CV Preparation

A good CV will form the foundation of any successful job search. This will often be an important part of the first impression formed by a future employer and so it is important that it is the best representation of you, your skills and your experience.

It is important to note that at W&A we believe there is no perfect way to do a CV. Ultimately they are subjective, so naturally, there will be individual preferences on formats, styles and content. They should be different, after all, we are.

We will use our years of experience to help you build a CV that is the best representation of you. This should be written in a way that best reflects you, your skills, experience and achievements.

Therefore, when writing your CV we recommend the following simple guidelines.

• Typical sections in a CV might include: key skills, employment history with role responsibilities and achievements, education, professional qualifications, interests and a succinct profile
• There is no perfect length of a CV, a page may be too little but 4 pages is probably becoming too much
• Highlight achievements. Put your best foot forward and don’t be afraid to show just how brilliant you are. We need future employers to realise this at first glance, it is not boasting, it is simply good self-promotion
• Write a CV designed as much for what you want to go on to do next, as it is for what you have done to date, and prioritise why this is relevant
• Be specific, providing there is no need for discretion, talk about size, scale, specific improvements or reductions in £s or percentages, key stakeholders and such like
• Keep the CV well spaced, easy to read and avoid fancy fonts, graphics and such like, otherwise, this may detract from the content
• Summarise key skills – a concise profile, or some short bullet points early in a CV ensures a future reader is aware of your primary selling points and compatibility
• Avoid company-specific abbreviations and ensure that any reader will be able to understand and interpret your content
• Focus more on your most recent experience in terms of employment history, what you did c15 years ago is still relevant but is not nearly as valuable to a future employer as your most recent experience
• Remember your transferrable skills and your technical skills, both are hugely important and think of the environment that you have been in, the scale of where you have worked, the pace, the amount of change. These aspects may be really attractive to future employers so never undervalue them
• It is always a good idea to consider tailoring a CV for a particular opportunity, you may even have a couple of different versions
• Keep your CV up to date and evolving in line with your own development and aspirations