How Should Your CV Look?

Did you know that it takes a recruiter approximately 10 seconds to decide whether you are fit for a position?

Yes, only ten seconds. This means that your CV should catch the recruiter’s attention from the start. How do you ensure this? Ensure that your CV does not include irrelevant information that wastes the employer’s time.

How should Your CV look? In this article, we will discuss some of the key things you should have in your CV to improve your chances of getting that job.

1. Contact details

“The problem with most CVs is that people include too much information in their personal or contact details section,” says Evelyne, a CV writing professional.

Your personal details section should only include your full name, email, and contact information, such as your telephone number.

2. Profile summary or career objective

Why are you looking for that specific job? What do you have to offer the organisation?

This section summarises your CV and gives the recruiter a sneak peek of your qualifications and experience.

For example,

‘A result-focused community developer with experience in administrative support to complete projects. I am familiar with sharing project details with its beneficiaries, scrutinising the advancing of such projects, maintaining project deliverables and generating a database by collecting data.’

3. Education Background

This is where you are supposed to list all your academic qualifications, starting from the most recent.

Again, you don’t have to list everything. For example, you don’t need to include your KCPE results as a graduate.

On the other hand, you can include your average KCSE score, especially if the job description specifies what grade candidates should have gotten.

4. Work Experience

You should list your work experience in order from the latest position held. However, ensure that any experience you list here is relevant to the job that you want to get.

This becomes very crucial if one has worked a lot. Therefore, this explains why it is important to demonstrate your suitability for a specific post as opposed to generalising on your previous roles and responsibilities

5. Training, Workshops attended

Put down any soft skills training or workshops relating to what an employer is looking for.

For instance, if you participated in practical accounting skills training and acquired a certification, include this information here.

Anything else included in this section must be in addition to what qualifies you best for the position applied.

6. Referees

Referees are always listed as the last part of one’s curriculum vitae. This entails providing the names of three people who can verify they were right in giving you the job.

Choose referees who were under your supervision or management when working with them. These need not necessarily have supervised workplace projects but may include academic assessors like lecturers in tertiary institutions for fresh graduates.

In conclusion,

Having a well-written CV that aligns with what the employer is looking for demonstrates that you can lead, and it increases your chances of being invited for an interview.

Is your CV not getting you jobs? Our professional CV writers can help you get a job-winning CV!