First impressions count! This is why it is paramount to know how to write a professional CV that will catch the reader’s eye in the very brief, average time of 6 seconds that a prospective employer will take to look over your CV.
Your professional curriculum vitae for each job
vacancy is your first chance at selling yourself to a potential
employer so it’s vital that you create an application which not only includes
all the pertinent information regarding your professional profile but
that is also pleasing to the eye, clear, concise and includes something
to make your candidacy stand out of the crowd.
Professional CV format
Formatting a professional CV is extremely
important because no employer is willing to wade through a jumbled and
confusing CV in order to find the information they need. It is crucial that all
job-seeking candidates create a concise application which is clear and
well structured with all the vital information easy to find and well
presented.
In order to make an optimised CV for professionals,
each candidate must not only consider the content but also the different aspects
of the professional CV layout and focus on each one individually.
The factors to be considered in a professional CV
design include the overall length, font sizes and types, the
headings and margins. It can be difficult for some candidates to know what
is best for their personalised CV in terms of these different structural
elements, which is why hiring our professional CV writers is an
expert way of avoiding any possible errors when it comes to
formatting their CV.
- Regarding
the optimum CV length, it is appropriate for every
candidate to have a 1-2 page CV including the usual
sections but for some industries or roles, it is also possible to include
a third page or extra sections that apply to the specific vacancy or
profession.
- The headings
should be clear and bold to easily mark the different areas of a
person’s professional CV.
- The font
size and type should be easy to read and of a
professional style such as Arial or Calibri, sized between 10-12.
- Finally,
the management of white space on a professional CV is
critical because it influences the reader’s vision of a cluttered
or clean CV.
- Candidates
are recommended to maintain a certain margin around the
content which will create the impression of a well-formatted
application.
What sections should be included?
Every professional CV should include various
sections which correspond to different factors of a candidate’s
professional profile in order to convey the relevant information to the
prospective employer in an ordered manner.
The following are the sections that should be
included in a professional CV in order to get the most out of your job
application:
- Name,
title and contact information – The first section that should be
included in the professional CV layout is the title
section which includes the full name of the applicant – no nicknames – the
contact information with a contact number and email being the most
important and a professional job title/description in a
few words.
For example: Intuitive and outgoing sales director;
detail-oriented accounting assistant; Friendly and helpful customer service
agent etc.
- Personal
Statement – This first introductory section in a
professional CV is similar to the American resume summary
statement or qualifications summary that may be found in different styles
of CV and replaces the more basic CV objective section. Sometimes
also referred to as a personal or professional profile, this
section must be unique to each candidate and be adapted to different
vacancies.
- Work
experience – The most commonly accepted form for writing
the work experience section on a professional CV is in reverse
chronological order with the most recent position first working backwards
and including approximately 10 years if all the positions are relevant to
the current vacancy.
In addition to including the job title, company,
dates and location, professional candidates are expected to write either a
bullet point list or small description regarding the achievements and
responsibilities held in each previous position.
- Skills –
The skills section on a professional CV is vital and nowadays it
is becoming more and more essential for all types of careers. It is
crucial to include at least 4-6 different soft and hard
skills which are relevant to the position you’re applying for.
- Education –
Usually in a professional CV, the education section will go
towards the end, after the job history but this can vary
depending on the vacancy and sector. This section should include
the name of the qualification, the institution, the grade or mark given if
applicable and the corresponding dates for all academic and
training certificates.
- Other – In addition to these core CV sections, candidates can also add other parts which they consider relevant to their application such as work experience, awards, hobbies, publications, etc