writing your cv

Before registering with Baxter Personnel, ensure your CV is giving prospective employers the best possible image.

Here is a straightforward format for a clear and concise CV.

Name: Write your name in full and in capitals

Address: Give your full address

Telephone: Give your daytime, evening and mobile numbers if possible, remember, the easier it is for a company to contact you the more likely you are to get asked in for an interview.

Date of Birth: Day, month and year

Personal Profile / Objective Statement: This is your chance to give a short overview of your skills, qualities, hopes, and plans written in a positive style.

The content should be relevant to the job that you are applying for and should be written in such a way that it encourages the prospective employer to read the rest of your CV.

Employment: It is important to give a prospective employer a complete account of your working life thus far. If you leave any gaps in your employment history, or if you are vague with dates, the prospective employer may assume the worst and decide not to invite you to interview.

Include paid and unpaid work, full-time or part-time, sandwich placements or vacation jobs.

Start with your most recent work experiences as these are the most relevant, working backwards to your earliest positions.

Suggested format

Dates: Include the month and year, e.g. From June 1994 to Sept 2002

Job Title: Give your job title, your employer name and whether the post was full or part time

Duties: List your main duties and responsibilities

Skills Used: List the skills you have used and developed in performing this role. By identifying skills used, you can give a potential employer a clearer picture of your abilities. Remember, employers employ people for their skills, not their certificates.

Try and put slightly more detail into recent job descriptions and slightly less detail into those job descriptions which are less relevant because they were a long time ago, were junior positions, or were in positions completely unrelated to the type of job which you are currently seeking.

Additional Skills: Keyboard skills / computer literacy, the ability to drive, car ownership and language fluency are all useful assets and should be included.

Education and Training: List your education including any training courses that you have been on which are relevant to the position which you are seeking.

Start with your most recent experience of education or training, as this will usually be most relevant to your prospective employer, and work back to your secondary education.

Suggested format

From: List the dates when you were on the course

Course: List the place of study and the course title

Details: Give an overview of the course content, dissertation topic if relevant and grades achieved if any.