How to write a Brilliant CV (Or Resume for our American cousins!)

So you are now fully prepared for the wonderful task of job-hunting and know what type of job you are going to apply for, now is the time to put together a great CV.

We are only going to cover this subject broadly; whole books and libraries have been written about how to put together a great CV or, for Americans, ‘resumes’.

However, if you need guided help and support, I would suggest that you check out the reading list in the appendix.

Below, I will present a broad overview of what you need to include in a CV that will help you move towards getting a career in politics.

What is a CV?

A CV is a sales tool to get you in the door for an interview. Nothing more.

It is a sales brochure you will use to market yourself to people who can hire you.

The most important part of this entire sentence was the word ‘market’ and ‘people’. A CV is about selling yourself as a person to other people.

I am going to repeat this to ensure that it has fully sunk in:

It is a sales brochure you will use to market yourself to people who can hire you.

A CV is to market yourself as a person to other people. Does that make sense?

I hope so. Below I am going to cover a diverse range of hints and tips.

Write for the hiring manager, not your ego

In my day job, I see hundreds of CV’s. Now, these CV’s are not bad, and they are just focused on the writer, not a reader. They do not communicate to their intended audience and do not focus on important messages.

This is a golden rule of CV writing: think about the reader first.

What to include in a CV?

Many well-written CV’s from excellent candidates have been let down by not including pertinent information, like telephone numbers or names.

Now, many times it is ‘copy-blindness’ after looking at a CV for far too long.

Every CV should include the following information:

Name - clearly stated at the top of the CV.

Personal contact details - telephone number, email address and home address

Career information - be sure to include a wide range of roles that you have, as well as the responsibilities, achievements and skills.

Education information - If you have an undergraduate or master degree, make sure to include this information. You can list all your A-Levels and GCSEs and schooling as well in this section. However, I would keep this brief.

Interests - This part is not needed unless you think it will help. However, having some personal interests and hobbies can be useful. For instance, rapport can be built up with someone based on their interests. However, avoid cliches.

Dealing with “gaps” on your CV?

Now career gaps can be a pain because, throughout our career we all can have periods when we are not at work. For some bizarre reason, two decades of work will be ignored and overlooked because of two months of unemployment, travelling or other esoteric gaps.

Now you could get down about it, or you could find a way of turning a gap into a useful selling point or at least neutralize its negative impact.

Now, if your gap is recent, you have been volunteering with your local political party, and so you have a way of filling that gap with something applicable.

Volunteering keeps you busy and is a great way to counter a gap on a CV.

You have been volunteering, haven't you?

What to avoid?

There is a phrase that an old boss used to have as a bit of a mantra “sharing is caring”. Which is a great attitude to have towards those with whom you work, live and play.

However, with CV’s, some things are just not worth sharing. Indeed sharing them can be detrimental to your chances when it comes to certain things, just do not share. For instance, we are all more open about mental health issues. However, including that you are clinically depressed on a CV is unlikely to get you an interview.

Would you like a CV template?

If you would like a CV template, please email joseph.henry@westminstersearch.com, and we can provide you with a template CV to help you with your job search. Please do put Template CV in the subject line.

Quickfire CV hints and tips

There is no particular order to the hints below and always remember CV’s do not have rules, they have conventions. A bit like the British constitution.

Spelling and Grammar: Make sure that you check your spelling and grammar on your CV. Misspellings and bad grammar can put people off.

Avoid career gaps: Gaps in your CV attract the attention of hiring managers and human resources like sharks too blood. Make sure there are no gaps in your career that do not have a reasonable explanation.

Spell check and grammar check: I am repeating this for a reason.

Tailor your CV for each application: Create a “master” CV with all of your useful information and then tailor this for each application after carefully reading the job advert and other provided information.This does increase application time, however, it should improve your application to interview ratio.

Keep your CV up-to-date: As you go through your career, make sure to include all the different skills, achievements and projects on your master CV. With cloud-based technology and software packages like Google Docs, this should not be any hassle at all.

Use physical copies: Whenever you are checking your CV ensure that you print a version off to check it. Print it out and post it to yourself, and be aware of what it looks like when you receive the letter with your CV to give you a chance to understand what it looks like first hand. You can do the same at the end as well.

Use the right document format: Ensure that you save and send it out on emails in a format that is easy to read across multiple platforms. For ease, if you are using a Mac, I would suggest that you edit it for sending in Google Docs on your web browser so that you can save it in a pdf or doc format. Mac’s are brilliant tools, however, they can sometimes, even today, have compatibility issues.

Career maths: Back up your achievements with maths as often as possible. It adds real credibility to be able to put numbers to a vague statement. For example, - I improved the process rate of the team does not sound as good as I improved the process rate of the team by 56% saving the company £1,350 per week.

Keep to two pages: Short, sweet and concise is more vital.

White space matters: Break up large areas of text - white/clear space makes your CV easy to read for your audience, and can help demonstrate the crucial parts of your career that are useful to each role.

Short personal profiles: Keep any personal profiles short, sharp and sweet. Think two punchy tweets long, rather than a blog post.

Use a personal email address: make sure that your email address is professional sounding no bigboywilson@notgmail.com or fluffymonstertickler95@sonothotmail.com.

Focus on outcomes: Highlight problems solved, money saved, money well spent, people helped or revenue generated. All of these show that you have had an impact and can take action.

Check spelling and grammar: Yes, it is that important. Recheck. Recheck. Recheck.

Think about CV Real Estate: The top quarter of the first page is the most valuable real estate on a CV, ensure that this includes your unique selling points and what makes you worth hiring.

Avoid cliches: Avoid cliches like the plague, especially double negative cliches like “great team worker who can work on their own”. Please note I am aware that most of this section is one giant cliche.

Think about font: Use a standard text format like Times New Roman, Arial or Verdana. Never Comic Sans (that's a personal one that is). Choose an easy-to-read font.

Photographs: Do not add a photo on your CV, even if you are Brad Pitt. They are not needed, although they are used on the continent, on British CV’s they look wrong and allow the hiring manager to judge you on your looks (for good or bad).

Company Logos are a no-no: Do not use company logos on your CV from previous employers, it takes up valuable space, looks a bit strange and can, due to formatting and technology, make your CV look poorly formatted at best.

The latest relevant role is most important: Expand and explain your current role and reduce the size and of older jobs as time passes. The deeper you get into your career, the more critical this will become.

Black and White: Colour schemes that stand out are generally counter-productive as the old saying goes ‘the tall poppy gets harvested’.

Page transition: Ensure that the transition from page to page looks good and is kept clean. Filling text right up to the bottom of the page is going to make the CV look full and cluttered and potentially information will be lost.

CV Length: Again remember to keep your CV to 2 pages in length. Simples.

Attachment name: Title your CV with a professional and easy to use name - e.g. Jane Smith’s CV rather than Latest CV or CV. File names will make your attachment look professional on any emails you send and make it is easier to find for your potential employer.

Spell check your CV: Ensure that you spell check and grammar check your CV.

With CV’s, there are no rules, only conventions, just like the British constitution. ** Any Questions **

If you have any questions, please email joseph@homeworkworkinghenry.com

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** Published Books **

Thank you for reading this article.

Please note that I have written these books that you might find interesting:

Recruitment Hacks - https://amzn.to/3uPdhhn

Political Careers - https://amzn.to/3fS1Cdw