Create a CV that works
Friday, October 17th, 2008It has never been easier to find Health and Safety jobs thanks to SHEQjobs.com. That’s because SHEQjobs.com is aimed at you, whether you a re looking for Environmental Jobs , or Health and Safety jobs that encompass an Environmental aspect , or even jobs in Fire Safety and we want to hear from you. At SHEQjobs.com we are constantly striving to make our website the number one resource for anyone looking for Health and Safety jobs. If you have any suggestions about how to improve our site, or any functions you would like to see please send us an email through the Contact us link and let us know your thoughts. We are generous to a fault so we will award prizes to anyone who makes a suggestion we subsequently implement. Many professionals today believe in order to create a ‘good’ CV you need to list each and every job title you have ever had, since your part time job at school with an accompanying job description.
This obviously is not the case; create a short, concise CV and keep the number of pages down to two or three. This means being pretty ruthless with a lot of the content. You may be a little loath to drop some of the ‘good stuff’ from your offshore days, or to cut down on each and every system you implemented within that major high street retailer. However to make a real impact you must be succinct and target your potential employer with only relevant information.
In short, make a concise and presentable document that will read well whilst briefly conveying your abilities within the industry. A good rule of thumb is to imagine you are the one going through a pile of CVs, how would you make yours the one that stands out?
A common mistake is to try and catch someone’s eye using an unusual font, clip art or even coloration- DON’T. Remember, keep it simple, easy to read and professional and it will pay dividends.
Try not to use too many specific industry terms, sometimes it is unavoidable when you are trying to convey a particular point, but remember that Human Resource Assistants will often be the first to initially sift through applications and they may not know their ISO from their CDM. Keep italics and the tendency to highlight in bold particular sections of the CV to a minimum, write the document well with the correct information and it will communicate your message.
Top of the CV
Immediately after your full name there is often a tendency to give yourself some sort of strap line “A self motivated individual with the drive to succeed”. Instead, put a brief paragraph outlining a recent, major achievement and key skills, for example “An award winning career spanning 10 years within Construction Health & Safety”. Try to make it as relevant to the role and industry as possible. Tailor it to the role you are applying for, this will mean taking a look at the company on the internet and picking out relevant factors, for example “Highly experienced professional with experience of implementing ISO18001 as well as the CDM Regulations in line with the recent changes to legislation”. Ensure your name, full address including email and all your telephone numbers are placed at the top of the first page.
Where to begin
It is easy to be carried away and try to make your CV stand out from the crowd or even to mask a lack of experience in certain areas by going over the top with unusual fonts, font size, italics, colour and graphics, the advice here again is DON’T.
Your CV is just the tool to create enough leverage to secure an interview and needs to project a no nonsense professional image. In addition, agencies nearly always put CVs into a standard format and, in a similar way to HR departments, will sift through potentially hundreds of CVs each day so a standard, easy to read format will always hold you in good stead.
Layout
• Conventional thinking says keep your CV to no more than two pages but within our industry this is not always possible. Try to keep your CV down to no more than four pages
• Use bullet points, making your document concise and easy to scan
• You can drop font size but do not go to far, make sure the document is still easy to read
• Try not to squash too much information or qualifications onto the page. CVs are nearly always scan read in the first instance so space the information out clearly
• Present your details in a logical order: the most important information at the top name, address, qualifications, previous jobs and hobbies and interests at the bottom
• Space between sections
• Only include a photo of yourself if the position you are applying for requests one
Style
• Keep italics and capital letters to a minimum
• Be honest, you will inevitably come unstuck in interview if not
• Keep the use of “I” to a minimum, equally do not describe yourself in the third person
• Keep industry terms down to a minimum, HR Departments will not always know what a PTS certificate is
• Use positive language such as “proactive”, “team orientated” and “encouraged” and never use negative terms to describe previous employers
Experience
• Current or most recent position first, then work back
• Concentrate on your last three positions in some detail, beyond that a brief synopsis and job title will be sufficient
• Make sure your dates are correct, overlapping or confusing dates will raise eyebrows and is an unnecessary error
• Show off the stats: if you reduced the incident rate by 30% in the first 12 months then now is the time to shout about it on your CV
Qualifications
• Be brief; most people already know what the NEBOSH acronym stands for
• Most impressive qualification first: NEBOSH Diploma before Manual Handling
• If you are a graduate this should be sufficient for education qualifications although occasionally you may be asked about A Levels
Interests
• This is an optional section but can have a surprising impact so keep it solid
• Make sure each item is interesting or indicates a transferable skill, we all know the merits of team sports so do not forget to mention the netball team or football team you play for
• Do not exaggerate your interests
• Do not include mundane ones. Do not list cinema unless you have a particular interest in a specific genre such as ‘60’s French art house
Age and marital status
• It is illegal for job adverts to specify an age range, or for prospective employers to ask about your marital status.
• Stating either on your CV is not necessary, but you can do so if you wish