CV Writing Tips
A well-written CV will significantly boost your chances of winning the role.
“A curriculum vitae (CV), provides an overview of a person's experience and other qualifications.... a CV is typically the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker and is typically used to screen applicants, often followed by an interview, when seeking employment”. Extracted from Wikipedia
Is your CV up-to-date?
Make sure the information on your CV is up-to-date, clear and concise. It is good practice to update your CV even when you aren’t looking for a new role. You never know when a new opportunity might arise; CVs aren’t just used to find work, use it to update your social profile. Now is a better time than any, you don’t know what your circumstances might be like tomorrow.
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Contents of CV to include:
Contact Details
Personal Statement
Skills Summary
Employment History
Qualifications / Education
Hobbies & Interests
CONTACT DETAILS
Full Name and Surname
Address inc. postcode
Contact telephone numbers
Email address
[URLs to LinkedIn Profile, Twitter, Github / Stack Overflow, Portfolio]
PERSONAL STATEMENT
High-Level Summary
Opportunity to differentiate
Provides a snapshot of you as a candidate
Generally written in 1st or 3rd person
Approximately 3 / 4 lines – 200 words
Don't be too specific with your requirements
SKILLS SUMMARY
Technical Overview
Matrix vs. Free Text
Primary & Secondary
Be realistic and honest
Skills Matrix
Technology | Last Used | Skills Level (out of 5) | Years’ Experience |
C# | 2020 | 5 | 5 |
SQL 2008 | 2019 | 4 | 3 |
SKILLS SUMMARY
Databases - 15 Years – Design, administration, connectivity, tuning, replication.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (18 months), 2005. 2.5 years. SQL Server 2000 4 years. Transact SQL, SMO, SSIS, SSRS some SSAS. Clustered environment.
Performance Tuning. 3.5 Years including database performance tuning.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Job Title
Dates (month & year)
Achievements
Project Summary – Product, Technology, Complexity, Level of Responsibility
Your individual contribution – ‘I’ not ‘we’
ABC Software Ltd, Southampton – February 2012 - Present
Mar 2018 – Present Senior C# Developer
[input text regarding role and responsibilities]
June 2015 – Feb 2018 Software Developer
[input text regarding role and responsibilities]
Feb 2012 – June 2015 Graduate Software Developer
[input text regarding role and responsibilities]
EDUCATION
Include name of institutions, dates and grades where possible.
• Education
– Degree, A-Levels, GCSE’s
• Professional Qualifications
– MCDBA
• Professional Courses
– UML
• Publications
• Self-Study – books etc.
HOBBIES
Short paragraph summary
E.g. Reading, family time, travelling around the UK, sailing
Include IT Related Hobbies
Active Member of Developer South Coast and Southampton Data Platform & Cloud User Group
Once your CV is ready, don’t forget to put it to good use – send it to contactus@spectrumit.co.uk or use our Quick CV Drop.