Writing A Good CV to Help Secure That New Job: Recruitment Leaders

Writing a CV and covering letter is a very important part of securing new employment.
This will be your chance to tell the employer who you are, what you can offer them and what you have been doing in the past.
First impressions count; you have one chance to tell them that you are the one for the job.

I am not an expert, though I see many CV's and I know what a good one should look like and what should be avoided.

For general help finding that new job, see this page.

There are many companies that offer CV writing services, they will charge you a one-off fee for this. It can be a good idea, only you can decide if it is worth it. One such company is Winning CV's, you can find them at www.winning-cvs.co.uk

If sending your CV by email, I suggest that you avoid enclosing a covering letter as well as a CV. I would write a covering letter as text on the email itself. This will make it easier for them to see your letter without having to open a word document.
This text will be the first thing the employer sees; it is worth spending a few minutes getting it right.
Do not include too much, you want it to say who you are, what position you are applying for and a brief reason why you will be perfect for the position.

This is an example of what I think a covering letter should be like:

Dear Mr So and So

I would like to apply for the Sales Executive vacancy recently advertised in the Maidenhead Advertiser.

For the last year I have worked at JPT International in a similar role selling office stationary to companies throughout the UK. I feel that this position will enable me to further my career in sales and bring me new challenges.
I graduated from Birmingham University in 2002 where I obtained a degree in Business Studies.

Please find attached a copy of my CV for your perusal and I look forward to hearing from soon.

Yours Sincerely

John Smith
Tel. 01225 365869
Email: johnsmith@example.com

It is brief and to the point. You do not want them to get bored reading it.

A similar theme should continue when writing a CV: You need to get all the relevant information across without it being too long. The employer may only read the first page, or even the first few paragraphs to get a feel of who you are and what you can do.
This will mean that the most important information should at the top of the CV. 
Here is an example CV for you to look at for reference. Again, this is only an example.

An important point is to make your CV clear, uncluttered, showing all the important facts about your skills, employment history and education.
The popular opinion is that it should be no more than 2 pages long, though for some people, this would be difficult.
Make sure the font and style is the same throughout keeping it consistent. Save as MS Word (.doc) where possible or save as a rich text format (.rtf) and use your name as the filename, eg. "John Smith.doc", not just "my cv.doc" as it could get lost on their hard drive. Some people put their photo's on their CV's! I would discourage this.

The first thing is the document title, Curriculum Vitae, followed by your name. This should be in bold with a lager font, but not too big.
Address, contact details should follow, DOB and nationality can follow on or be at the end of the document. Save any other information such as hobbies and references to the end of the document.

A popular layout then has a short profile of yourself: This will be about two paragraphs or 3 to 4 lines of text giving a brief overview of your key skills and attributes.

Then start listing your employment history, starting with your current or most recent job first, then go backwards through you career. State the company name, job title and the period you were there.
Give a brief overview of the position then list your key responsibilities and tasks. Do not list too many; 6 or so should suffice.
Then repeat for previous employment. If any of the jobs were not as relevant to your current career choice, you can reduce the list of tasks & responsibilities accordingly.

If you are a graduate, you should still list your work experience. This may not be relevant, but it will show that you have worked in a company, following their rules and interacting with colleagues.
List any industry training and qualifications you have gained whilst in employment.
Then state your education, giving dates, location and exam results. Some companies will insist on seeing exam certificates, so be honest.

You can now put your personal interests, do not overdo it and try not to put "socialising" as this can give the wrong impression.
Then you can show your references, or just put "available upon request". These can be personal or professional, though professional references are better.

That's about it. I am no expert, but I hope it will be of some help.