Your CV is often your first chance to market yourself to potential employers, who will many times use it to decide who to interview for a vacancy. Use your CV to emphasise your strong points, and include details about personal qualities, skills and achievements, education and work experience.

Below are top tips to creating a good CV:

  1. First, collect all the factual information required - including dates, grades of qualifications, experience, and more. Include relevant non-work activities, such as voluntary/community work, hobbies, and sports. Ensure that you include experience, skills and qualifications that are most relevant to the job on offer.
  2. There is no set order for the headings in your CV, but your name should be given at the top. Other personal details can go either with the name or at the end.
  3. Decide on the headings that present your positive points in the best way. Although many CVs begin with education, qualifications, and employment, you might feel that your skills, abilities and achievements gained through other life experiences are more important.
  4. Personal details should include: name, address, telephone number (including best daytime contact number). Please note that you do not have to include your date of birth on your CV.
  5. Education should include: dates, names of schools, colleges and training courses. Qualifications should include: dates, examinations, subjects and grades.
  6. Work experience (or work history) - start with your most recent or present job. Give the dates (year or month and year) of employment, and name of firm and address if relevant. Don't forget to include details of holiday jobs, temporary and voluntary work.
  7. Achievements - these can be work related or personal, such as getting awards for voluntary work and winning prizes, or non-academic qualifications like first aid or sport.
  8. Interests and hobbies - particularly those that are relevant to the job and support your application.
  9. Additional Information - such as special knowledge or an ability to speak another language. Membership of any relevant organisations could also be included here.
  10. References - referees are usually teachers and/or employers. You can also use ministers of religion, youth leaders or someone who knows you well. It is not always essential to list referees on a CV and may not be appropriate if you are making a speculative application. In this case, simply state that references may be available upon request.

Finally, make sure your CV is well presented, clear, concise and easy to read. Ask someone else to check it for content, spelling and grammar before you send it. Keep it to one A4 page, if you can, and certainly no more than two.