How To Write A Cv

CVs and Job Applications

The Successful CV

A successful CV is the product of careful thought and planning. The employer is looking for an applicant who has the right experience, skills, and personal qualities for the job. The person appointed is likely to be the one who not only possesses all these but also presents them in the most attractive way. The only way in which you can achieve this is by thinking very carefully about yourself and what you have done in the past and believe you could do in the future, given the right opportunity.

Preparation

Begin by thinking about these three areas:

* experience

* skills

* personal qualities

There are various ways in which you can do this. What follows is only one possibility. Whichever approach you choose, however, make sure that you make detailed notes of your ideas - even if you think they may not be relevant. Also, keep all your lists and sheets of notes 'open'; go back to them from time to time and make sure that you haven't missed anything out. This preparation stage is essentially one of brainstorming. Selection and ordering come later.

Experience: Many people find it easier to start with this, because it is the most concrete. Begin by thinking of your life as divided into a number of stages. What these are depends on you - the divisions between the stages may be marked by changes of job, moves from one place to another, or by key events in your life - marrying, having children, buying a house, and so on. Your notes on your experience should certainly include:

* education

* any professional training

* periods of employment - include part-time jobs and those which didn't last very long, as well as 'proper' jobs

* other extended periods in which your life focused on a particular activity (for example, periods of foreign travel)

* any voluntary work you have done

Skills: Your notes on your experience should provide you with useful prompts when it comes to listing your skills. Look at each of the different stages of your life and ask yourself:

* Which skills did I use here that I already had?

* Which skills did I improve on or consolidate?

* What new skills did I learn?

Make sure that you include not only skills related to your trade or profession, but also personal skills, for example:

organizing events training staff

interviewing giving advice

chairing meetings making presentations

supervising trouble-shooting

meeting the public

Don't be too concerned at this stage about whether the skills you list are relevant. That can come later. For now write them all down.

When you have finished, look back through the list and consider whether each item is one separate skill, or, in fact, a bundle of skills that should be separated out. For example, you may have written 'communicating', when it may be preferable to list 'simplifying technical subject matter and communicating it to non-specialist workers'.

Personal qualities: This is the area that many people find most difficult; they are unhappy talking about themselves and their qualities because they feel it is big-headed or 'pushy'. They may also find it quite difficult to step back and look at themselves objectively. On the other hand, if you don't tell a potential employer about your personal qualities, who will?

It is sometimes difficult to begin such a list, so here are some qualities to start you off. Write down any which you think apply to you, and then add others of your own. For each one you choose, make sure that you can think of incidents in your own life and work experience that bear them out.

accurate independent worker

adaptable lively

astute logical

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