Writing a good CV is vital to securing your dream job. It’s the information your potential employer will review to assess your suitability for a role, which is why it’s crucial to get it right. Following the below will help you achieve this.
Firstly, it’s important your CV is the right length. Whilst it’s important to showcase your experience, you don’t want to lose attention of the employer. The likelihood is that the employer will receive multiple CVs, so you need to keep it concise. As a guideline, two pages is the average length for a CV, unless you are a graduate or someone with limited work experience, in which case, one page should be enough. If you are a senior candidate with years of experience, concentrate on the last decade of your employment, then use bullet point to summarise your earlier jobs – by company name, job title and dates of employment.
Secondly, you need to get the layout and content of your CV right. It needs to be well structured and easy to read, so ensure the font type is clear (we would recommend point-size 11 to 13) and professional (we would recommend font styles Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri). You should keep each section uniform, for example, if you have a title in bold, this format needs to be followed for all titles. It’s also essential you have no grammar errors, so get it checked by a fresh pair of eyes before submitting it. Below is the layout we recommend:
Personal Profile
You should start with a short and concise personal profile which should include who you are, your skills, strengths and career goals. As a guideline, it should be no longer than 80 words. The employer is likely to scan read, so it’s important you grab their attention by tailoring your profile to the job you are applying for.
Work Experience
This should start with your most recent job. Under each job you should have a sentence or two that clearly states what you do followed by your key responsibilities, key achievements and overall performance. This is an essential part of your CV, even more so when applying for a sales position – your sales figures must be on there as this is what employers will be looking out for.
Education
Similar to work experience, you should list your education with the most recent institution at the top. Include the institution names, dates you attended, subjects and the grades attained. You may want to include any awards and honours you earned. It’s very easy for an employer to check your grades, so be honest!
Key Skills
Alike your personal profile, this section of your CV should be tailored to the job you are applying for. Bullet points work best for this section. You should include skills such as IT and software proficiency, leadership and management experience, presentation and public speaking experience. If you are lucky enough to be multilingual, this is the place to add your languages.
Lastly, tailor your CV. Each job is unique, so you should take time to understand what the potential employer is looking for. You can do this by reading through the employers’ job descriptions or by speaking to the recruiter managing the role. Once you understand the job requirements you should amend your CV to match this. This doesn’t mean writing a new CV every time you apply for a job, you can tailor your CV through your personal profile, key skills and hobbies & interests. For example, if you are applying to an Area Sales Manager position for a company that sell fitness equipment, you could include that you enjoy attending the gym or have a relevant qualification, i.e. in nutrition or health and fitness. Tailoring your CV will help you stand out in a competitive market.
If you have any questions on the above or would like more information on how to write a sales CV, please get in touch with one of our specialist recruitment consultants at Network Talent who are here to help.