seconds A cluttered CV with too much text is too much trouble to read Best to keep it simple – use bullet points Job descriptions should contain key duties The employer will always ask more if he or she is interested

Key Skills and achievements 5 or 6 main key skills or achievements should be listed as bullet points and should be factual and demonstrate actual experience Example Customer Service Experience – Not ability to liaise at all levels Call Centre Experience – Not excellent telephone manner List the I.T. Systems used Not excellent I.T. Skills

Education For young people this comes higher up on the CV Names and dates from secondary school onwards are important Qualifications and grades Any specialist qualifications including relevant training courses completed Any positions of responsibility whilst at school Prefect, head boy or girl, sports captains etc.

Employment History This should be the heading for any paid employment The heading “Work Experience” should be for unpaid work whilst in education Always start with the most recent position including the month and the year of start and finish dates Name of Employer Job Title Key responsibilities – bullet points – no waffle Reasons for Leaving – positive slant Explain all gaps from leaving education Make it clear if jobs are part time whilst in Education

Outside Activities These should be listed if they demonstrate skills and attributes i.e. voluntary work, sporting achievements, music, singing, drama

CVs can be targeted So long as the information is true and factual A slightly different version can be used Every employer is different and is looking for different skills Skills can be highlighted according to their requirements Must always be honest

A CV should be written in the third person As if talking about someone else Ideally, I, we, me should not be used The CV will appear more objective, businesslike and professional

And finally…… There is nothing worse than spelling and grammatical errors CVs should be proof read by the job hunter and checked by another if possible People should regularly update their CVs all the way through their working life!

Questions?