BUILDING A SELLING CV

BUILDING A SELLING CV

Your CV is your first introduction to employers, so it needs to make a great impression.

Your CV should show an employer that you have the skills for their job, it should detail relevant experience and qualifications, and it should explain your personal strengths.

It should also be laid out in a clear format and it must be free of mistakes.

INFORMATION YOUR CV SHOULD CONTAIN:

• Personal data – your name, address, contact phone number and email.
• Other data – you may also choose to include your residency status, driver’s license, but these are optional.
• Career objective – this is a statement about what you want to achieve through your work. This paragraph needs to be short and specific. You should include your career field and goals.
• Personal attributes – these are your personal traits and strengths that honestly describe you. Limit yourself to six broad traits and back them up with a short sentence that shows that quality. Your personal attributes will go towards helping your employer decide on your fit with their company – so be aware of what the employer is looking for and check that your attributes match what they want.
• Specific skills – these are your vocational and transferable skills. Transferable skills include: skills working with people, skills working with objects, skills working with information.
• Work history – list your most recent job first and work backwards. Write the title of the position you held, who it was with and put the date on the right hand side of the page. List the responsibilities of the role and the achievements you realised in the position – focus on the responsibilities and achievements that are relevant to the job you are applying for.
• Qualifications, education and training – list your highest qualification first, include the institute you graduated from and the year you graduated. Put any additional training and courses under a separate heading.
• Verbal referees – you should have verbal referees available on request. A referee is someone that can talk about your skills and abilities and your qualities as an employee – this is often a former employer and preferably should be in New Zealand. Before listing anyone as a referee, you must check they are happy to do this for you.

YOUR CV DOES NOT NEED TO CONTAIN:

• Marital status
• Gender
• Age/ Date of Birth
• Dependents (whether or not you have children)
• IRD number
• Salary