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What to include

There are certain bits which need to be included on your CV including:

  • full name;

  • contact details – if you want to have any chance of an interview you need to make it clear how they can get hold of you. You should put your address, your phone number (mobile too) and your email address;

  • education - name and address of your schooland/or college

  • qualifications – most people list their qualifications in the order in which they took them;

  • interests – managers like to read a CV that shows a person who has a life beyond work. Remember, you may be asked about your interests at the interview, so tell the truth! If you have achieved anything within your interests (if you’ve organised an event, or you’ve won something) you should include this too;

  • career history – if you’ve had a job then include the following details

    • the name and address of the place you worked

    • dates – when you started and left

    • responsibilities – the key to this bit is to aim the list of responsibilities from your old job to the job you are applying for. This will show the employer that you’re well suited for the job. Put these in the order which they most closely match the job description.

(if you’ve had more than one job, you should list your most recent job first and work backwards to the first job you had.)

  • references – most people give the name of their last employer and at least one other person. When you’re deciding who to put down as a reference think about:

    • who is willing to give a reference (not everybody likes doing it);

    • who is easy to get hold of – employers will want to do this quite quickly;

    • who can give a full picture of your work and personality – not just one part of you.

(if you haven’t had a job before, you could ask your teacher or head of year to give a reference for you)

You can either include the names and addresses of your referees on your CV, or if your CV is quite long you could write ‘details of referees on request’. Most employers ask for two references, don’t include any more than they ask you for – it won’t make you look better and it will make it harder for the employer to know who to contact.

The list above shows items which you must include on your CV. You can add other information, but only include it if it’s relevant to the position you are applying for.

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