The Stirling Community Enterprise team want to share a few tips that we think you should keep in mind when writing your CV!

For additional support in CV writing get in touch with Tracy our Employability Officer!

Contact her on 01786 472885 or by e-mailing contact@stirlingcommunityenterprise.co.uk

Make sure all of your relevant experience is on your CV, however, don’t make it too long! Employers may not have the time to read something that is too long. We would recommend that your CV be no more than a double sided A4 piece of paper.

Your CV should also be made relevant for the job that you’re apply for.

Look at the job description, then look at your CV. Does it show that you have the knowledge, skills or experience for the job that you are applying for? If not, go back and make some changes. This should be done for each job that you apply for.

You may be tempted to try and make your CV really ‘wordy’, but employers don’t like that. They like to be able to read a CV and get the information they need from it quickly. The key is to explain enough so that they understand what it is you have learned, done or trained in.  Try to avoid jargon and abbreviations just in case they don’t know what this is.

Many employers won’t even look at your CV if they see that the font is too hard to read.

Make it clear and keep it simple.

You need to remember that the people who see your CV are mainly going to be people who are considering hiring you. They want to be able to see from your CV that you are professional and that you are thorough. A professional email address is a must if you are including this!

Employers aren’t going to be impressed with you if they see mistakes on your CV or if there is something on your CV that should be.

Which is why you need to make sure to check your CV. And then check it again. And then get a family member or friend to check it for you. Then check it yourself once more…this is what we mean by proof read.

You may read this next tip and think “Why would I do that?” But more people lie about their experiences or qualifications on their  CV than you may think.

Our advice is: Don’t!

It is never a good idea to lie on your CV, Employers may check up on what you’ve put in your CV or ask for proof and you will be found out. No one wants to recruit someone who is dishonest.

Another key thing to remember when writing your CV is that your CV is a professional document. That makes you need to make it look professional yet make it stand out at the same time.

You may think it is a good idea to have a little pop of colour on your CV, just to make it stand out from the rest, but don’t go overboard. Too many colours cause distraction and your CV could look unprofessional. The same goes for fonts. Don’t try and use a ‘fancy’ font, this will make your CV hard to read and could make the employer lose interest in it.