Anybody got a good CV format?

Question

I need to make a good looking CV i have experience and a lot is relevant to the area i want to work in but I dont know a good successful CV format. On what goes where ie does experience go before qualifications does your Date of birth go at the top or the bottom? i am 24 and have not done a CV since high school.

i have tried microsoft and i dont like the formats ugly.

Answer 1

As one of my jobs is to improve people's CVs perhaps you would like to send me yours? You can miss out your real name and address if you want.

Answer 2

I recently went on a CV workshop and this was their advice:

1. Name at the top (duh) but no need for a title or middle name

2. Put your address / email / phone right at the bottom of the ast page, or in a footer. No need to include date of birth, age or sex.

3. Start with a 2 or 3 line personal statement e.g. "Enthusiastic administrator with 3 years experience looking to move into PR blah blah blah"

4. If you have experience, this comes next. Go for job title, orgnisation, dates and up to 6 bullet points of responsibilities and accomplishements. No need to put reason for leaving unless you've had a million jobs in 1 month.

5. Education next - the last 2 levels, so in the UK, say, degree then A Level grades (not GCSEs) . Or whatever. Include institution and dates.

6. Next, skills or hobbies or both. Think computer skills, languages, relevant training and anything else you want to show.

7. References if you wish - but you can supply these separately.

8. Use cream or white paper only, and no fancy design. Use a sans-serif font, such as Arial, and don't go smaller than 11pt.

9. Keep it to 2 pages, maximum. People get bored reading after the first 1/2 page anyway, so you need to haul them in and keep them interested.

10. Good luck!

Answer 3

Plain HTML - Uh-uh no, dont even threaten to
pdf - Some HR depts struggle to turn on their computers, let alone understand what PDF is, so they will run away
doc - Preferential. Remember to save as Read only to protect your lovely document.

Most job sites have a builder included, so take your pick, or you could just do it yourself. Microsoft Office has a built in Resume template. The number of people I see using this is amazing. Any of them are good, or you could build your own.

First, start with your name AND SPELL IT RIGHT. The number of people who miss-spell their name on this document of all!!

Next, a brief (1-2 lines) summary of you:
"Organised, Hard Working, IT literate individual looking to join a forward thinking, customer focused company"
Remember, edit it to fit the situation.

Work history; In reverse order starting with now or most recent. Include Employer name, Location (Not full address), dates you were there, and some of your most relevant duties. Don't include salary, and you don't need reason of leaving.

Education History continuing in reverse order, listing dates, places, subjects & awards.

You should add Skills and qualities. You could add Hobbies and Interests if it is relevant to the position (i.e. a hobby of Art would help in an art supplies shop)

Leave your references out: An employer cannot contact your refs until ready to make an offer

Lastly, dress it up:
choose the best place to put your contact details if you want them
Proof read it
Don't put a photo on unless it is modeling, acting or similar
Get someone elses opinion

Answer 4

I don't know where you are, but a lot of employers don't want your DOB on your resume. At least in the USA they don't. The biggest reason being, if you don't get the job you can then claim age discrimination. Other than that my resume is as follows.

Name and contact info (including snail mail, email, and phone number)

Objective: (something like “To provide top-notch customer service in a team environment.”)

Special Skills/Experience: (IE: Macromedia ColdFusion (Server & Studio), ASP, Oracle, SQL 7.0
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Microsoft Office Suite)

Dates
Company Name
Job Title: Job Description

Repeat for all your jobs for at least the last 5 years.

Education

I have never been turned down for a job with this resume. One other thing that I was told by a head hunter once, try to keep it to one page.

Answer 5

The Guardian do a free review service for your CV. Go online and see their Jobs section.

Answer 6

if you go to your local university careers library they will have books on cv writing.

a general tip is to put down a few jobs relevant to job applied for.

have an introduction to youself - a kind of promotion of ones qualities.

and keep it short, no more than two sides of A4

Answer 7

start your c;v with, I am confident positive loyal and hard working person , at my last employers gave 100 % effort, it was part of my job to [11111) decide your experience here when finis-ed start a list of experience of job role you have done eg when i was employed as a sales asst. it was part of my job to ensure that the customer was greeted in a pleasant manner, record the item onto a till, give change and a friendly smile, put only your name and contact detail at the top of form, give details of any certificates hold and past employer's

Answer 8

you should start with your personal details at the top followed by schools, exams then experience followed by a paragraph about what you have achieved so far in your life the referee. dont over do it though. you should keep it short and sweet and dont repeat your self.

Good luck!

Answer 9

CV layout is as follows:-

Name
Address
Date of Birth

Qualifactions

Employment

Interests/Other Information

Referees

Answer 10

All the jobsites have a format of cv these days. check monster jobsite or fishjobs.