How To Write A Good Quality CV

In today's competitive job market a good CV is vital if you are to get noticed and secure yourself an interview. However, writing a good curriculum vitae (CV) is a task most people find daunting. Fortunately, it is not as difficult as it seems with a little guidance, forethought and time anyone can write a CV that will get them noticed and appeal to perspective employers.

How you lay out your CV is a very personal thing there are no hard and fast rules about how to do it. However, your CV does need to be neatly laid out and be in a logical order so that someone who is reading it can easily find what they are looking for. Generally speaking your name, phone number and e-mail address should be placed at the top of your CV.

The 2nd part of your CV should cover your education and your work experience. What order you lay these facts out in is up to you and to some extent depends on the role you are applying for. For example if the role you are applying for is academic or technical it is likely that your prospective employer will be more interested in your academic qualifications than in your work experience. If you are applying for a role such as line manager in a factory then your work experience may be more relevant, so should be put first on your CV. Whichever way round you choose to list your work experience and qualifications do so concisely and list the points that are most relevant to the role you are applying for first.

A good CV should tell your prospective employer a little something about you aside from your work experience and qualifications, but it is important not to do what used to be popular in the 1970s and 80s and use clichés. By clichés we mean things like I am reliable, trustworthy and a good team player. To a perspective employer these are empty terms that mean nothing to them because you have written them yourself. This kind of information belongs on a reference if you get through the initial interview process. Because references are written by your former employers they carry some weight with prospective employers.

Be careful to make your CV the right length two pages is usually enough for your average CV. Any longer and a perspective employer is likely to stop reading before they reach the end. If a curriculum vitae is more than 2 pages long it is very likely to be too wordy and to contain information that is not 100% relevant to the job you are applying for. No one likes to have their time wasted and that includes perspective employers after all they probably have dozens of CVs to wade through, so the quicker they can read the CVs the better it is for them.

Finish your CV off with a short passage that tells your perspective employer a bit about yourself beyond just your work experience and qualifications. If you do voluntary work, run marathons for charity or have done something extraordinary like climbed Everest this is where you mention it. Note you only mention it you do not write an essay about your experience. Again include those things that are most relevant to the job you are applying for.

Print your CV on good quality stationary use an inkjet printer that is running properly to be sure you get a good crisp result. Do not be tempted to save paper by printing on both sides of the paper people often do not turn CV pages over. Use good quality envelopes and hand address them with a return address on the back.

AV jobs Ltd has been formed specifically to provide the audio visual jobs market with the specialist recruitment service it deserves. Our aim is to provide structure and advice, focusing on building long-term relationships with both clients and candidates for jobs in audio