CV & Covering Letter

Do/Don’ts for Preparing your CV

In reality there is no one correct CV format. The people who will read your CV with a view to inviting you for an interview, will be looking for different things. Most will value where you worked, how long you worked there and what position you held, whilst some may be interested in qualifications and career aspirations.

Do’s

• Include your email address.
• Give a full career history not just the last 5 years. If you had 6 jobs before you joined the motor trade 10 years ago, it is acceptable to state start date - leave date and say 6 jobs outside of motor industry.
• Provide details about the size of job and achievements in your current and previous roles. Prior to that keep it brief.
• Double check for spelling and/or grammar mistakes.
• Use good quality paper for printing onto.
• Keep all information clear and logical.
• Be specific with dates i.e. month and year of when you started and left jobs.
• Use simple easily read font i.e. Arial.
• List employers in reverse chronological order.
• Emphasise your strengths and use positive words.
• Put career details after your name, address, etc. It’s the most important.
• Look at other peoples CV’s and come up with a format that you like.

Dont's

• Make it more than 2 pages long unless you really, really have to.
• Don’t lie about dates with past employers or qualifications as many companies check this out these days.
• Add in lines and lines of qualifications; only put those relevant to the job you are applying for.
• Make bold personal statements that deep down you know are not true, i.e. highly self motivated if you’re not. You will be found out.
• Use jargon.
• Show existing salary.
• Use all capital letters.
• Put fancy shapes or borders on it.
• Include references.
• Present a hand written CV, always prepare it on a word processor.
• Overstate your past positions. If you were a Workshop Controller but did a lot of the Service Manager duties, you were still the Workshop Controller not the manager.