Our top tips for when you’re writing your CV

Your CV is often one of your biggest tools when applying for a job but we know getting it right can feel tricky.

At the very least, your CV should be easy to read, cover the key details about you and your experience and includes your contact details.

We’ve put together a useful blog, including all our top tips for how to write an effective CV, from formatting, to what skills to include, and everything in between!

How to format your CV

We receive a huge number of applications each day and each one is personally reviewed by a member of our team. This means you’ll want your CV to be easy to read and show off the most important information first.

We’d recommend you lay out your CV in the following format:

• Name and contact details
• Location you’re based or looking to work in
• Summary about your experience and goals
• Key skills
• Work history
• Education

Contact details: you should include your preferred contact details in your CV, whether that’s your email address, mobile number, or both! Feel free to leave a link to your LinkedIn profile if you’ve got one too.

Your location: there’s no need to include your full address, your town or postcode will do. If you’re open to relocating, make sure you mention this too.

Layout: make sure that spaces between each section are consistent throughout, with clear, bold headings showing what’s where. Keep an eye out for spelling errors or typos as well.

Saving your CV: we accept CVs in most document formats, but we’d recommend sending us a PDF version as this ensures we receive it in the format you intended.

Length: remember, it’s a CV and not an essay! You don’t need to have a five-page long CV, try to keep to two sides of A4 at a maximum, providing detail only where necessary to highlight the skills and experience we’re looking for. If you would like to add further context or detail, you can also include a cover letter within your application.

Tailoring your CV to the role you’re applying for

In your CV, it’s important that we can see your full working history as it allows us to see what skills you’ve learnt, and experience you have.

However, each role you apply for will likely value different key skills and experiences more than others. Recruiters are looking to see if you match the criteria specific to their role, so adjusting your CV to highlight your own skills that match those listed in the job advert helps our team make the decision.

Dating your career

It’s important that you mention in your CV how long you’ve spent in your past roles. This helps our hiring teams understand the level of experience you’ve had wherever you’ve worked, and it can often give us a chance to see any progression you might have had.

We recommend listing your past roles in chronological order, starting with your most recent role first, working backwards as you go.

Highlighting your skills and qualifications

Everyone has different skills that they can bring to a job, and it’s important to include these in your CV. It gives our hiring teams a chance to match your profile to the job.

We recommend listing them towards the beginning of your CV, especially when applying for roles that ask for certain skills or qualifications as a requirement.

Be sure to include any transferrable skills too. At Kier, we’re keen to match candidates to the best possible roles for them, so including any skills that could be transferrable between job functions is a great way to open more opportunities for you.

Aside from this, if the role you’re applying for requires specific qualifications or certifications, do not miss these out!

Check it again, and again, and again!

There’s no such thing as checking your CV “too much”.

Read through it two, three or four times, and for good measure, ask a friend or family member to have a look through as well. You’ll be reading it a lot yourself, and they might be able to spot any errors you’ve missed.

Personal hobbies, should you include them?

Whilst it isn’t vital you include any personal hobbies you have, they can sometimes be relevant for an application and can help.

Any hobbies relevant to the role, for example, if you’ve applied for an environmental role, and you’re a keen outdoor explorer, feel free to include!

All in all, your CV is a great chance to show us the experience you have, the skills you possess, and even your ambitions for your career. Spend quality time putting it together, tailor it to the role you’re applying for, and good luck!

Not applied yet, but feeling ready to? Apply here! If you have applied though, and you’re looking for some tips for how to approach your interview, you can read our other blog which includes our advice on this stage of the process, here!