A quick outline of what’s involved: The CV writing journey

As with most things, writing a resume is a journey involving several steps. You should take the time to invest in a proper resume, since a half-completed one won’t get the job done. Errm, no pun intended there…

In fact, writing the best CV possible is simply one step in the bigger journey of securing a great job, but it’s an important one (among others is interview tips, etc but more on that later).

Okay, here’s some basic steps you have to do before starting your CV-writing journey:

1. Locate, acquire and read at least three books about making career transitions. Note that this applies not only if you’re changing careers, but it will help you find out what’s new in your current field of expertise. Technology is not the only area moving fast nowadays, but it’s a good example of where keeping abreast of what’s current in the market is very important. 
2. Before you start your CV, seek career resources on the internet or ask a career coach to help you assess who you really are today and what you want from your worklife. See here for a great career coaching service. 
3. Carry out several information gathering interviews about the area of work you have in mind. This is especially true if you’re changing career direction or you are a graduate looking for work for the first time. 
4. Check whether the demands of the job you are targeting will allow you time to pursue other interests and obligations in your life. Is that ‘perfect’ job going to take away from your currently ‘perfect’ social life? Then maybe it ain’t so perfect after all… 
5. Plan to take at least a week (yup, I said a week!) and several re-writes before your resume will be ready. 
6. Remember – you’re competing with others (in a tough job market!) with your CV. Every minute you spend on it will be worth the effort, so don’t cut back on it. 
7. If you’re too modest to boast about your skills and achievements – don’t be!! It’s a tough market, your CV has to scream out loud that you are the best. Yeah baby, the best! 
8. When you’ve finished writing your CV, ask at least two people to check over your final draft. If they’re professionals, great. If they’re in your own field of work, even better! Don’t ask your Italian-only speaking gran for advice … you may end up with something worse than you started with! 

Step one: Beginning the first draft

Okay, now you’ve got a general idea about what it’s going to take to get your CV written, it’s time to get down to business! Before diving into the deep end let’s check out some general pointers on constructing the first draft of your resume.

Super important (and also quite obvious?): Write clearly, to the point and use correct expression and spelling. Nothing stands out more than speling mistaks on a proffesional resumay. Now how painful was that to read?? Think your prospective employer would like to see that? There’s really no excuse for spelling mistakes today, with Word processors all having spell-checkers built-in. If English is not your first language Using correct expressions,, can be a little trickier. If in doubt or you’re not entirely confident in your writing ability, ask for advice from someone who, in your opinion, writes well.

Highlight your best points and arrange in the information so that you stand out on first impression and within a short reading time. When designing the first page, put your name at the top. You’ll be helping the employer contact you more easily if you place your telephone number, mobile number and email address prominently on your CV – ie. At the top, just below your name. For a good example on how to do this, see a sample CV here.

You should include your personal information in your resume. Even if your address is also on your covering letter, be sure to include it on your CV as well: The two documents may become separatedat the employer’s end and mixed up with other stuff. You want to basically make it easy as pie for them to organise your CV and covering letter. Not only does it show that you’re organised, but also that you don’t have anything to hide. Tip: If you’re going to include your age (not necessary but if you feel it may prove advantageous, go for it), use your date of birth rather than your actual age – this way you won’t have to update it every year (clever, I know

Step Two: The Sections To Use When Writing your CV

Your CV should be arranged into sections. Often applicants do not give these section headings or their sequence much thought, yet they are a really good way of organising your resume and giving it structure. Use a section heading title for each section. Be creative here, as it can help your resume stand out more and put you ahead of the pack!

Your name and contact details. Okay so we’ve already covered in this in the previous part, and it’s not really a ’section’ as such but nontheless is included here for completeness. You know the drill – make your name and contact details prominent and clear. Also, ff you have a professional personal website – featuring your master works, if you’re a designer for example – feel free to include the link to it. Facebook / Myspace profiles featuring announcements on how drunk you got last weekend are probably not a good idea here, but hey you already knew that

Summary / Your Career Objective:

The first ‘real’ section of your resume (beneath your name) should comprise a sentence or two outling a summary of yourself and/or your career objective(s). blahMany people find this the hardest section to write. As this will likely be the first thing the employer reads – you have to make sure it is outstanding quality! It doesn’t have to be poetry or anything, just be brief, and pack as much as you can into this short paragraph. Things to include here are typically:

- Career objective

- Employment Objective & Aspirations

- Key areas of knowledge

- Special skills (don’t elaborate too much, as this is what the skills section is for later)

- Summary of major skills & special areas of expertise

Achievements:

This section should consist of brief statements (a list works as well) of your achievements. These may cover work experience, education, training, community service and other activities. Remember: Your CV is there for you to present yourself as an interesting and capable person, so you must impress the reader with your background by giving facts, not making general claims of competency.

Begin each achievement with an action verb, such as: achieved, attained, audited, averted, compiled, established, solved, supervised. By using verbs in this way, you can avoid the repetitive ‘I’. Few things create a worse impression on a resume than when each sentence starts with an ‘I’. It also makes you sounds self-centred, and you don’t want that. After writing your list of achievement statements, review them. Put them in order of importance, based on the job you’re applying for. If you’re applying for a programming or accounting role, don’t put ‘achieved best ping-pong player in high school’ at the top of your list! Your achievements section doesn’t have to be a list.

Employment Record/Career History/Work Experience:

As the heading suggests, this is simply a list of all the places you have worked at during your career. If you had vacation jobs during university/college/highschool, and space permits, include these on here too. This especially applies if you’re a graduate and haven’t had any formal work experience in your field yet. Obviously, if you’ve been working for a couple of years, put your commercial experience first (in reverse-date order, ie. most recent at the top, see this for an example on how to do this).

There is no law which requires you to record in your CV the job title allocated to you by current or past employers. So this leaves you free to ‘assign’ yourself a title which conveys in the clearest possible way the nature of the job tasks you carried out.

Outline the things you feel you did well at the job and underline any achievements while employed there. Did you improve processes at the company? Don’t undersell yourself – mention them!

Education & Training/Qualifications:

Don’t go overboard here, just a simple list (in reverse-date order) of your places of study in the past. Don’t go further back than high-school. For a list of things not to include in your CV, see ‘What To Leave Out’ article.

Skills:

Employers can quickly see whether you have suitable educational and technical skills for certain jobs by looking at subjects you have studied, your results and where that study took place. Also, your previous work experience will give prospective employers a good idea of what you’re capable of. But don’t stop there! Having a complete list of your skills makes it all the easier for your employer to see at a glance what your most valuable skills are.

This online resume builder makes it easy to include skills by searching one of the worlds largest skills databases to help you identify skills that apply to you. By also including your number of years experience for each skill, you’re immediately highlighting your strengths!

Obviously, not all jobs require the same skills (no breakthrough here!). However, many skills are useful in ALL jobs. For example:

The ability to:

- to communicate well (both verbally and in writing);

- to work towards objectives;

- to solve problems;

- to meat deadlines and work within time limits and schedules

Interests (optional):

Talk here a little about your interests, especially those that are relevant to the target role you’re looking to apply for. Don’t waffle on too much, and try to stay clear from too-personal things. ‘I like to eat cookies’ is not appropriate. However, ‘Reading about latest technology magazine is something I enjoy in my spare time’ is fine.

Personal Information (optional):

Include here things like availability date, whether you’d be willing to relocate for a new role and whether you have a driving licence (especially if having one would be a plus here – like if you’re applying to be a truck driver

References and Referees:

There are three ways of providing your references when you apply for a job:

1. You can attach copies of written references to your job application letter and CV when you mail these (via post) to prospective employers;
2. You can simply state ‘References available on request’ at the end of your CV/covering letter or at your interview.
3. You can include, on your resume, under a section headed ‘Referees’ or ‘People who Know Me Well’, a list of people who may be contacted by your prospective employers.

Step Three: Revise & Apply!

Congratulations! If you’ve come this far, you’re very near the end of writing your perfect CV! As an absolute must, you should now go over your resume again: Check spelling, proofread it, have someone else proofread it, and have (another!) someone else proofread it, then proofread it again yourself for good measure! Did I mention you should proofread it? Okay, you get the idea.

When asking someone else you respect to proofread it, make sure to ask for comments and feedback on style, content and design layout.

Well done on completing your professional CV, and best of luck in your jobsearch!