How to format and structure a CV [Get more interviews]
Summary
TLDRThis video from the Standout CV YouTube channel offers expert guidance on crafting a professional CV. It emphasizes a clean, simple format using Microsoft Word, avoiding unnecessary design elements for easy readability. The presenter suggests a concise, two-page layout, with clear section headings and bold titles to facilitate skimming. The script covers structuring the CV with a profile, core skills, role descriptions, and achievements, prioritizing recent work experience. It advises placing education towards the end for experienced candidates and omitting hobbies unless highly relevant. The video concludes with a reminder to include 'references available on request' for a polished finish.
Takeaways
- π The video teaches how to format and structure a CV for professionalism and readability.
- π It emphasizes simplicity in CV design, avoiding unnecessary graphics and logos.
- π A clear font and simple color scheme, like black and white, are recommended for clarity.
- π Aim for a CV length of around two pages to maintain reader interest without overwhelming them.
- π Make the CV easy to skim-read by using clear headings and bold titles for sections.
- π Include a professional title and contact details at the top of the CV, avoiding unnecessary personal information.
- π‘ Start with a compelling profile or personal statement to hook the reader's attention.
- π Add a core skills section to highlight relevant skills that align with the job requirements.
- π Structure role descriptions with an overview, responsibilities in bullet points, and key achievements.
- π Place the most recent roles with more detail at the top, and condense older roles as you go down the CV.
- π Education and qualifications should be listed at the bottom for experienced candidates, except when relevant to the role.
- π Hobbies and interests are generally not included unless they are highly relevant or impressive for the job applied for.
- π End the CV with a note that references are available upon request, if space permits.
Q & A
What is the main purpose of the video?
-The main purpose of the video is to teach viewers how to format and structure a CV professionally, making it easy for recruiters and hiring managers to read.
Why is it important to keep the CV design simple?
-A simple design is important because it helps recruiters and hiring managers to focus on the content rather than being distracted by unnecessary design elements, making the CV easier to read and process.
What is the recommended length for a CV?
-The recommended length for a CV is around two pages of A4, which provides enough space to showcase your qualifications and experience without overwhelming the reader.
Why should the CV be easy to skim read?
-The CV should be easy to skim read because recruiters and hiring managers often quickly scan through CVs to pick up key points, and an easily skimmable CV helps them quickly identify relevant information.
What should be included in the major sections of the CV?
-Major sections of the CV should include a bold heading and a border underneath to make them stand out. Each work experience role should be headed with a bold title and spaced out for easy reading.
What is the purpose of the profile or personal statement in a CV?
-The profile or personal statement serves as an introductory paragraph to hook the reader's attention and encourage them to read the rest of the CV. It summarizes the candidate's skills and knowledge tailored towards the roles they are applying for.
Why is it beneficial to include a core skills section in the CV?
-Including a core skills section provides a snapshot of the candidate's most valuable skills relevant to the job, making it easy for the reader to quickly identify a good match between the candidate's abilities and the job requirements.
How should work experience be presented in the CV?
-Work experience should be presented with an outline providing an overview of the job and employer, followed by bullet points detailing responsibilities and key achievements. More recent roles should be more detailed, while older roles can be summarized more briefly.
Why is it common to place education and qualifications towards the bottom of the CV for experienced candidates?
-For experienced candidates, recent work experience is more relevant and indicative of current capabilities, so it is given more prominence. Education and qualifications are placed at the bottom to maintain focus on work experience.
Why are hobbies and interests typically not included in a CV?
-Hobbies and interests are typically not included in a CV because they rarely influence a hiring decision unless they are closely related to the job or demonstrate exceptional personal achievements.
What is the final touch recommended for a CV?
-The final touch recommended for a CV is a line stating 'references available on request', which can be omitted if space is limited but is considered a nice finishing touch.
Outlines
π Professional CV Formatting and Structure
The video script introduces a tutorial on crafting a professional CV. It emphasizes the importance of a clean and simple format, avoiding unnecessary design elements like photos and logos, which do not influence hiring decisions. The recommended format is a two-page A4 document in Microsoft Word with a clear font and simple color scheme, predominantly black and white. The script also advises on making the CV easy to skim-read by using bold headings and borders for major sections, and spacing between roles to enhance readability. The video promises to guide viewers on how to present their work experience and achievements effectively.
π Key Elements of a Standout CV
This paragraph delves into the structure of a CV, starting with a professional title and contact details, followed by a compelling profile or personal statement designed to capture the reader's attention. It suggests including a core skills section with bullet points to highlight relevant skills for the job. The paragraph also covers the presentation of role descriptions, emphasizing the need to provide an overview, detailed responsibilities in concise points, and key achievements. It advises that more recent roles should be more detailed, while older roles can be summarized briefly. The script mentions the placement of education and qualifications towards the bottom for experienced candidates, and the exclusion of hobbies and interests unless they are exceptional or relevant to the job. It concludes with the suggestion to include a note about references being available on request.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘CV
π‘Formatting
π‘Professional
π‘Recruiters
π‘Hiring Managers
π‘Skimming
π‘Profile or Personal Statement
π‘Core Skills
π‘Work Experience
π‘Education and Qualifications
π‘Hobbies and Interests
π‘References
Highlights
Introduction to the video teaching viewers how to format and structure a CV professionally.
Emphasis on the importance of a CV's readability for recruiters and hiring managers.
Use of a real CV as an example, modified to protect privacy, demonstrating successful job market application.
Discussion on the universality of the CV format across professions and industries.
Advice against using design features, photos, and logos in a CV for professional simplicity.
Recommendation to use a clear font and simple color scheme, particularly black and white.
Suggestion to aim for a CV length of around two pages for optimal engagement.
Importance of making a CV easy to skim-read for recruiters who look for key points quickly.
Instruction on using bold headings and borders to distinguish major sections of the CV.
The significance of clear, bold titles for each work experience role in the CV.
Advice on leaving space between roles to improve readability.
Explanation of the structure starting with the candidate's name and professional title.
Guidance on including only necessary contact details without overcomplicating the CV.
The role of the profile or personal statement as an introductory paragraph to catch attention.
Inclusion of a core skills section to highlight valuable and relevant skills.
The method of detailing role descriptions with an outline, responsibilities, and key achievements.
Insight into why recent roles should be more detailed than older ones in a CV.
Placement of education and qualifications towards the bottom for experienced candidates.
Recommendation against including hobbies and interests unless highly relevant or impressive.
Conclusion with the optional addition of 'references available on request' at the end of the CV.
Encouragement for viewers to ask questions in the comments and subscribe for more advice.
Transcripts
hello and welcome to the standout CV
YouTube channel in this video I'm going
to teach you how to format and structure
your CV so it looks professional and
it's nice and easy for recruiters and
hiring managers to read so before I get
started if you know here make sure you
hit the red subscribe button take it
access to all of my new CV advice videos
so this is a real CV which we wrote for
a customer while ago obviously the
personal details and company names have
been changed here but I chose this CV
because it's been used in the job market
before and it managed to get interviews
for this person so it did its job now as
you can see it's an administrator CV but
you can apply this format to any
profession any industry because the goal
is always the same for the CV to look
professional and provide a pleasant
reading experience and there's no need
to overcomplicate that so the first
thing I'm going to talk about is the
overall format of the CV you'll notice
it's a very simple format written in
good old Microsoft Word there are no way
he designed features no photographs no
logos and that's because those things
will never have any effects on a hiring
decision so there are a total waste of
space from a design and aesthetics point
of view you just need to keep it really
simple by using a clear font and a
simple color scheme so black and white
like this one tends to work the best now
some people may think that's a bit
boring but believe me when I say this
makes it much easier for recruiters and
hiring managers to read than an
elaborate CV which is congested with
lots of unnecessary design features in
terms of CV link you should be aiming
for around 2 pages of a4 that just gives
you enough to be able to prove that
you're a good candidate without going
off for so long that it bores people if
you spill on to the third page a bit
it's not the end of the world but if you
start going on to a fourth it's very
unlikely that anybody is going to read
that far it's just the attention spans
you're dealing with
in today's job market one really
important thing that you need to do if
your CV is to make sure that it's easy
for people to skim read so when most
recruiters or hiring managers open up a
CV what they'll tend to do is skim
through it and try to pick up a few key
points that they're looking for so you
need to accommodate for that and make
sure that the the key information is
easy
to find in order to do this you should
head all of your major CV sections like
this one with a big bold heading and you
should even if you can add a border
underneath that so if you want to do
that just click on the Home tab and then
go over to this icon here and add a
bottom border then when you go down to
your work experience your roles you need
to make sure you're heading each one
with a nice bold title so that's clear
and you want to leave a good couple of
lines worth four space between each one
adding all of this type of formatting
will just help people to read the CV
pick up the things they need and it
should increase the responses you get
from your applications now that I've
covered the formatting of the CV let's
take a look at the structure so starting
from the very top you need to head your
CV obviously with your name and I like
to add professional title here because
that just sort of sets the tone for the
CV and suddenly tells people that you
know they might have a good suitable
person here then underneath there just
add your contact details so very simple
locations had a phone email don't go
overboard adding your full address and
date of birth and things like that
because they're just not necessary at
this stage of the application so the
first proper content part of your CV is
this part here the profile or personal
statement is sometimes called and this
is basically an introductory paragraph
and its aim is to hook people's
attention when they first open up the CV
and ensure they sort of are encouraged
to read the rest of it now I'm not going
to go into a huge amount of detail about
water right here because I have another
video that's dedicated to writing CV
profiles but what I will say is you need
to summarize your skills and knowledge
and tailor it towards the roles you're
applying for underneath your profile
it's good to add a core skill section
like this so basically what this is is a
bullet pointed list of your most
valuable skills that relate to the jobs
you're applying for and the effect it
has is that it creates a snapshot of
these in-demand skills which kind of
jump off the page of readers if you
table them properly to the jobs you're
applying for
as soon as someone opens up their CV
there's straightaway you're going to see
those I think anything right looks like
we've got a good match here so it's very
simple but very effective now let's move
on to role descriptions
again the idea here is just to make it
really easy for readers to digest the
information on the page so to start the
rolls with an outline which provides a
nice overview of the job and who you
work for and then detail the
responsibilities of the role in short
sharp but it points so they're nice and
easy to skim through and then round the
roll up with some key achievements of
anything you've done that's that's had a
big impact on the employer as we scroll
down the CV you'll notice that these
roles get shorter and that's simply
because recruiters will be most
interested in your recent work because
that's the best way to gauge your
current capabilities so that's why your
current or most recent role needs to be
pretty big and have lots of detail and
as they scroll down the CV they'll tend
to become less interested in the older
roles so you can shorten them down and
if you've got lots of roles you know you
can just have sort of one-line summaries
for the very very old ones once you've
finished listing your work experience
then you need to add your education and
qualifications near to the bottom of the
CV so for experienced candidates you
know you want to keep this very very
light I mean there should be mentions of
your education at the top of the CV and
the profile and core skills if they're
relevant to the roles you're applying
for but the full list of your education
should actually be at the bottom of the
CV the only exception to this is if you
are a school leaver or you have little
experience then you know you probably
want to put your education nearer to the
top but for most experienced people this
is the the best format to use now you'll
notice there are no hobbies and
interests on this CV no no hobbies
section and that's because 99 times out
hundreds or hobbies and interests will
not have any effects on a hiring
decision unless you have a hobby that is
very very related closely to the roles
you're applying for or perhaps if you've
done you know some really amazing stuff
like running marathons climbing
mountains but if like the most of us you
have pretty boring hobbies like going to
the cinema on eating out they aren't
gonna wow anyone so you know just just
leave them out of the CV and to round
off the CV I like to add a nice little
line saying references available on
request here
that's not I send you you don't have to
do that I personally just think it looks
nice but if you're running out of space
you know you don't have to do that so
that brings me near to the end of this
video so before I wrap things up if you
have any questions just ask them in the
comments below I do read them and I do
reply to them as soon as I can so thanks
very much for watching if you found the
video helpful please hit the like button
and don't forget to subscribe to the
channel and best of luck with your job
search
[Music]
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