Boost Your Chances Headings
What type of CV is best for me?
20 ways of getting your CV in the Yes pile
CVs for qualified but without experience and ‘Graduate entrance’
How to write a computer-friendly CV
Get short-listed with your cover letter
135+ possible interview questions and answers
135+ possible interview questions and answers part2
Personality tests: another hurdle
Questions to ask your interviewer
How to negotiate your remuneration package
Your ‘Thank-You-For-The-Interview’ note
Coming out first in your second interview
(Sample Templates):
A winning CV format
1. Your ‘Personal Details’ section
2. Your ‘Personal Profile’ section
3. Your ‘Summary of Experience’ section
4. Your ‘Other Personal Facts’ section
We recommend the following format for your ‘Professional CV’:
We discuss each point below.
1.Your ‘Personal Details’ section
Your personal details should be stated at the head of your CV. These include:
YOUR FULL NAME
Home address including post code
Telephone number: with STD (area) dialling code
Work number, mobile number, e-mail address (if appropriate)
2.Your ‘Personal Profile’ section
The ‘Personal Profile’ section is used in the functional CV (or combinedCV) and is designed to catch the recruiter’s eye a few seconds after he has taken your CV from the envelope, or opened his e-mail attachment. The purpose of the ‘Personal Profile’ is to give the reader a brief ‘summary’ of yourself, in the hope that he will then be encouraged to read on. The ‘Personal Profile’ usually appears at the top of your CV just after your Personal Details, and before your experience and education details.
There is debate among HR specialists as to whether a Profile should be used, and it is not always appropriate. However, when applying for positions in the accountancy and finance professions a Personal Profile is favoured.
As the diagram (above) shows, a good approach is one which uses a two part approach:
1. A statement of your immediate career objective, and
2. A summary of experience and achievements.
(i) Career objective
Spend as long as necessary to create a powerful opening for your CV. Your ‘Career objective’ should be two or three short sentences at most. Don’t use this section to talk about yourself and your detailed career goals. This will be covered in the interview. Avoid such phrases as:
“ … seeking a chance to develop my potential.”
“ … looking for advancement.”
“ … where my skills will be utilised.”
“ … wanting challenge and a sense of personal achievement.”
Your aim is to focus on the prospective employer’s needs. Try to incorporate the words of the job title or the job role you are seeking to fill as part of your personal ‘Career objective’.
(ii) Summary of experience and accomplishments
Here you should include between four and six bulleted paragraphs that cover your best skills, as well as some of the most notable things you’ve ever done at work. Again, relate these as much as possible to the requirements stated in the job advert or the job description.
Here you should include between four and six bulleted paragraphs that cover your best skills, as well as some of the most notable things you’ve ever done at work. Again, relate these as much as possible to the requirements stated in the job advert or the job description.
Remember, the goal of your CV is to get the recruiter to call you for interview, and the ‘Personal Profile’ section is a crucial part of your achieving this goal.
We have created 11 templates which help demonstrate the different possible forms of ‘Personal Profile’ used on CVs. Obviously these are contrived situations and your own ‘Personal Profile’ will need to be you-specific.
- §Accountant
- §Accounting Manager
- §Accountant (entry level)
- §Tax Manager for an International Company
- §Audit senior
- §Senior Credit Controller
- §Analyst
- §Management Accountant
- §Accounts Assistant
- §Recent Graduate
- §Temp Worker
Templates: Personal Profiles
As you will have seen from our few examples, your Personal Profile is vitally important. Look at the following diagram and use it to build a list of items for possible inclusion in your own Personal Profile.
3. Your ‘Summary of Experience’ section
This is the part of your CV where you provide details of your previous positions first, and then your education record.
(i) Name of present/last company/organisation – Job Title – Dates (year)
- § A brief description of the company, its sector and product-market range.
§- Your role in the company. A description of the role is better than the ‘Job Title’ because of the vagary of job titles – a title may have tangible meaning in your current organisation but mean something entirely different to a prospective employer.
§- Don’t repeat what you have stated in your ‘Personal Profile’ unless it is important enough to warrant repeating.
§- Quote figures sparingly – if your budget allotment increased use a percentage figure to illustrate this rather than a specific financial amount. A £500,000 increase is not so meaningful as a 12% increase.
- § A brief description of the company, its sector and product-market range.
§- Your role in the company. A description of the role is better than the ‘Job Title’ because of the vagary of job titles – a title may have tangible meaning in your current organisation but mean something entirely different to a prospective employer.
§- Don’t repeat what you have stated in your ‘Personal Profile’ unless it is important enough to warrant repeating.
§- Quote figures sparingly – if your budget allotment increased use a percentage figure to illustrate this rather than a specific financial amount. A £500,000 increase is not so meaningful as a 12% increase.
(ii) Previous Employers’ Name – Job Title – Start and End Dates (year)
If it is not clear from the name of the company/organisation what sector they operate in, or the size of the company/organisation, describe their business, size and the area or department in which you worked. Highlight the role you played (e.g. by Job Title) and emphasise any promotions.
•- As you go back in time and history be briefer about the work you did – it is the last 5-8 years of employment that have the greatest important bearing on any future role in which you are to be involved.
- Draw most attention to the skills which you still currently use or wish to refresh.
§- The emphasis on the things you achieved will be mainly included in your ‘Personal Profile’ section. However it doesn’t harm to draw attention again to noteworthy events or accomplishments in this section, as you track through your past employment record.
Your main aim is to demonstrate how you got to where you are today, and the different ways in which you obtained your experience. As you go back in time you do not need to be as specific about listing every development or career step you took along the way.
(iii) Qualifications, Education and Training
Give details of your professional qualifications and/or membership first.
Details of training you received at work are useful indicators of the investment which previous employers were willing to make in you and should be listed. Description, dates and the length of training courses are best left for discussion at interview and need not be included.
Only secondary or further education is of interest with dates and details of academic attainments (e.g. CSE, ‘O’/ ’GCSE’/’ A’ Levels, first and second degree).
4. Your ‘Other Personal Facts’ section
- §Date of birth: written as day, month in words, year, e.g. 24th March 1973.
- §Marital status : there’s no harm in putting this, plus ages of any children.
- §Interests and hobbies. HR experts disagree about the benefits of including hobbies and interests in a CV. However, on balance, you would be wise to include some mention of your hobbies and interests because:
- They help paint the ‘whole’ picture of you.
- They may be able to tell recruiters a lot about your personality, leadership potential and team working skill.
- Listing your interests outside work reassures them that you can get along with others (team sports), are curious (pub quiz team member), that you are broad minded (love of travelling), that you can be responsible (youth club mini-bus driver).
- They form a basis for discussion at the interview.
Keep a list of your interests and hobbies to a minimum of three.
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