CVs and cover letters are the first two things an employer will see before considering you for a role. They are both documents that help to sell yourself before being invited for an interview. Therefore, it is important that they are both well written and create the very best first impression. How do you go about persuading employers that you are the right person for them? This page will cover off tips and tricks on what to include in your CV and cover letter and how to give yourself the best opportunity when being considered for a role.

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Your CV 📃

Your CV is a document that summarises your career history, education, qualifications, voluntary experience and overall skillset to date. Keep reading to find out what to include in your CV.

✍️ Your details

It is really important that you state your name, telephone number and email address on your CV so that employers can contact you about roles you have applied for or that may be of interest to you. This should be at the top of the page so that the information is easy to find. It is also great to add a link to your LinkedIn profile.

👋 Summary

This should be an overview of your career achievements, skillset and what you are looking for next in your career. As this is an overview, it should only be a paragraph long.

💼 Work history

The next section on your CV should cover all of the roles you’ve had previously. You should clearly name the organisation that you worked for, along with the job title you held, and with the dates and duration of that role in MM/YYYY format. After this, write a brief summary about the organisation and what they do. Next, list your key responsibilities in the role using bullet points and then finally, talk about your achievements in that position. Include figures and percentages to demonstrate the impact you had within each role.

When listing your work history, ensure that you order them chronologically from most recent roles to oldest positions.

🌎 Voluntary experience

If you have voluntary experience, it is great to add this to your CV. This could help you get into different roles and sectors that you did not necessarily consider initially. Similar to your work experience, list your voluntary experience in chronological order starting from your most recent experience. State the organisation that you volunteered for along with your role and the duration in which you held that position. Again, write a brief summary about where you volunteered, and bullet point your responsibilities.

🎓 Education & qualifications

This section should cover off your educational and professional qualifications. This should include the name of the qualification, the grade and year you obtained this qualification. When listing your education, also mention what institution you attended. Again, when listing your education and qualifications, ensure that they are ordered chronologically starting with your most recent qualification.

If you don't have any educational qualifications, list your top five skills with a short description to evidence each one.

🤹‍♀️ Interests & hobbies

Sharing your interests and hobbies on your CV is a great way to show an employer who you are outside of your career. It can also help to demonstrate different skillsets which can be a great benefit when getting into particular roles that you may not have much professional experience in.

📥 References

It is not necessary to provide your reference details on your CV as they should not be contacted until you have accepted a role that has been offered to you. Instead, you can simply say “References available upon request”.

💡 Other tips

• Make sure your CV is no longer than 2 pages long.
• Proofread and ensure that you do not have any spelling or grammatical errors.
• Use active verbs when talking about your experience.
• Make titles bold and underline subtitles.
• Use a professional font style e.g. Calibri or Times New Roman and font sizes 11-12.

Your cover letter 📝

A well written cover letter can be the difference between being invited to an interview versus not being invited at all. When writing your cover letter, it is absolutely paramount that you tailor it to the role you have applied for. So, what should you include in your cover letter?

Firstly, address the person who is managing the role. If you are unable to find out who this is, “To whom this may concern” is acceptable. Explain why you are writing the letter and introduce yourself by giving a quick summary of your career.

Next, talk about why you would like to work for this particular organisation. Demonstrate how your values are aligned with theirs. This will show an employer that you have not only researched them, but you also have a genuine interest in joining their organisation.

After this, you should highlight what skills you can bring to the role and organisation. Have a look at the job description to find out what an employer is looking for in their next hire. Give clear examples from your previous experience of how you meet the criteria. This will help an employer to consider whether you are a suitable candidate.
Lastly, give a quick summary as to why you are applying, the skills you can bring and your interest for the role and organisation. Ensure that you close off your letter with your full name.

Your cover letter should ideally be 1-2 pages long. As much as you want to impress the employer with your amazing experience and skills, you should give just a flavour of who you are and encourage them to invite you to an interview to find out more.

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