What should I include on my CV
Personal Details• First name followed by surname (normal convention in English language)
• Address
• Contact telephone number
• Email address
• Nationality
Languages
• Indicate your native language first
• List other languages spoken (and level) in order of proficiency, beginning with your strongest.
Profile
• Begin with a concise summary of relevant skills and experience to the job(s) you are applying for.
Achievements
• Include those achievements that demonstrate the benefits you could bring to your next employer.
Education & Qualifications
• List educational qualifications in order, starting with the highest.
• Provide the title of each qualification (e.g. Bachelors Degree in Economics)
• Include the name of the school/university where qualification was attained.
• You may choose to include subject details if relevant to the job role.
Professional Qualifications and Training
• List relevant professional qualifications & professional bodies memberships
• List any work-related training courses that are relevant to the job
• If you have a professional qualification that has a higher academic status than your educational qualifications, this should be listed before the educational ones.
Employment History
• Provide a summary of current and previous employment, starting either with most recent or most relevant. If you have little full-time work-experience, you can also mention internships and part-time roles here (make sure these are clearly noted as such!)
• Include the name of employer, start and end dates (both month and year), job title & details of main duties in bullet point form.
Other Relevant Experience/Skills
• In this section, you can include details of non-work activities where you have undertaken duties or been given responsibilities. This is particularly suitable for candidates who have recently completed full-time studies and have little paid-work experience. Here you could mention organising charity events, taking part in community projects or involvement in student committees.
IT Skills
• Mention details of any software packages used that are likely to be of value in the workplace (think SAP, Oracle, Excel etc.)
• For those seeking jobs within IT, mention details of software and operating systems used (Linux, Unix, DNS etc.)
• If you are looking for secretarial or administrative work, details of typing/keyboard speed and other relevant skills such as shorthand can be included in this section. For secretarial CVs, it would also be advisable to highlight your proficiency in MS Office at the beginning of the document, ideally just before the Profile.
Hobbies and InterestsIt is not essential to include these details, but many applicants choose to do so as a means of showing their personality. Information about your personal life can also indicate how you might fit with the team at any prospective employer. If you wish to provide this material, you should mention the level of involvement and any position of responsibility held.
References
• Some candidates choose to include names and contact details for referees, though we advise against doing so.
• Instead, we recommend that you arrange for references to be available when necessary. On your CV you can simply include the phrase: ‘References available on request’.