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If you’re building a personal brand to market to employers, ensuring your CV is constantly updated is vital. If you need help to get started then have a look at our CV templates. So whether it’s altering the appearance of your CV to make it more distinct, ensuring there is a consistent brand message woven through the document or defining a memorable brand statement, your CV is a core component of your personal branding campaign and requires constant maintenance.

Updating your CV.

Getting into the habit of regularly reviewing and updating your CV will help ensure you are primed and ready for action – because you never know when opportunities will knock.

By updating your CV every month – even if it’s simply making a few minor tweaks or adding a new skill - you will be able to:

  • Respond quickly to job opportunities with a CV that reflects your current skill set and level of experience. 
  • Post your CV onto online databases on a speculative basis and refresh them so they are returned for more searches.
  • Remind yourself of what you can offer so that your cover letters are easier to write and more focused.
  • Identify career development needs, such as gaps in your experience or training requirements.

Have your CV primed and ready? Why not see what vacancies suit your skills and expertise here.

Great CVs.

Your CV is designed to do one thing: to get you an interview. However, on average recruiters will spend less than 30 seconds looking at it.

Your CV needs to be clearly focussed and formatted for scanning, placing the most recent and important information at the top and using sections with headings to break up the text.

In terms of length, it should never be more than two sides of A4 (the briefer the better).

Here, in running order, are the main sections you should consider including:

Contact and personal details.

Name, address, email, phone, website URLs (blogs, LinkedIn, personal site etc.).

Personal statement.

This is your elevator pitch and should relate directly to your most suitable skills, experience and goals for the role you are applying for. Try and avoid clichés or generic phrases – this is your first opportunity to demonstrate what sets you apart from the crowd, so try and narrow down on specific skills or unique traits which are most suitable for the role. If you can, try and include a punchy “ad-like” branding statement which tells the employer immediately what you can bring to their company.

Key skills.

This brief section should list your key skills and offers supporting evidence for them. It reinforces the message of the personal statement.

Employment.

List your most recent – or most relevant - employment first. Provide your job title, company name, company location, company website and your dates of employment. Explain briefly what the company does and your role but focus on your most relevant achievements and responsibilities. If you have worked in the same role or organisation for a long time you can show career progression by creating a separate section for each role or project. Ensure that the information you provide gets progressively less detailed for older or less relevant roles.

Education and training.

Include any relevant qualifications here – list the name of the qualification and the date achieved.

Personal interests.

Not wholly necessary but it can be used to give a more rounded picture of yourself and should be used to emphasise skills or qualities relevant to the role (e.g. team work, dedication etc.).

References.

You may wish to include a headline quote from your referee above their details. This should act as a powerful affirmation of your skills from an authoritative source.

Is your CV ready to do its work?

If you have refreshed your CV, save it and then ask a new pair of eyes to proofread it for mistakes. Now, save it as a PDF - so it is mobile-friendly - and start putting it out there.

If you’re building a personal brand to market to employers, ensuring your CV is constantly updated is vital. If you need help to get started then have a look at our CV templates. So whether it’s altering the appearance of your CV to make it more distinct, ensuring there is a consistent brand message woven through the document or defining a memorable brand statement, your CV is a core component of your personal branding campaign and requires constant maintenance.

Updating your CV.

Getting into the habit of regularly reviewing and updating your CV will help ensure you are primed and ready for action – because you never know when opportunities will knock.

By updating your CV every month – even if it’s simply making a few minor tweaks or adding a new skill - you will be able to:

  • Respond quickly to job opportunities with a CV that reflects your current skill set and level of experience. 
  • Post your CV onto online databases on a speculative basis and refresh them so they are returned for more searches.
  • Remind yourself of what you can offer so that your cover letters are easier to write and more focused.
  • Identify career development needs, such as gaps in your experience or training requirements.

Have your CV primed and ready? Why not see what vacancies suit your skills and expertise here.

Great CVs.

Your CV is designed to do one thing: to get you an interview. However, on average recruiters will spend less than 30 seconds looking at it.

Your CV needs to be clearly focussed and formatted for scanning, placing the most recent and important information at the top and using sections with headings to break up the text.

In terms of length, it should never be more than two sides of A4 (the briefer the better).

Here, in running order, are the main sections you should consider including:

Contact and personal details.

Name, address, email, phone, website URLs (blogs, LinkedIn, personal site etc.).

Personal statement.

This is your elevator pitch and should relate directly to your most suitable skills, experience and goals for the role you are applying for. Try and avoid clichés or generic phrases – this is your first opportunity to demonstrate what sets you apart from the crowd, so try and narrow down on specific skills or unique traits which are most suitable for the role. If you can, try and include a punchy “ad-like” branding statement which tells the employer immediately what you can bring to their company.

Key skills.

This brief section should list your key skills and offers supporting evidence for them. It reinforces the message of the personal statement.

Employment.

List your most recent – or most relevant - employment first. Provide your job title, company name, company location, company website and your dates of employment. Explain briefly what the company does and your role but focus on your most relevant achievements and responsibilities. If you have worked in the same role or organisation for a long time you can show career progression by creating a separate section for each role or project. Ensure that the information you provide gets progressively less detailed for older or less relevant roles.

Education and training.

Include any relevant qualifications here – list the name of the qualification and the date achieved.

Personal interests.

Not wholly necessary but it can be used to give a more rounded picture of yourself and should be used to emphasise skills or qualities relevant to the role (e.g. team work, dedication etc.).

References.

You may wish to include a headline quote from your referee above their details. This should act as a powerful affirmation of your skills from an authoritative source.

Is your CV ready to do its work?

If you have refreshed your CV, save it and then ask a new pair of eyes to proofread it for mistakes. Now, save it as a PDF - so it is mobile-friendly - and start putting it out there.

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