Is there such thing as the “perfect CV”? Not really, maybe something close though.

After leaving uni or even during uni, creating your first CV or updating your current CV (since your Sunday job delivering newspapers in your local area) can be super daunting. There are basic CV rules such as what to include, what not to include and a suitable length. Your CV should be a sum of short sentences that let potential employers know who you are, what you’re capable of and what experience you have. Then, you can hit up Student Jobs to find that perfect job you're looking for!

6 things that are vital to include on your CV

1. Personal information

Your personal information should always be at the top of your CV, this should include your name (obvs) and your contact information, this could be your phone number or email address.

A word of advice, if you’re terrible at answering calls or always forget to take your phone off silent - change that. It’s probably a good idea to make sure your email address is professional too, angel_eyez@gogirl123.co.uk isn’t the best way to represent yourself.

After you’ve carefully written your personal information, next up is your personal profile. Your personal profile serves as an introduction for yourself. It’s worth including relevant skills that apply to the job you’re applying for.

Your personal profile should be around 4-5 sentences, it shouldn’t be over one paragraph, if you can help it. Although talking about how amazing you are and why you'd be perfect for the role could go on for more than 4-5 sentences.

2. Education history

Here should be all of your previous experience, starting with the most recent. Remember to include the name of your institution, the dates you attended, what you studied and what your grades were.

3. Work experience

Similar to your education history, here you should list all of your previous (relevant) work experience including the company you work/worked for, your job title and the duration you were working there.

Under each job role you should briefly list your duties, skills/achievements you learnt whilst working there and how they benefit you now. Keep your descriptions brief as you don’t want to waffle on.

4. Further skills

Here include any further skills that you’ve learnt during education or previous jobs that you think might be relevant. You don’t need to include this section if you don’t feel like you have anything to add yet.

5. Hobbies/interests

Briefly list any hobbies, interests or passions that you may have outside of work, try making it relevant to the job you're applying to.

6. References

To keep your CV short, it’s worth stating “References: available upon request.” Employers usually ask for references after you’ve been offered the position. But, if they ask for them beforehand, that’s also fine. It’s worth keeping two references saved in another document so you’re able to access them easily.

It’s worth getting someone with a good eye to proofread your CV so you can avoid errors, we all know the feeling of becoming a bit word blind after writing for so long.

All done? Now save your finished CV as a PDF file so it can’t be edited or changed in any way.

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