What do you believe is the purpose of your CV?
Your CV is a tool with one purpose: to win an interview. It should present you in the best possible light and convince a prospective employer that you have what it takes to be successful in the role on offer and within their organization.
You don't have much time to impress with your CV; it is well documented that employers scan, rather than read CVs. Therefore make sure it stimulates interest by following these essential points:
Plan
Focus on the employers' needs, not yours. Put yourself in an employers’ position by thinking 'what would make the perfect candidate for this job?' Make sure you cover all aspects in your CV, illustrating your achievements to demonstrate what makes you the person for the job.
Length
Keep it concise and relevant. Generally your CV should be kept to 2 pages, occasionally 3. Any more than 3 and the employer will not be interested in reading it and will believe you are incapable of summarising your career achievements. This is true whether you are a contractor or a permanent job seeker. You will have time to expand upon your experience and achievements in interview.
Content
You should structure your CV clearly by dividing it into sections, such as Personal Information, Profile (brief), Technical Skills, Qualifications, Employment History and Interests.
Keep it concise - sentences should be as short and direct as possible with no repetition. Ensure it is completely relevant and targeted to your goal and to the ideal next step in your career. Be sure to clearly highlight your strengths and de-emphasise your areas for development. Wherever possible, make your CV results oriented and provide evidence to back up your capability statements. Use the most accurate and impressive ‘power verbs’ to describe skills or accomplishments.
Personal Information
Include your name, full address, telephone numbers (day/evening/mobile) and email address.
Qualifications
List both academic and non-academic qualifications in chronological order, giving grades. Do not include irrelevant information.
Employment History
Beginning with your most recent job, include your responsibilities, duration of employment and reasons for leaving. Do not omit any period of employment for whatever reason, as this may prove awkward at interview. If there have been periods when you have not been in employment include these times but state what you have been doing in the most positive and relevant light. Your consultant will be able to advise you more on this area.
Referee Details
These need not be included on your CV. However, before Upstream can place you, we will need to carry out detailed reference checks for your most recent five years of employment history, so it is useful to have these on hand when registering with us.
Personal Interests
Listing your interests is important, but do not generalise. For example, instead of simply saying 'football', you could expand and say that you have played for a local club for the last four years but have also enjoyed the additional role of Treasurer for the committee or similar (but only if this is true). This shows commitment, variety of skills and being a good team player.
Check
Before submitting your CV to Upstream, make sure you check it thoroughly, not just for spelling mistakes, but also to make sure that it is a clear representation of you, that it is relevant and that it will encourage the employer to want to find out more. Ask a friend to check it, too. Someone who works in the Business Intelligence or general IT industry would be particularly beneficial.
References
Prior to being placed on an assignment with Upstream, you must provide your consultant with copies of all your written references and referee details for your most recent five-year employment history.
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