At 21st Century CVs we deliver some of the best CVs in the industry. Obviously not every person will want to pay for a professionally created CV although there is no doubt in our mind that this is the best way to get that elusive job! £49.99 is a very small amount compared to the enormous salary you will get at that new job that you so richly deserve. Read on for 21st Century CVs definitive guide on how to write the perfect CV.

They say it is a bad lawyer that acts for himself. In theory one shouldn’t do one’s own CV as it is almost impossible to be objective about oneself! However, we are dedicated to helping our clients, so we include some free advice on how to write the perfect cv.

There are many reasons why a person does not get a job, even with the best CV possible. The job as advertised may have already gone to someone else and the advert is only running as a statutory requirement, or the advert is a trawl from head-hunters. Also, there is no accounting for taste and the person conducting the interview or screening process may have idiosyncrasies or prejudices. Most people have pre-conceptions, which work both ways. Matching a person with a job is quite often a matter of luck. Perhaps the most difficult thing is to actually apply for the right job.

The skill of constructing that perfect professional CV is really concentrating on matters that you can control and giving the reader (employer) exactly what he or she wants to read. How to create a perfect CV is certainly a skill and a good CV should show the reader that you can:

• Organise data and thoughts concisely and objectively.
• Present complex information in a user friendly way.
• Pay attention to exact and true detail.
• Communicate in a clear and driven way.
• Show that you have the exact skills and competencies required.
• Be a “Paper Interviewee”.

The modern way to design a CV or write a Curriculum Vitae that will get that job is to focus upon the needs of the interviewer and to choose your words very carefully as you must use those precious first seconds to grab the reader’s attention. The ace CV writer must respect the reader’s time, and make him or her feel that reading your CV is much better than watching the Arsenal game or reading page 3 of the Sun! No one is paid merely to read CVs and the interviewer has plenty of other tasks to do at work. The professional CV is not meant to list every task performed and there is a real skill in not writing too much. The best example of a CV (or resume) is to briefly convey one’s expertise and to create enough enthusiasm from the reader to get that interview.

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The things NOT to do include:-

• Don’t invent facts or claim that you have skills that you don’t have.
• Don’t use jargon or buzzwords, as the best CV will use everyday clear language that anyone can understand.
• Don’t overlook qualified people who may review your new CV. You are earnestly advised to get at least two other people to proofread the completed CV who are professional hirers or writers. Other people who are close to you may be able to help you as they probably know you better than you know yourself. Writing your own CV requires more objectiveness than one’s own view which is obviously subjective.
• Don’t forget to proof-read and spell-check. Good CV tips include spell-checking from the back to front to catch the typos. This slows your reading enough to properly focus on each word. The worst proof-reader is the author!
• Don’t post your excellent CV on the web if you don’t want your current boss to read it or until someone else has read it.
• Don’t send your good CV to prospective employers until you have a fully working answer-phone or email address as hoping employers will call you in the evening is folly!
• Don’t leave a wacky message on your answer-phone as you never know the personality of the prospective employer or his/her sense of humour.
• Avoid automated online CV templates or sample CVs (e.g. Wizards or DIY CV services) as CVs created this way look like mass-produced CVs and are no replacement for time and thought. Identical CV formats are obvious to the professional hirer and if you can’t take the trouble to do it properly than the CV is likely to hit the bin! Your CV and working life is far more important.
• Don’t use multiple CVs as employers want a clear sense of where and what you have been and where you want to go.
• Don’t use mass-mailings, broadcast faxes or emails (spam) as employers can suss these as well as you can, if not better. Such mailings are a waste of your time and money.

CV Length

There are no rules as to the right length, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a wrong. There is a bias towards brief, clear Curriculum Vitae but someone with a lifetime of work is obviously going to have a much longer CV than a school leaver. The length of a CV depends on the nature and number of previous jobs during your unique working life and beyond.

In order to realise correct CV length, it may be wise to follow these rules:-

• As you read each word in your excellent CV, ask yourself: “Does this word add to my sales-pitch?” Can a shorter word or phrase be used instead?
• For each CV action statement made think whether this information makes an effective pitch.
• Is there a way to convey the information using fewer words.
• Never sacrifice clarity for brevity.
• Put your head on the prospective reader’s shoulders and see if you are using your 20 second sales-pitch effectively.
• If you have to go onto a second page then don’t pad that page out merely because you have available space.
• Never use staples and try to avoid folding the CV if possible.
• The ability to communicate effectively is prized by most employers so use your career CV as a means of expressing this talent and ‘write short’.

CV Employment Gaps

It is unwise to hide gaps in your work history or fabricate start or end-dates as this may well come back to haunt you later, and if discovered before the contract will almost certainly result in a failure. You could be sacked if these lies are discovered at a later date!

"If you don't fail now and again, its a sign that you're playing it safe."

Woody Allen

All people get laid off or fail. Many CV employment gaps are in fact merely times used for other skills e.g. raising a family or caring for loved ones. These skills may well be very useful to the new job and certainly would be included in a perfect CV! Most gaps can be explained in interview and can only make you more human to the employer and is an opportunity to show competencies gained in voluntary work or software skills. Few employers consider CV employment gaps as unacceptable and would you want to work for someone who did?

Interim Jobs

Whether you should include interim jobs is very much up to you, but, again as with CV employment gaps, they can show added skills or talents and also can explain away such gaps. It is possible that any employer may use these as an excuse to lower your potential wages. However, if an employer uses this trick it may back-fire on them if you don’t take the job or get lured away by a competitor.

Self Employment

Include self employed work in your CV as you would any other employment but do not invent work titles (e.g. Managing Director of a one man band). Many former entrepreneurs fear that future employers will see them as non team-workers or failures. Many self employed people show excellent skills in running they’re own business and even if the venture was a failure this does not mean that you are a failure and can be put down as a lesson leant. Most employers recognise the will-power and devotion required in a small enterprise.

Job Hopping

Job hopping is really only a problem if you have been doing it for years and it is becoming habitual, but a few years of different jobs can easily be explained in the CV. The skill of the objective professional CV writer is to make these events into assets and adding value to the product, which is yourself. Job hopping can show that you adapt to the changing markets and that you have gained extra skills and leant the lessons.

Presentation

CV Design and presentation are much more than mere window dressing in the employment world. Give presentation as much thought as you are able.

Paper

Many people, these days, use coloured paper for their CVs, so in fact white quality paper will stand out even more than before. The better the paper, the better the response and 100 Gms weight is highly recommended as a minimum. It will be money well spent in your job search.

Ink

Black ink is still the best, as you will not know the favourite colour or colour-prejudices of the reader. There is a problem, in this respect, for emailing as many word-processors underline spelling mistakes or change the colour of text automatically. This is exactly ‘how not to do it’ as the change draws the reader’s attention away from your intended design. You need to unblock the text on your computer.

Margins

It is unwise to set the margins too small (so that you can get more text in) as this creates too many words for the reader to take in per line. Instead, you should perhaps use fewer words and be more selective. One inch margins are the normal setting.

Spacing

It is best to use the Tabs and normal indents, as well as normal line spacing. The safest way is to pre-set lots of tabs on your CV template and use these rather than multiple spaces. Using a smaller font size also creates lots more text room, but not if it makes the CV difficult to read. Spacing does add to ease of use but not at the expense of content.

Font

A normal or standard font is more preferable to the flashy ones as they are easier to understand as they are more familiar to the majority of readers. Over use of bullets or exotic fonts will focus the reader’s attention on these rather than the words themselves. It is vital that your properly positioned words showing off your skills get all the attention possible. It is the content not the art work that will get you that job. Use only two font sizes to exemplify the design of your CV. One for the headings and the other for the paragraph text. It is best to be very frugal with boldface and the use of italics and underlining are not to be recommended.

Contact Details

Your name and address and other contact details are arguably the most important bits of information on your CV. They are there to identify you and to make sure that when you get selected, they can contact you speedily. It is best not to disguise your gender or ethnicity by using initials instead of a name and degrees should also be omitted as identity and training are two separate things, so adding a qualification to your name heading is duplication and space-wasting.

If you live in a flat then always include the flat number as an employer will not be put off by the fact that you don’t have a house! PO boxes are not to be recommended as they imply insecurity. You may not wish to include your present work number as you do not want to appear someone who uses up employer-time on other employers.

Email is more and more common and is a necessity these days. However, if you give one, then make sure you check it everyday and using a wacky user names are obviously not appropriate. Also, use the same email address for sending in your CV as the one on your CV heading as it saves response-time and your CV may be dumped if copying and pasting is needed. Some of the best CV advice we can give is to make the process as simple as possible for employers.

Statements

A CV action statement in each paragraph represents the skills that you can bring with you to your new job. These are the heart or meat of your perfect CV and if you want to write a good CV then you must present compelling proof in CV action statements. These statements should be brief e.g. Cut Monthly expenses 23%; Increase sales 100% in 6 weeks; Met all time sensitive projects; Streamlined book-keeping and accounting etc.

Each action statement should be preceded with an action word to describe your competencies. Examples of such action words are:

Abolish	Circumvent	Delegate	Eradicate	Market	Reconfigure
Absorb	Clarify	Delineate	Escalate	Manufacture	Recruit
Accelerated	Clear	Deliver	Evaluate	Market	Redesign
Accomplished	Climb	Demonstrate	Exceed	Master	Refer
Achieved	Close	Depict	Execute	Maximise	Regulate
Acted	Coach	Deposit	Expand	Mediate	Reinstate
Activated	Co-create	Design	Expedite	Merge	Reinvigorate
Advanced	Collaborate	Designate	Extend	Mould	Relocate
Affirmed	Collate	Detail	Facilitate	Motivate	Reorganise
Amplify	Combine	Detect	Feed	Multiply	Replicate
Analyse	Commended	Determine	Finalise	Negotiate	Represent
Arbitrate	Commit	Develop	Fix	Nurture	Reproduce
Aroused	Communicate	Devise	Focus	Officiate	Research
Articulate	Compete	Devote	Forge	Operate	Resolve
Ascend	Compute	Differentiate	Formalise	Optimise	Restructure
Attained	Conceive	Discern	Fulfil	Orchestrate	Revamp
Attract	Concentrate	Disclose	Gain	Order	Reverse
Augment	Conceptualise	Discuss	Generate	Organise	Revolutionise
Authorise	Conclude	Dismantle	Give	Originate	Salvage
Automate	Configure	Dismiss	Govern	Outperform	Save
Award	Confirm	Disperse	Graduate	Outsell	Schedule
Balance	Confront	Display	Grow	Outsource	Score
Begin	Connect	Dissolve	Harness	Overcome	Scour
Best	Consolidate	Distinguish	Hasten	Participate	Screen
Bind	Construct	Diversify	Heighten	Penetrate	Seize
Blend	Consult	Document	Hone	Perform	Select
Bolster	Contact	Dominate	Ignite	Pinpoint	Sell
Boost	Contribute	Double	Illuminate	Pitch	Serve
Breed	Control	Drive	Illustrate	Plan	Shape
Bridge	Convert	Earn	Impart	Position	Solicit
Broaden	Convince	Eclipse	Implement	Prevail	Solve
Budget	Cooperate	Educate	Impress	Prioritise	Target
Build	Create	Effect	Improve	Probe	Time
Calculate	Credit	Electrify	Improvise	Process	Total
Calm	Cultivate	Elevate	Incorporate	Progress	Trade
Campaign	Cure	Eliminate	Increase	Promise	Transform
Carried Out	Curtail	Emphasize	Induce	Promote	Transport
Cash	Customise	Employ	Influence	Prorate	Trim
Catch	Dazzle	Enable	Initiate	Provide	Troubleshoot
Cause	Debate	Encourage	Invest	Pursue	Turn Around
Centralise	Decentralise	Endorse	Justify	Qualify	Tutor
Certify	Decide	Engineer	Lift	Quantify	Uncover
Chair	Dedicate	Enhance	Link	Quicken	Unify
Champion	Deduce	Enlarge	Magnify	Raise	Update
Changed	Defend	Ensure	Make	Rate	Upgrade
Choose	Define	Enumerate	Manage	Realise	Validate

 

Volunteer Experience

Volunteer experience is valuable information to a prospective employer if the skills used are relevant to the new job e.g. team building skills, patience and determination.

Education

It is worth including the dates of degrees or educational qualifications. You should be proud of your education and history. You should also mention any seminars or other courses attended especially if done whilst working as this shows dedication. If you have little formal education then focus on writing the other sections where your self-taught skills will be evident e.g. volunteer work or software skills.

Software Skills

If you use a PC then include all the office applications that you use e.g. Excel, Word etc. Also when writing always print the envelope as this displays your software skill or rather if you hand-write the envelope it negates those skills.

Language Skills

Include all languages spoken but designate those in which you are fluent and specify whether you have written as well as verbal skill.

Memberships

If you a member of an organisation then include the details if this is relevant to the job in question. The test is whether the information is needed to make an effective pitch and you should use your judgement to assess any risks in inclusion.

References

It is not really necessary to include in your brilliant CV a list of the referees and many people these days merely say that these are available on request.

Summary

A summary is really not necessary either, as an excellent CV is in itself a summary of your working-life, so do not waste space by repeating information.

We sincerely hope that the above free CV advice on how to write a CV will help you in your job search. Please remember, however, that for a mere £49.99 we can give you all of the CV help you require! Let us give you an unfair advantage and give you the best CV ever. We offer a ridiculously generous money-back guarantee so you have nothing whatsoever to lose and so much to gain……………………

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