Six tips on how to write a great CV

Tips for building a successful CV

Even if you have the right skills, extensive experience background and are passionate about a role, unless you get your CV right, you can fall short at the first hurdle. Sometimes, not including enough or including too much information, not highlighting the most relevant experience, or not referencing your most recent achievements can prevent your CV from standing out. Whilst building an impressive resumé can be tricky, here are our top six tips on things you should and shouldn’t do:

1. Introduce yourself

   Whilst not essential, providing an introduction early on in a CV can leave a positive impression – but only if you get it right. A few sentences about yourself, why you’re applying and what made you apply for this particular role can help recruiters understand a little more about you. However, an introductory statement should always be short and punchy. Avoid describing yourself in cliché or abstract ways and focus your statement on what’s most important.

2. Keep it concise

   Hiring managers will often stop reading a CV once they’ve garnered enough information to decide if they want to invite a candidate to an interview, owing to the sheer number of applicants they will often have to review. With that in mind, it’s important to keep your CV concise. Use short sentences and bullet points to convey as much information as possible in the most clear and digestible way, and make sure the document doesn’t extend beyond two pages.

3. Clearly highlight your strengths

   In keeping your CV clear and concise, you won’t be able to go into a lot of depth about all your achievements, so the priority is highlighting your strengths. This means you should always put your most noteworthy accolades and relevant experience right at the top of your CV, where it will be seen first. Or, if you’re looking to draw particular attention to your skillset, you could consider including a dedicated skills section, perhaps in a separate box.

4. Mention previous responsibilities

   Relevant qualifications should always feature in your CV but hiring managers will also be looking for summary information on the responsibilities you hold in your current role or have previously undertaken in other roles. These responsibilities will provide a very good indicator of your experience and capabilities, as well as highlighting to potential recruiters any training or development that you might require for particular roles.

   When breaking down previous roles into specific responsibilities, you might be surprised at the range of experience you have had through these posts and this additional detail might offer more opportunities to catch the attention of the hiring manager reviewing your CV.

5. Don’t include everything

   Two of the most common traps that many jobseekers fall into are including too much information, or not including enough relevant information on their CVs. Remember that a resumé should provide enough detail for a recruiter to see you are a potential candidate to be offered an interview, whilst not being a full breakdown of your professional history that dilutes why you might be well-suited for a particular role. Typically, a CV alone won’t secure you a job offer, so don’t feel the need to cover everything.

   Before including certain details in a CV, think about the job you are applying for. If you’re applying for a more junior or entry-level role, including your pre-degree qualifications can be a good idea. But if you’re looking for a more senior role, only include qualifications and experience from your relevant training onwards.

6. Get feedback
   
   Getting advice on your CV is always a good idea. Whether it’s a friend, colleague or a consultant at a recruitment agency, a fresh pair of eyes will always help with spotting areas where you could make your CV stronger. If you’re looking for your next AHP role with a medical recruitment agency such as Medacs, your main point of contact could be the perfect person to get feedback from. They are specialists in placing medical professionals into similar roles and will know exactly what an employer is looking for.