What to include in your CV

By Emma Bisseker Senior HR Consultant and Business Coach

There are lots of resources available to help you write your CV.  These resources come in all different recommended formats, proposed content, key word inclusion and can be really helpful.  They’re all readily available for you to start populating.  For now, I want to share my view on this.  

Despite over 20 years in a role that included reviewing CV’s / application forms, developing screening criteria and leading interviews, selection panels, assessment days for all levels, it wasn’t until recently that I took time to consider what I needed to include and how I wanted to frame it to best reflect me and to give me the best opportunity of success.  My reflection on this topic, as with many, is one size does not fit all.  Yes, there are highly technical programme and algorithms set up in candidate application systems which will be filtering candidates, and some will filter before you submit your CV based on a set of standard questions.  I recall these being extremely popular when the market for skilled resource was saturated and applications for job roles was far more than those screening CV’s could manage.  Today, I question whether that is the case in many sectors and do wonder how long it will be before this practice changes.  In a changing world we need to adapt many things including how we search for talent and how we ensure we have the right individuals, with the right skills and experience to do the role. 

Writing your CV can be quite daunting particularly if you can’t think about what you do on a day to day basis, what key skills you have and what experience makes you the ideal candidate for the job but being focussed, taking time to reflect and linking your skills, experience and knowledge with the job you are applying for will stand you in good stead for the job, your next career step.

My key tips would be:

1. Set time aside to note down your:

• key skills and how you have applied them 
• experience that has enabled you to hit key objectives / project goals
• key achievements including impact on people, budget, project timelines
• education
  
  

 2. Reflection

• Taking time to reflect can help you bring together the important elements for your CV.  Take time to think about your career, what you’ve achieved, the challenges you’ve faced and overcome and what your key selling points are
  
  

3. CV Template

• Have a ‘standard template’ that you can review and amend as required against the job you applying for.  Your standard template might include your ‘personal statement’, your job roles with a timeline, education (if relevant) and professional qualifications/memberships. 
  
  

4. Skills Database

• Sounds very formal doesn’t it, but capturing your skills, knowledge and experience holistically, can be useful.  Write it down, put it in a spreadsheet….it doesn’t matter how you capture it but I would recommend capturing what you do, what you achieve, ,the impact, the output and the role you played because if you’re like me, when you need to share this, it disappears!  Keeping a log means you can draw upon it when you need to and pop it into your CV. 
  
  

5. Additional Achievements/Activity

• Think about what you’ve done outside your job role, have you volunteered, been included in networking groups, employee groups, contributed to a forum?  I think this shows your ‘authentic self’, who you are and what your values represent.
  
  

6. So what?