Our CV Template

The importance of the CV

CV’s are the key to your next job. Recruiters look at these before any decisions are made for pushing through candidates to interview. At any point in your career, your CV requires several aspects to show the recruiter what you have done. However, as a young jobseeker, those aspects must change to reflect the lower level of experience, and more recently acquired education or apprenticeship.

With this in mind, those at the beginning of their career must think carefully about what they want to include on their CV. We have come up with some ideas for sections that could catch the eye of potential employers:

Education

Everyone should have a section on their education. This is not to say that it is the make or break section of a young jobseekers CV, but it is still considered a large part of the consideration process for recruiters. Making sure that all the dates are laid out clearly so they know when you left education, and ensuring that important results are included. On a CV created by a jobseekers later on in their career, they might only consider going back to their University dates. However, when a young jobseeker is creating their CV, we suggest that you go back as far as GCSE years.

Personal Statement

At the beginning of your CV, we suggest that you include a personal statement. This is an opportunity for you to describe what about you is different and noteworthy. Take this opportunity to describe your transferable skills (see our webinar on this here) and explain to employers what you can bring to the table beyond academic knowledge. Additionally, this would be a good time to introduce personal ventures that you feel are relevant to the job in questions .

Personal Details

This is an important part of the CV; make sure your details are done in an effective way. For example, ensuring that any emails or social media links that are included are hyperlinked. By doing this, you are not only showing a willingness to be contacted, but also you are showing your digital savviness. This in the 21st century is prized highly. It is also sensible to keep this section limited – you neednt include gender, number of children etc. Less here is more space for experience and education later!

Work Experience

No CV would be complete without this. Given this will be the section that is most read, it is important to get it right! Therefore, ensuring that the text is the same size and font, and that there are no spelling mistakes is crucial. Also ensuring that the dates are clearly outlined, and consistent. 

A well written and formatted CV will give you the best chance of an interview – a large swathe of internal and agency recruiters will only spend on average 7 seconds looking at a CV, so make sure you get it right!