CV Writing
A well-structured CV is one of the most important documents you will
ever write. As the first impression a potential employer will have of
you, it is essential it creates a lasting impression.
And you do not have long to do that. A recent survey revealed that prospective
employers look at a CV for a maximum of 20 seconds!
The first page of your profile needs to make an instant impact ensuring
your skills and achievements are not missed.
Your CV should be no longer than two pages, providing a snapshot of what
you can offer a potential employer that starts with a four line summary
of your achievements and responsibilities. Be specific, back up any statements
with evidence and use facts and figures particularly for sales roles.
‘I established and grew the semiconductor sales from £100k in
2003 to £1m in 2006,’ says ‘success’ to an employer,
and speaks volumes compared to, ‘I was responsible for semiconductor
sales.’
For design roles, highlight any commercial successes: ‘I designed
6 DCDC power supply units over the last year with 5 of them now in production
worldwide,’ says you are a good designer, and you think commercially.
Next, list your career history starting with your most recent job and
ending with your last.
For jobs over ten years old just use one line, an employer is interested
in your latest experience and that is what you must spend precious space
on.
It is often worth ‘customising’ your CV for specific job roles
in order to highlight a specific skill set in relation to the advertised
job. Often engineers assume that employers will know what they do because
they have used industry buzzwords rather than spelling out what it is they
do.
Your CV must be accurate. Even the exact dates between jobs matter as
employers use these to determine continuity, length of service and stability.
Investing in new staff is expensive, because of that clients value a candidate
who shows honesty, commitment and career progression.
Those starting careers should include skills and experience gained from
part time/holiday jobs, hobbies and voluntary work.
Finally check your spelling, grammar, readability and layout, nine out
of ten CV’s have at least one error in them. Get someone outside
of engineering to proof read it to make sure it short, punchy and to the
point.
After sending your CV relax and follow up with a phone call to make sure
it has arrived, never assume that it has.
The value of CV’s often gets overlooked and this is where a specialised
recruitment company like PER can prove its value.
At PER we want our candidates considered for the roles they are put forward
for so we talk them through those posts ensuring their CVs say the things
about them that get interviews.
CV Template
