What is a good CV? What does it tell the employer? There are a lot of templates and guides on what should exactly be in a CV. You can find the template I am using myself below.
Be forewarned it’s not for designers which should add a little “pizzazz” to their CV’s to showcase their skills besides the portfolio. My end goal is to get YOU to create a killer CV to give you the extra edge over other applicants.
What is a CV’s purpose? To give the reader an understanding of your skills, experience, future direction and motivation. Putting all these to a couple of pages of paper can be a daunting task for anybody. Throughout this blog post, I plan to make it a little less daunting by breaking it down into smaller steps.
1. Contact Information
This should be quite straightforward. Have your correct contact information on your CV. Don’t exclude your phone number if you want to be contacted by email only. After all, you have to use the phone in any profession, and omitting your phone number can even rule you out sometimes. If you have a LinkedIn profile it is good to add the link to your CV as well for them to check. I wouldn’t add your Twitter username unless you are active there, but it is especially crucial for marketing people to have it there. To be honest, it would be weird to hire a marketing person who doesn’t have LinkedIn or Twitter.
2. Summary
People are debating a lot about the summary in your CV. Some say that with a cover letter it is too much text, but some places don’t request/require a cover letter so having a few words describing you and your personality is not a bad thing there. Try to avoid common jargon but focus on a few special things that stand out. Ask from your friends or even teachers if you’re in school to get an external viewpoint. Also, modifying the summary regarding each position is something you should do to have a higher chance to get into the next round.
3. Title and Duration
Having the title of the position and duration is just something you need to have. There is honestly no wiggle room here. Day-to-day is not as important but it is good to have. Month-to-month is enough in general, and recruiters are used to it thanks to LinkedIn.
4. Position Description and Responsibilities
Opening up the position and what were the responsibilities you had were is important to give recruiters a better understanding of your experience and suitability for the position. It can just be a few sentences where you mention your daily activities. The more responsibilities you have there, the more text you have to put in general to cover everything, but be careful not to overload your CV with information. K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid) is a good rule for this. This is something you need to modify along with the summary to match the position you’re applying to.
5. Key Achievements
Did you achieve something in your workplaces that made a real impact on others or to the company’s profitability? This is the place where you can list them and show to the place you are applying to what you achieved and what you are made of. Having these in CV’s is a good thing because it immediately gives a better understanding of your performance.
6. Skills or Technologies Used
Below each position, it is good to list the skills and/or technologies you used in the position. This is extremely crucial if you have been in a technical role. If you don’t list them how would the recruiter guess them? The answer is that they would not and pass on your application.
Things to Check
Always check the spelling of your CV and cover letter, and that your CV is easy to read and the right things stand out. Saying that you are detail oriented and then having spelling mistakes in your application doesn’t paint a good picture of you.
Our CV Template
You can check our CV template to get ahead of the game.
Written by Ville
What is a good CV? What does it tell the employer? There are a lot of templates and guides on what should exactly be in a CV. You can find the template I am using myself below.
Be forewarned it’s not for designers which should add a little “pizzazz” to their CV’s to showcase their skills besides the portfolio. My end goal is to get YOU to create a killer CV to give you the extra edge over other applicants.
What is a CV’s purpose? To give the reader an understanding of your skills, experience, future direction and motivation. Putting all these to a couple of pages of paper can be a daunting task for anybody. Throughout this blog post, I plan to make it a little less daunting by breaking it down into smaller steps.
1. Contact Information
This should be quite straightforward. Have your correct contact information on your CV. Don’t exclude your phone number if you want to be contacted by email only. After all, you have to use the phone in any profession, and omitting your phone number can even rule you out sometimes. If you have a LinkedIn profile it is good to add the link to your CV as well for them to check. I wouldn’t add your Twitter username unless you are active there, but it is especially crucial for marketing people to have it there. To be honest, it would be weird to hire a marketing person who doesn’t have LinkedIn or Twitter.
2. Summary
People are debating a lot about the summary in your CV. Some say that with a cover letter it is too much text, but some places don’t request/require a cover letter so having a few words describing you and your personality is not a bad thing there. Try to avoid common jargon but focus on a few special things that stand out. Ask from your friends or even teachers if you’re in school to get an external viewpoint. Also, modifying the summary regarding each position is something you should do to have a higher chance to get into the next round.
3. Title and Duration
Having the title of the position and duration is just something you need to have. There is honestly no wiggle room here. Day-to-day is not as important but it is good to have. Month-to-month is enough in general, and recruiters are used to it thanks to LinkedIn.
4. Position Description and Responsibilities
Opening up the position and what were the responsibilities you had were is important to give recruiters a better understanding of your experience and suitability for the position. It can just be a few sentences where you mention your daily activities. The more responsibilities you have there, the more text you have to put in general to cover everything, but be careful not to overload your CV with information. K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid) is a good rule for this. This is something you need to modify along with the summary to match the position you’re applying to.
5. Key Achievements
Did you achieve something in your workplaces that made a real impact on others or to the company’s profitability? This is the place where you can list them and show to the place you are applying to what you achieved and what you are made of. Having these in CV’s is a good thing because it immediately gives a better understanding of your performance.
6. Skills or Technologies Used
Below each position, it is good to list the skills and/or technologies you used in the position. This is extremely crucial if you have been in a technical role. If you don’t list them how would the recruiter guess them? The answer is that they would not and pass on your application.
Things to Check
Always check the spelling of your CV and cover letter, and that your CV is easy to read and the right things stand out. Saying that you are detail oriented and then having spelling mistakes in your application doesn’t paint a good picture of you.
Our CV Template
You can download our CV template for your own use to get ahead of the game.
Written by Ville
What is a good CV? What does it tell the employer? There are a lot of templates and guides on what should exactly be in a CV. You can find the template I am using myself below.
Be forewarned it’s not for designers which should add a little “pizzazz” to their CV’s to showcase their skills besides the portfolio. My end goal is to get YOU to create a killer CV to give you the extra edge over other applicants.
What is a CV’s purpose? To give the reader an understanding of your skills, experience, future direction and motivation. Putting all these to a couple of pages of paper can be a daunting task for anybody. Throughout this blog post, I plan to make it a little less daunting by breaking it down into smaller steps.
1. Contact Information
This should be quite straightforward. Have your correct contact information on your CV. Don’t exclude your phone number if you want to be contacted by email only. After all, you have to use the phone in any profession, and omitting your phone number can even rule you out sometimes. If you have a LinkedIn profile it is good to add the link to your CV as well for them to check. I wouldn’t add your Twitter username unless you are active there, but it is especially crucial for marketing people to have it there. To be honest, it would be weird to hire a marketing person who doesn’t have LinkedIn or Twitter.
2. Summary
People are debating a lot about the summary in your CV. Some say that with a cover letter it is too much text, but some places don’t request/require a cover letter so having a few words describing you and your personality is not a bad thing there. Try to avoid common jargon but focus on a few special things that stand out. Ask from your friends or even teachers if you’re in school to get an external viewpoint. Also, modifying the summary regarding each position is something you should do to have a higher chance to get into the next round.
3. Title and Duration
Having the title of the position and duration is just something you need to have. There is honestly no wiggle room here. Day-to-day is not as important but it is good to have. Month-to-month is enough in general, and recruiters are used to it thanks to LinkedIn.
4. Position Description and Responsibilities
Opening up the position and what were the responsibilities you had were is important to give recruiters a better understanding of your experience and suitability for the position. It can just be a few sentences where you mention your daily activities. The more responsibilities you have there, the more text you have to put in general to cover everything, but be careful not to overload your CV with information. K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid) is a good rule for this. This is something you need to modify along with the summary to match the position you’re applying to.
5. Key Achievements
Did you achieve something in your workplaces that made a real impact on others or to the company’s profitability? This is the place where you can list them and show to the place you are applying to what you achieved and what you are made of. Having these in CV’s is a good thing because it immediately gives a better understanding of your performance.
6. Skills or Technologies Used
Below each position, it is good to list the skills and/or technologies you used in the position. This is extremely crucial if you have been in a technical role. If you don’t list them how would the recruiter guess them? The answer is that they would not and pass on your application.
Things to Check
Always check the spelling of your CV and cover letter, and that your CV is easy to read and the right things stand out. Saying that you are detail oriented and then having spelling mistakes in your application doesn’t paint a good picture of you.
Our CV Template
You can download our CV template for your own use to get ahead of the game.
Written by Ville