Tips for writing a CV

What is CV an abbreviation for?

CV is an abbreviation of ‘Curriculum Vitae’ which is Latin and means ‘the course of life’.

What is a CV?

• Your own personal and flexible marketing tool
• A record of your life and achievements

Why would you use a CV?

• To inform potential employers of your achievements and qualities
• To give you the opportunity to sell yourself
• To email and/or upload via the internet
• To help you to fill in an application form
• To keep all your information in one place

A CV should:

• Be relevant to the job you are applying for
• Be easy to read and follow
• Contain detailed and accurate information
• Clearly show your work history and qualifications
• Only contain truthful information that can be supported with evidence
• Highlight the qualities and skills you have developed
• Be one or two A4 sheets maximum wherever possible
• Be up to date

A CV should not:

• Contain irrelevant information
• Have ‘CV’ written at the top of it
• Include your date of birth
• Be vague and lacking in detail
• Contain any spelling mistakes, typing errors or poor grammar
• Be dishonest
• Include abbreviations and jargon, unless you are sure they are appropriate
• Have unexplained gaps in your employment history

Things to remember

You should ideally adapt your CV to suit the vacancy you wish to apply for. For example, if the person specification is more concerned with relevant experience, you may want to emphasise any appropriate experience that you have by adding extra detail.

Useful links

• View a sample CV
• CV builder tool