What Should A CV Include?

10 Minutes

“A curriculum vitae (CV), provides an overview of a person's experience and other qualifications.... a CV is typically the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker and is typically used to screen applicants, often followed by an interview, when seeking employment”. Extracted from Wikipedia

Is your CV up-to-date?

Make sure the information on your CV is up-to-date, clear and concise. It is good practice to update your CV even when you aren’t looking for a new role. You never know when a new opportunity might arise; CVs aren’t just used to find work, use it to update your social profile. Now is a better time than any, you don’t know what your circumstances might be like tomorrow.

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Contents of CV to include:

  • Contact Details
  • Personal Statement
  • Skills Summary
  • Employment History
  • Education
  • Hobbies / Interests

CONTACT DETAILS

  • Full Name and Surname
  • Address inc. postcode
  • Contact telephone numbers
  • Email address
  • [URLs to LinkedIn Profile, Twitter, Github / Stack Overflow, Portfolio]

PERSONAL STATEMENT

  • High-Level Summary
  • Opportunity to differentiate
  • Provides a snapshot of you as a candidate
  • Generally written in 1st or 3rd person
  • Approximately 3 / 4 lines – 200 words
  • Don't be too specific with your requirements

SKILLS SUMMARY

  • Technical Overview
  • Matrix vs. Free Text
  • Primary & Secondary
  • Be realistic and honest

Skills Matrix

Technology

Last Used

Skills Level

(out of  5)

Years’ Experience

C#

2020

5

5

SQL 2008

2019

4

3


SKILLS SUMMARY

  • Databases - 15 Years – Design, administration, connectivity, tuning, replication.
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (18 months), 2005. 2.5 years. SQL Server 2000 4 years. Transact SQL, SMO, SSIS, SSRS some SSAS. Clustered environment.
  • Performance Tuning. 3.5 Years including database performance tuning.

 

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

  • Job Title
  • Dates (month & year)
  • Achievements
  • Project Summary – Product, Technology, Complexity,  Level of Responsibility
  • Yourindividual contribution – ‘I’ not ‘we’

 

ABC Software Ltd, Southampton – February 2012 - Present

Mar 2018 – Present                         Senior C# Developer
[input text regarding role and responsibilities]

June 2015 – Feb 2018                     Software Developer
[input text regarding role and responsibilities]

Feb 2012 – June 2015                     Graduate Software Developer
[input text regarding role and responsibilities]

EDUCATION
Include name of institutions, dates and grades where possible.

  • Education
    –      Degree, A-Levels, GCSE’s
  • Professional Qualifications
    –      MCDBA
  • Professional Courses
    –      UML
  • Publications
  • Self-Study – books etc.

HOBBIES

  • Short paragraph summary
  • Reading, family time, travelling around the UK, sailing
  • Include IT Related Hobbies
  • Active Member of Developer South Coast and Southampton Data Platform & Cloud User Group

Once your CV is ready, don’t forget to put it to good use – send it to contactus@spectrumit.co.uk