SECTION 4: Qualifications / Training

List your qualifications and education history in order level with the highest first, for example: -

• MSc Business Studies at Robert Gordon University, 1994- 1998
• BSc (Hons) 2.2 in Biochemistry at the University of Leeds, 2003-2007
• Higher Grades (or A Levels): Maths [C], Biology [B], Chemistry [C] at Watford Grammar School
• O Grades: (or O levels, Standard grades, GCSE's): Maths [A}, English Language [B}, History [C], Geography [C], French [C] at Aberdeen Grammar School.

If you have a degree you probably will not need to list all your O Grades, O Levels or GCSE's, just listing the number is probably sufficient.

Professional Qualifications

List your professional qualifications, membership of professional associations and professional ID numbers. If you recently completed a college or university degree or HND or Diploma etc, then you may want to list the courses you studied if the subject you studied was relevant to your target job.

Training Courses

List any work related training courses which you attended, including company courses and any you attended on your own initiative. If you obtained a qualification on any course please list it. You only need to list the important courses you attended.

SECTION 5: Work History

You should normally elaborate more on your most recent jobs, spanning 10-15years (unless you were only there for a short time), because employers are usually most interested in these. For positions previous to this, summarise brief details i.e. date, company, position. Start with your current or last job and work backwards. For each position (treat internal promotion as a new job and record the dates separately) list your job title (e.g. Manager, Supervisor, etc), the job title of the person you reported to (e.g. Director, Manager, etc) and when you started and finished in each job.

Give the name of the company and include a brief description of the service they provide (using the terms they would use to describe themselves).

In bullet point format, set out your main responsibilities, achievements, duties and skills that could be transferred to another employee. Be specific and positive about your skills, e.g. ‘good written skills' may be a better description of your abilities rather than ‘good communication skills'.

Include your level of responsibility if any, e.g. ‘responsibility for departmental budget of £100K and managed 10 staff'. In particular list any achievements you had in each position, including increases in sales/productivity and cost savings made. Quantify your achievements if possible. ‘Increased sales by £100K' is more interesting and positive than just saying ‘Increased sales'. You should try to include some achievements such as meeting deadlines, budgets, etc and any information that may be relevant to your next job.

If you have been working for a number of years you probably do not need to include any part-time jobs, vacation jobs, voluntary work or unpaid work experience. Charity work could be included in your interests. However you might want to include these jobs if they covered a period of unemployment, or a time when you were not working for any other reason, or you feel that some of the experience you gained will be useful in your next job.

It may also be useful to include reasons for leaving for most recent positions.

References

Ideally two work-related references should be included in your CV. If this were difficult, it would be worthwhile also to consider an academic or character reference.

Key points in Summary

1. Personal Details
2. Profile
3. Key Skills / Major Achievements
4. Education, Qualifications & Training
5. Work History
6. Hobbies / Interests
7. Referees

Additional Points - Useful Hints

• Put highest qualification first
• Put most recent jobs first
• Elaborate on positions up to 15 years or last two companies if been in current position over 10 years.
• Summarise career history in bullet point format
• Often useful to consider font used in the CV. Is this professional enough?
• Ensure email address and voicemail is professional
• Remember your CV is a key selling tool and should encapsulate all your key skills and relevant positions.
• Read over your CV, check for spelling errors and ensure dates are correct prior to submitting.

If you register with us as a candidate, you will also have the benefit of aaa's expertise in preparing winning CV's as our highly trained consultants will work with you to develop your CV to help you stand out from the crowd.