I had made some revisions to my most recent CV after the first advice session. These focused on re-structuring the way I wrote about my work experience, as well as omitting descriptions of my behavioural skills. I felt the first re-iteration was considerably improved. However, after seeing today’s template layout of a professionally written CV, I felt there was a lot more I needed to change. Main points of observation include:
- Substance over style: a CV does not need to be stylised, and attempting to use a more creative layout can detract from the reader’s experience
- A CV can be more than one side, and limiting yourself to one side of A4 restricts how much content you can include. You are likely to miss out important details!
- Everything needs to be evidence-based. Behavioural skills are harder to prove on paper, so focus on things that can be proven.
- Use the STAR structure to write about case studies.
- Situation: Describe the situation and your role in it.
- Task: Describe the task you were given.
- Action(s): What did you do to respond to the task?
- Result: What was the result of your actions? (Prove your success.)
LAUVC502 