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Before you start writing, read the job advert carefully and think about what the employer is looking for.

1. Identify the key skills: Highlight the skills, experience and qualities mentioned in the job description.
2. Think about your evidence: Consider your education, work experience, volunteering, activities, projects and achievements. What have you done that demonstrates these skills?
3. Create your CV: Use your evidence to create a clear, concise CV that focuses on what's relevant to the role.
4. Tailor it: Adapt your CV for each application, putting your most relevant experience and skills first.
5. Check it: Proofread your CV and check that all your information is accurate and up to date.

Most CVs include:

• Contact details - email and telephone number as well as your LinkedIn page if you have one and possibly a postal address.
• Education
• Work experience
• Skills
• Achievements and interests
• References - usually made "Available on request".

You may also include relevant projects, volunteering, professional memberships, publications or other experience, depending on the role. You don't need to include everything. Choose information that helps demonstrate your suitability for the opportunity.

Other useful headings:

• Personal profile (optional): a short summary at the beginning of your CV outlining your background, relevant skills and career interests. If included, keep it concise and tailor it to the role you are applying for.
• Relevant experience - highlight particularly relevant work experience and volunteering.
• Professional memberships - list membership of relevant professional bodies (for example, IMechE).
• Academic CVs will also often include a list conferences/posters and publications.

Your CV should be relevant to the job you're applying for. Look at the job description and identify the key skills and requirements. Then make sure your CV provides evidence of these.

You can use the same core CV for different applications, but adapt it each time to highlight your most relevant experience.

How do I write about my experience?

Don't just list what you were responsible for. Show what you did, how you did it and what you achieved.

For example:

Instead of:
"Responsible for serving customers and handling cash."

Try:
"Provided friendly and efficient service to customers while accurately handling cash and card payments during busy periods."

Focus on the skills you developed and the difference you made.

Your CV should be easy to read and make your key information easy to find. To give your CV visual impact:

• Be consistent - use the same size and style of section and sub-headings throughout.
• Be concise - use bullet points or short paragraphs.
• Be neat - use one or two full pages of A4 paper (academic CVs can be longer) and justify both margins.
• Be professional - choose an appropriate font and size of text (for example, Calibri size 11) and use colour and any design elements sparingly.
• Avoid unnecessary graphics, images or complicated layouts.
• Save your CV as a PDF unless the employer asks for another format.

Recruiters rarely spend more than a few seconds on the first reading of your CV. It is very important that your CV is quick and easy to absorb.

GenAI can help you develop ideas and improve your wording, but it does not know you or your experience. Use it to support, rather than replace, your own writing and make sure the final CV is accurate and sounds like you

You could use GenAI to:

• Identify key skills and keywords in a job advert.
• Suggest ways to make your writing clearer and more concise.
• Help you turn your experience into stronger bullet points.
• Check spelling, grammar and readability.
• Give you feedback on how well your CV matches a particular role. 

Remember: AI can make mistakes and may produce generic or inaccurate information. Check its suggestions and make sure your CV is truthful, sounds like you and reflects your actual experience.

We highly recommend  an AI tool which which can help you to turn your experiences into a CV, step-by-step. You can also optimise an existing CV and tailor it for a specific area of work or opportunity.

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Your CV doesn't need to be perfect before you start. Create a first draft, get feedback, improve it and tailor it to the role.