CV Advice

The following are just a few simple pointers to help you with getting your CV started. We recommend you contact your University/College careers advisor to review your final CV and ask for their comments.

Your CV should summarise all the experience, qualifications and success you have had in 2 pages. This is your chance to impress an employer and get yourself an interview where you can really show your talent. Your CV needs therefore to be concise and you should refrain from using lengthy prose. You should make sure it is always up to date and that the grammar and spelling are perfect.

A good CV will contain the following headings:

• Personal Details (The first thing on your CV)
  • Name
  • Address (Both term time and home address)
  • Email (Make sure it’s a sensible email address)
  • Telephone
  • If you’re an international student, state your work permit status.
• Education
  • In reverse chronological order (latest first)
  • Include your University and degree scheme (Include your year average if you think this will help your application), also list the main modules you have studied
  • Include dates and name of institution
  • List your A-level/AS-level subjects and grades and GCSE grades.
  • Include any educational awards you have won
• Relevant Work Experience
  • In reverse chronological order (latest first)
  • Include company names and dates
  • Give brief overview of your responsibilities, personal achievements and contributions.
  • This is for RELEVANT engineering related work experience. If you do not yet have any engineering related work experience just insert a work experience section. All work experience is good and demonstrates different skills that an employer will be looking for.
• Engineering Skills
  • If you have undertaken a work placement before include skills you may have learnt from the experience and any training courses for example AutoCAD, H&S, engineering software, British Standards etc.
  • This could also include specific software and skills you have learnt in University such as Drawing and Excel.
  • Keep it brief and use bullet points
• Other Work Experience
  • Same points as with relevant work experience but non engineering related.
• Hobbies/Interests
  • For example, membership / positions of responsibility in teams/societies/associations.
  • Keep it brief and use bullet points
  • Employers are keen to find out what kind of person you are as well as your technical ability, they look for people who are sociable and have good communication skills. Therefore use this section to demonstrate how your hobbies and interests indicate the following skills amongst others: team working, problem solving, decision making, communication and interpersonal skills.
• Other Information
  • This section should include any other information that would benefit your application such as a clean driving licence, IT skills and any other courses you may have attended such as languages.
  • Keep it brief and use bullet points
• References
  • Include one academic and one work related
  • Provide their name, address, contact number, email, position in the company and relationship to you (i.e. line manager)
  • Always confirm the agreement of your referee before putting them on your CV

The above will allow you to create a good and professional CV, as mentioned we would advise you to ask someone to look over your CV, preferably a person who is trained to write CVs although family members and tutors are usually willing to help.

Remember, make sure the document is well presented and ensure it is readable and not cramped.
Should you find it too difficult to cut it down to 2 pages, use 3, but as a last resort.

There are many websites that are aimed at helping you with CV writing and will offer free templates so take full advantage of these and remember it is all the employer will have to make a judgement on you so impress as much as you can but TELL THE TRUTH!!!