This document provides guidance on creating effective CVs. It discusses the importance of tailoring your CV to the specific job or role you are applying for. Key recommendations include keeping the CV to 1-2 pages, using bullet points, and highlighting achievements, skills, and experience relevant to the target job. The document also cautions against mistakes like spelling errors and suggests including interesting personal details to make a good impression on potential employers.

1. The Killer CV
CS5001 Bath Spa University
Celia Brayfield March 2012

2. The Self-Presentation Pack
 In this module, your coursework
includes a self-presentation pack
which should comprise either or both
CVs, covering letter for a target role or
personal statement for PG study, and
a plan to develop your career through
the coming year and after graduation.
 This carries 20% of your marks in this
module

3. Your CV Choices
 An employer-focused CV, responding
to an advertisement, person or job
specification or requirements of
internship or graduate recruitment
scheme
 A writer’s CV to be read by an agent
publisher or editor

4. CV –Curriculum Vitae
The Employer’s CV will:
 Present you at your best
 Show a potential employer that you
can do the job
 Get you to the next stage – the
interview

5. And the three interview
questions that matter are:
 Can you do the
job?
 Will you love the
job?
 Can we tolerate
working with you?
http://www.mediabistro.com/mediajobsdaily/there-
are-only-three-interview-questions-that-
matter_b10008

6. The Basics
1. White, cream or pastel
paper
2. Good design!
3. 12pt or 10pt font
4. Sans serif fonts are
easier to read
5. No wacky stuff
6. Photo if they ask for it

7. Section Headings
1. Name & Contact details
2. Profile or Key Skills
3. Employment
4. Education
5. Personal Interests
6. References

8. Important
 Not more than
two pages – edit!
 Full page text
 Bullet points, not
written-through
 Everyone hates :
Calibri

9. The Easiest CV to Write
 A CV sent in
response to an
advertisement or a
role for which there
is a job description

10. A person/role spec:
 http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/job/4271249
/junior-web-editor/
 Or
 http://www.blt.org/OfficeAssistant.pdf

11. Graduate Trainee Scheme
application
 http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/careers
/graduate_recruitment/Pages/Graduat
e-Recruitment-Introduction.aspx

12. Use these documents to
tailor your Profile
 And the reason for HarperCollins’ enduring
success? Simple. We have the best creative and
commercial brains in the business. We get behind great
ideas, we aren’t afraid to experiment and we always push
those boundaries. We know it’s not only about books any
more; people want their information, their entertainment and
their content in all sorts of formats (including books) and we
provide all that for them - and more.
 Which is where you come in. We love our graduates. We
fight over them inside the business. They are the ones who
help us stay ahead, be creative, challenge how things are
done, and think differently. And in return, they work in every
part of the business over the course of the 18 months
traineeship, including Editorial, Digital, Rights, Production,
Marketing, PR and Sales. The scheme is well established
and every single person who has been part of it has been
offered a permanent job.

13. What’s
the
worst
thing
that
can
happen
to a
CV? it may be read by an
evil robot

14. J J SMITH
27 Pavedwithgold Street, Bath BA99 7UP
07653 214 885 jjsmith@gmail.com
PROFILE
 Creative, innovative, self-motivated
 Great team worker
 Excellent communication skills across all platforms
 Passionate about literature, physical and digital
 Creator of award-winning interactive drama
 25,262 people read my blog at
http:www.mrsmithsstupidcat.com

15.  Previous experience in an office setting required
 • Experienced administrative professional who is dependable and highly
organized with business
 maturity, discretion, enthusiasm, and a positive attitude
 • Technologically literate with strong computer skills including familiarity with
Microsoft Word
 and Excel and other commonly used software. Access Database skills would
be a plus.
 • Good internet skills, including use of e-mail programs and group
messaging
 • Good organizational skills and record keeping (attention to detail is critical)
 • Cheerful presence and people skills
 • Good oral and written communication skills
 • Self starter who can work independently
 • Skill in establishing priorities and managing workload
 • Ability to follow directions

16. J J SMITH
27 Pavedwithgold Street, Bath BA99 7UP
07653 214 885 jjsmith@gmail.com
Profile
 Committed to the voluntary sector
 Experienced in donor development
 Effective office administrator
 Organised, methodical, meticulous
 Proficient in Microsoft Office 2010, Aspasia, Allbooked
and Sage Intermediate
 Positive, enthusiastic, a great people person who enjoys
client contact

17. Do…
 Research the employer as fully as possible
 Be positive
 Keep it short 1 – 3 pages max
 Use dynamic words - creative, organised,
managed, leader/team worker
 Use strong words indicating worth – proven,
established, committed
 Say “over three years” when you mean on and
off in vacations
 Sell yourself with dignity and confidence

18. Don’t…
 Have ANY mistakes in spelling,
grammar or punctuation
 Use the same CV for every
application
 Cut and paste from the job spec or ad
 Lie outright
 Use jargon
 Oversell yourself – never sound
desperate

19. Why CVs fail
 Spelling mistakes and typos
 Ad copy duplicated
 No covering letter
 CV not customised for the role
 CV too long – over three pages
Survey by Careerbulder.co.uk

20. Under “Employment”
 Include work experience but describe it accurately
 “July – September 2009: Internship at In The Bath PR,
winner of Best in the West award from the Institute of
Public Relations
 Use dynamic and positive language to describe what you
did – “Managed diaries for two directors; Organised
successful fund-raising event for 200 people at Bath &
West Showground, raising £3,500 in two hours. Created
avatar and devised digital marketing campaign for Devon
Pasties.”
 Date each role but don’t draw attention to gaps

21. Under “Education”
 Latest first
 Grade predictions are fine: “I expect to gain
a 2.1/On my current grade profile I expect to
achieve a first class degree.”
 DON’T FORGET ANY PRIZES OR
AWARDS
 A level grades, if they were stellar
 Give equivalents for less common awards
“3 Scottish Highers, equivalent to A-C A
Levels”
 Just a number for GCSEs

22. Under Personal Interests
 The Washing Penguins
factor – the appealing
personal detail shows
you in a good light and
gives your interviewer
something to ask you
 “Worked at the
Capetown Marine
Rescue Centre
washing penguins
caught in an oil slick,
June 2009.”
 BUT – no need to give
your age or marital
status

23. Beware
 Indicating that you are
involved in something
liable to negate your
value as an employee:
“Passionate about
extreme sports, Grade
5 Whitewater Raft
Captain Award 2010.”
 “Sports enthusiast,
raised £200 for
Children in Need in
sponsored sky-dive
March 2010” is better.

24. Don’t forget:
 Driving licence?
 First Aid course?
 Module rep/prefect/netball captain?
 TEFL course?
 Any languages….Afrikaans, Russian,
Farsi, Mandarin, French, Spanish,
Welsh?

25. What to expect:
 Your CV and its covering letter will be read – perhaps by
an HR executive who doesn’t understand the role,
perhaps even by a machine.
 If your CV has gaps, for example, your gap year or times
when you may have been ill, a potential employer will ask
you about these
 You may be asked further questions about any aspect of
the CV, or the job you want
– get good answers ready
 “Why do you want to work here?”
is pretty much guaranteed.

26. Remember – it’s like speed
dating: they decide in 3 seconds

27. And the Writer’s CV
 Will be read by an agent, editor or
publisher
 Should focus on your writing
achievements
 And give an idea of your promotional
potential
 As well as your commitment to your
writing career

28. Focus on your writing
 Name & Contact details
 Awards, prizes, commissions
 Publications
 Education
 Personal
 References

29. J J SMITH
poet, fiction writer, journalist
27 Pavedwithgold Street, Bath BA99 7UP
07653 214 885 jjsmith@gmail.com
Awards & Commissions
Short story, Leaving Reykjavik, shortlisted for the Bristol Short Story
Competiton 2012
Runner-up in Best Blog Awards 2010,
http://www.mrsmithsstupidcat.com
Member of the Polperro Poets performance group 2009 – now
http://www.polperropoets.org
Winner of the WHS Essay Prize 2008
Publications
Leaving Reykjavik And Other Stories, Acorn Books, 2011
On Sushi, Reasons Not to Travel, My Own River – three poems published
in Figleaves Review, Autumn 2010
The Green Wedding – Planet Saver or Swindle, features in Brides West,
May 2009

30. Education
 As before – but don’t forget to
namecheck your tutors
 “Graduation Project supervised by
Lucy English”
 References’R’Us!

31. Personal
This section should round out your profile and offer ideas for
promoting you as a writer. Winning personal details for
recent new writers include:
 Funded my degree by working as a stand-up comedian
 Funding my degree by selling retro jewellery on eBay
 Taught English in Bolivia in gap year
 Live in a houseboat
 Founded Facebook campaign for
Tolpuddle Library – 3400 members

32. Further reading
 You’re Hired:How to Write a Brilliant
CV by Corinne Mills
 BSU Careers Advisers
 “Mind Your Language” Evening
Standard Business Recruitment
Tuesday March 1 2011