November 23, 2011, by bbasb

Make your CV stand out!

This is what one of our CV reviewers Chris had to say about making sure your CV stands out…and for the right reason!

Dear Santa, I’d really like my dream job for Christmas…

 It’s that time of year, days are getting shorter, nights are getting colder and you’ve realised that if you want your dream job you need to start focusing on your CV. Unfortunately Santa elves aren’t specialists in CV writing but luckily the University of Nottingham Careers & Employability Service is.

 As a CV Reviewer I’ve seen a plethora of different approaches to CV writing the good, the bad and the just plain bizarre. Last week, I had a student who had taken the starring role in her primary school pantomime placed neatly in her “leadership skills” section. *Alarm bells*.  After a few minutes it, it turned out that being a customer service supervisor on the weekends for the last two years demonstrated leadership much better.

 So keep it recent and keep it relevant. Make every decision about your CV a conscious one. Pick out relevant modules from your course to include, bullet point the skills you gained from your work experience and demonstrate your commitment through your extra- curricular activates – but keep it recent and relevant.

 Another tip: Don’t fall foul of the unforgivables. Keep a consistent text size, colour and font. Bullet points should be perfectly in line, and apostrophises should not wander where they are not needed.

 Get a second opinion. Don’t leave it until Christmas Eve, you don’t want to find the jobs are out of stock until next year. Book a CV review today.

And finally…. make sure you include your Award modules on your CV. Employers really value extra-curricular activities and it’s a great conversation starter in an interview!

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