​CV Writing - Tips and Advice

CV Writing Tips - What to Include and Exclude on your CV

What to include in your CV...

• Name, city and phone number
• A professional address - ideally not your employer's email account
• Details of work experience including dates, job titles, employers and a brief outline of each role
• Special skills and evidence-based achievements
• Education and qualifications

• Interests, if they provide transferrable skills such as leadership
• At a higher level, you should also include a personal profile and career objective
• Use a quality printer - never use a photocopy where the quality has diminished

What NOT to include in your CV...

• Think security! 
• Don't provide your full address if you are posting your CV on an online job site. Just provide town or county
• Don't use saucy or quirky email addresses - keep it professional
• Don't include your date of birth
• There's no need to mention marital status or details of children
• Never share your NI number or bank details - employers don't need these until they're onboarding you or taking you through security checks as part of their compliance
• Don't share salary details
• Don't provide referees, unless requested 
• Photographs should not be included unless requested and relevant to the role
• Likewise, weight, height, etc, are not required unless requested and only if they are specific to the job, eg modelling, acting
• Stick to the highlights and achievements or past roles - not detailed job descriptions
• Save the reasons for leaving previous jobs until you're invited to interview
• Never include anything negative - just focus on the positive
• Don't use fancy fonts, boxes, shading or graphics. Keep it simple
• Try not to use technical jargon and abbreviations unless they're widely recognised throughout your industry
• Don't include junior school. If you've had considerable work experience you may not need your senior school either
• Never use a photocopy of a photocopy where the quality has diminished
• Never insert anything by hand - it's better to rewrite the CV
• Don't use too many words. The recruiter has to read many applications so keep it concise whilst not omitting important factors

At all times think "relevance".  Don't include non-relevant details - at least not in any depth.
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Always keep the CV content relevant to the role(s) you're applying for.

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