Checklist and Top Tips

What do employers look for?

The million dollar question! Most employers say the following are essential for CVs and covering letters:

Is it focused on the role applied for and the particular organisation?
Is it easy to read and does it have a logical layout?
Does it emphasise the most relevant information? Make sure you explicitly meet any specific selection criteria.
Are all the sections included i.e. is there any key information missing?
Does it make an immediate impact and leave them wanting to find out more?

You need to make sure that your CV and covering letter meet these requirements! You can find out which are the top ten skills recruiters look for from our employability section.

CV Top Tips

Identify what the employer is looking for: read and pay attention to the job details and highlight your skills, experiences and qualities to match their needs.
Target your CV to a particular job / organisation, don’t use the same CV for every job.
Don’t start every sentence with ‘I’!
Keep it to 2 pages and allocate space according to the importance of the information.
Highlight important headings and text, think about what you want the employer to see first…second…third and so on and try and use bullet points to break up large sections of text.
Be honest!

CV Checklist

Before you send off your CV you may find it useful to review it by looking at this checklist to see if there is anything you have missed.

The content of the CV

Has the key personal information been included e.g. name and contact details?
Are the details on education appropriate and listed in reverse chronological order?
If using a skills profile does it provide evidence of a range of skills for example, IT skills, language skills, technical skills, key skills e.g. communication skills, teamwork, numeracy and problem solving?
Is evidence of skills provided drawing on a range of experience? E.g.academic work, employment, voluntary experience, clubs and societies, positions of responsibility e.g. Course Representative.
Is there a summary of employment (paid and unpaid work)?
If a section on interests has been included has some detail been given?
Names and addresses of two referees have been included (and if not a statement indicating that references are available on request is given).
No key information is missing?

The structure of the CV

Is the layout of the CV logical and easy to follow?
Is the CV on one or two pages of A4 paper? Make sure it doesn’t fizzle out half way down page two!
Are the subheadings used effectively to give the CV a clear structure?

How the CV looks

Are the sections aligned correctly (possibly by using the tab key effectively)?
Has careful consideration been given to the use of font style, bold and underlining?
If on paper, is the printing of an acceptable quality (no smudges) and the paper clean and not creased?
Is the size of font appropriate and consistent (not too big or too small)?
Are there any spelling or grammatical errors?