The CV

sci0x

When writing my CV what are the main headings I should be using??

WhiteWashMan

split from sticky thread...

p.pete

Quite often it depends on what stage you are at in your career. For example I'm not that long out of College and I have a "Project Work" section - this is in the absence of too much work experience. In another year or two I hope to be able to ditch that section.

A list of possible sections are:

- Personal Profile [For this I had a paragraph introducing myself but I've recently taken it out, it's not too common on CVs]
- Personal Details [boring stuff here]
- Interests and Achievements [depending on the job/company this can go near the start or the end of the cv - depending on what they are going to be interested in. I generally have it near the start as a lot of companies at the moment place a high emphasis on "will they fit in", although an interview is usually more likely to prove this]
- Career History [work experience, whatever you want to call it]
- Project work [mentioned this above, hopefully won't be on my cv much longer]
- Education [again this can be near the start or end, depending on what other stuff you have to show on your cv and what the employers are likely to be looking for]
- Referees [not essential normally, Mine just says "available on request"]

Any missing?

sci0x

Ok thanks. I've also heard that a good personal statement (like a personal mission statement) that describes you in about 20 - 30 words is good as well. Like which would include what skills you hold which are sought after by employers eg. good communication skills, computer skills, leadership skills etc.

Anyone got any good statements I could use or ideas for it. Like provide me with an example which they might have used which i can change around to suit me?

p.pete

By mission statement you are possibly meaning the same as what I meant by personal profile - doesn't really matter what you call it I suppose.

This is what I used to have:
Honours Telecoms Engineering graduate with a Grad. Dip. in Computing. Wide knowledge of differing computer software and operating systems. Dependable, responsible person with a good work ethic along with strong organisational and communication skills.

It's actually the kind of thing that you could edit for each company / job to make yourself sound more relevant to what they are looking for.

I'm still not certain whether recruiters like to see this kind of thing on CVs - is there any other opinions? (or other peoples examples!)

sci0x

ok thanks. And what about the hobbies section. I mean what do you write in this section when you do nothing. I dont play any sports. I can hardly say going out saturday night a hobby.

And references: your school principal and who else.

p.pete

Don't worry about the references just yet - you can write "available on request" on the CV and produce them when asked - quite often you won't be asked.

Hobbies section is just there to show your rounded - ie the opposite to "no sports and drinks at weekends". They expect that someone they are going to hire is a sociable person but it doesn't belong on the CV. If you have done anything whatsoever out of the ordinary in school include that. If you read magazines any way related you could mention that if you're stuck (ie. an interest relevant to their industry). Do you play any instruments or anything at all really as long as it's not "drinking and watching tv". I actually call that section "Interests and Achievement" - tis all marketing really...