How to make your CV stand out

Writing an effective CV can be a long and exhausting task, yet it’s a fundamental step in any job application process. Your CV is your first point of contact with employers and it must be done right if you want to secure your dream job. Surprisingly, employers will spend no more than 5-10 seconds looking at your CV, so make sure to follow Topgrad’s tips on how to make your CV stand out. 

What to put in your CV

A CV must include:

• Contact details: Full name, address, email, mobile number and LinkedIn profile.
• Education: List all previous education, including any professional qualifications. Make sure to put date, qualification type and grades. Specific modules can be mentioned when relevant. 
• Work experience: List your employment history, including job title, the company you worked for, location of the company, employment dates, primary responsibilities and any important work accomplishments or awards. 
• If you are a student with little or no experience, include any extracurricular activities, such as university clubs and societies, as well as volunteering work. 
• Achievements and certificates: In this section you can include any foreign languages, technical skills and any awards or certificates received, for instance the DofE. 
• Interests: Including relevant interests and hobbies can help present a more complete picture of who you are as a person, examples would be team or individual sports and instruments. Make sure to connect such interests to relevant skills related to the job you are applying to.

Structure your CV

• When writing the education and employment history sections of your CV, ensure you list them in reverse chronological order, this means listing the most recent first to the earliest last. For example, if your most recent qualification is your undergraduate degree, you would list it first, followed by your sixth form qualifications and GCSEs. 
• A general structure to follow is: 

1. Header with personal information
2. Education
3. Employment history
4. Extracurricular activities 

• Undergraduate students should always place education before employment history as most will be at the start of  and might not have as much relevant work experience in the field. 
• A CV must be neat, cohesive and easy to read, therefore each section of your CV should be written with bullet points containing short and direct sentences. 
• Class font style such as Times New Roman, Calibri and Arial are recommended.
• Your CV must not be any longer than one A4 page. Make sure you are prioritizing the information most relevant to the role you are applying to. 

Tailor your CV 

• Tailoring your CV to match the job you are applying to will enable you to better demonstrate your suitability to the role and as a result it will help you stand out to recruiters and increase the chances of securing an interview. 
• You must study the job requirements and look out for key skills they specify, then ensure you highlight and demonstrate these skills through the education, work experience and achievements sections. 
• For instance, if analytical thinking is an important skill in the job advert, think of any examples where you had the chance to develop it, such as “Evaluated growth opportunities in X markets, which resulted in the company expanding to country Y…”

Focus on results 

• Instead of only describing tasks and responsibilities in your employment section, try to focus on what you have achieved in each position mentioned. 
• Think of the STAR method when effectively communicating your results. With the STAR method, you must demonstrate a situation, a task you carried out in the role, the actions you took when dealing with the situation and the results that were achieved. 

Use of power verbs and adjectives 

• The use of power verbs and adjectives when writing your resume can brighten the narrative of your CV and set a distinctive picture in the mind of recruiters. 
• When listing your employment history, start each sentence with action-packed verbs that highlight and affirm the skills you want to display. 
• Once again, study the job description and watch out for key verbs and words used in the job requirements. 
• Some examples of power verbs that will make your CV stand out: accomplished, liaised, enhanced, engaged, recognised, coordinated, mapped, corrected, resolved, etc. 
• Power adjectives: accountable, adept, purposeful, conscientious, methodical, agile, dynamic, proactive, etc.

Avoid clichés

• You might be tempted to use popular words and phrases in your CV in the hopes that will impress recruiters but it might lead to the opposite effect. 
• Clichés are words and phrases that are common and regularly seen on multiple CVs, therefore not demonstrating effort and creativity. 
• Some examples of clichés you want to avoid: highly motivated, passionate, results-driven, works well in a team, strong communicator, hardworking, creative, etc.

Proofread your CV

• Proofreading and reviewing it will ensure you spot any grammatical and spelling mistakes, which if not corrected can make your CV look unprofessional.
• Re-read your CV over and over again until you are certain that the right message - personality, achievements and objectives - is cohesively communicated throughout the document. 

Useful resources

• Keep an eye out for any guides and useful resources online that will help you master CV writing. 
• Websites like UCAS.com are a good starting point, but it’s also worth going into your school/university library and looking for any workshops available.
• Most schools and universities run tutorial sessions on CV writing, make sure you attend these as they can provide you with a more individual and tailored guidance.