The Good CV Guide
Take a look at the extracts below. Would you believe they are taken from the CV’s of qualified accountants? In other aspects of their career, they were competent professionals. They just had no guidance in writing their CV and no spellchecker on their PC. The objective of this guide is to help you avoid writing a bad CV and hopefully it will help you to write a good CV.
Hobbies
Fantasy role playing
Achievements
Under 10 Player of the year
Did the reading at the Pope’s mass
Star Sign
Gemini
Additional Information
I am very good looking
Responsibilities
I report to the F.C. – D.T. and produce the G.M.I.T. reports, the Opex statement and I also manage the Odin process
Interests
Movies, camping, meetings with friends, puppies
We hope you find these notes useful and good luck in your job search!
How to write a good CV
Before you start writing, list our your achievements and your strengths. Most people approach writing a CV as if it is a simple factual account of where you they live, where they were educated and where they are working. However it is better to approach your CV from a selling point of view. Think of what a potential employer is looking for and target the CV at them.
Try to make your CV readable. If you are not a good writer, ask someone else to ghost-write it for you. Don’t be afraid to write full sentences – some people feel a CV must be in bullet points. But don’t be too long winded either. Use a combination of sentences and bullet points.
Make it business oriented. Clients look for commercial acumen or at least an interest in something other than the latest accounting standard. Describe the business of your employer in a commercial manner. Say something about the company’s products and brands, activities, markets and turnover.
Make it positive. Portray your current employer as successful, modern and progressive. If you have worked for a good company, your experience will be good.
Highlight any special skills especially IT, systems implementation, foreign languages etc.
Ask yourself what makes you different and better than your peers. Why should an employer take you on in preference to them? Have you had any special experience of secondments, IT or corporate finance projects?
Try to keep it to 3 pages or 4 at a maximum. We suggest personal information and education on the front page, your current position on page 2 and previous positions on page 3.
Get a professional secretary to type it for you if your word skills are poor. Their layout and spelling is likely to be better than yours. Also, you can be more critical of something someone else types – people tend not to see their own errors.
Think of your audience. If you are applying for a particular type of position, make sure to highlight the experience which is most relevant to that position. Some people have different versions of their CV’s for different types of jobs.
State your career objectives on the front page. Use it to sell your skills and experience.
For example: ‘With KPMG, I have developed excellent experience in the audit of financial institutions. I have also developed very good communication skills. I would like to apply these skills in a commercial role within the financial services sector.’
Read other peoples CV’s for ideas. This will help you see what is good and bad in a CV. Alternatively, email us your CV, and we can offer advice on how to best present your skills, experience and qualifications cvclinic@thepanel.com
Published with kind permission of The Accountants Panel
The Accountants Panel is a specialist consultancy sourcing candidates from Accounts Staff to Chief Financial Officer level, on both a permanent and contract basis. Our clients include multinational companies, blue chip Irish plc's, small to medium sized enterprises and public practices.
