Compton Champions CV Writing
So, you’ve gained the Compton Champions Award, you’ve developed skills until they are coming out of your ears and you’re ready to tell the world just how lucky they would be to employ you as you leave school, college or university….but wait….how do you write a CV?
Fear not, we’ve got a few useful tips to get you started!
Employers receive on average over 60 applicants for every job post advertised, so your CV really needs to make you stand out from the crowd.
●First off…… Presentation. Think two pages of white A4 paper, neatly typed in an easy to read font. There’s no need to include a picture, unless you are applying to be a model in which case a picture’s probably fairly important, and you don’t need to wow with flashing colours, swirls and stars.
●Include key information at the top of the page – your name, number, address and email address should head the document, although a date of birth is now no longer needed thanks to age discrimination laws. *Hint: Think about how your email address will look to potential employers. [email protected] and [email protected] are both examples of bad email addresses….delete, delete, delete!!
●Tailor your CV to the job you are applying for. The best way to do this is to thoroughly read the job requirements with a highlighter at hand, picking out the key roles of the job and listing your skills and abilities that match with them. You might not have carried out these roles in the work place before, particularly if this is your first job, but do you have transferable skills that you could demonstrate? For example if a job role asks for Experience of working with clients, a Compton Champion might say I have experience of working with the public, encouraging them to donate to and support Compton Hospice.
●Don’t be afraid to show self-confidence. Sometimes it’s great to be modest, but if you don’t demonstrate a confidence in your own skills, then how can you expect an employer to? Try to avoid phrases like although I have never and although I’m not good at… and focus on what you have done, what skills you do have, and what you are good at that would be perfect for the job.
● Be careful about using certain common phrases. If you use the words problem solver you might be asked in interview to give an example of when you have solved a problem so go prepared! Using the words honest, hard-working and reliable are not necessarily wrong to use, but are they taking up valuable space? Employers kind of already hope you have these attributes because they certainly aren’t looking for untrustworthy, unreliable and lazy! The words I am a perfectionist will probably also strike fear into the hearts of any potential employer too! Life isn’t perfect, the workplace isn’t perfect and you need to be able to compromise as part of any team.
●Hobbies and interests are a minefield when it comes to writing your CV. Some say you should add them, some say they are not needed. The best thing to do is to only include hobbies and interests that apply to the job. For example if you were going into a job in the fashion industry and enjoy shopping and visiting art galleries in your spare time then you could probably include those hobbies – they demonstrate that you appreciate art and keep ahead of current trends. Likewise if you enjoy visiting car shows and want to be a mechanic or want to be a film critic and like watching films!!
●Check, check, check and then check again. Make sure your punctuation and grammar is as perfect as possible and if you are unsure then ask someone to check over you CV for you – perhaps a teacher or parent.
●For further information about how to write a cv go to:
http://www.totaljobs.com/careers-advice/cvs-and-applications/which-cv
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/careers-advice/cv-templates
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15573447
So, you’ve gained the Compton Champions Award, you’ve developed skills until they are coming out of your ears and you’re ready to tell the world just how lucky they would be to employ you as you leave school, college or university….but wait….how do you write a CV?
Fear not, we’ve got a few useful tips to get you started!
Employers receive on average over 60 applicants for every job post advertised, so your CV really needs to make you stand out from the crowd.
●First off…… Presentation. Think two pages of white A4 paper, neatly typed in an easy to read font. There’s no need to include a picture, unless you are applying to be a model in which case a picture’s probably fairly important, and you don’t need to wow with flashing colours, swirls and stars.
●Include key information at the top of the page – your name, number, address and email address should head the document, although a date of birth is now no longer needed thanks to age discrimination laws. *Hint: Think about how your email address will look to potential employers. [email protected] and [email protected] are both examples of bad email addresses….delete, delete, delete!!
●Tailor your CV to the job you are applying for. The best way to do this is to thoroughly read the job requirements with a highlighter at hand, picking out the key roles of the job and listing your skills and abilities that match with them. You might not have carried out these roles in the work place before, particularly if this is your first job, but do you have transferable skills that you could demonstrate? For example if a job role asks for Experience of working with clients, a Compton Champion might say I have experience of working with the public, encouraging them to donate to and support Compton Hospice.
●Don’t be afraid to show self-confidence. Sometimes it’s great to be modest, but if you don’t demonstrate a confidence in your own skills, then how can you expect an employer to? Try to avoid phrases like although I have never and although I’m not good at… and focus on what you have done, what skills you do have, and what you are good at that would be perfect for the job.
● Be careful about using certain common phrases. If you use the words problem solver you might be asked in interview to give an example of when you have solved a problem so go prepared! Using the words honest, hard-working and reliable are not necessarily wrong to use, but are they taking up valuable space? Employers kind of already hope you have these attributes because they certainly aren’t looking for untrustworthy, unreliable and lazy! The words I am a perfectionist will probably also strike fear into the hearts of any potential employer too! Life isn’t perfect, the workplace isn’t perfect and you need to be able to compromise as part of any team.
●Hobbies and interests are a minefield when it comes to writing your CV. Some say you should add them, some say they are not needed. The best thing to do is to only include hobbies and interests that apply to the job. For example if you were going into a job in the fashion industry and enjoy shopping and visiting art galleries in your spare time then you could probably include those hobbies – they demonstrate that you appreciate art and keep ahead of current trends. Likewise if you enjoy visiting car shows and want to be a mechanic or want to be a film critic and like watching films!!
●Check, check, check and then check again. Make sure your punctuation and grammar is as perfect as possible and if you are unsure then ask someone to check over you CV for you – perhaps a teacher or parent.
●For further information about how to write a cv go to:
http://www.totaljobs.com/careers-advice/cvs-and-applications/which-cv
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/careers-advice/cv-templates
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15573447