What is a CV? A CV is a summary of your life.
A CV is an easy way of giving people details about you. It can create a
good or bad impression.
Remember …Your CV must give the employer no reason to turn you down.
An employer could receive hundreds of applications
– and will look for ways to reduce this to a number
that can be coped with.
First impressions always count.
That’s why the look and style of the CV is important.
 Presentation counts - Use a computer
 Use good quality paper.
 Keep it brief (1 or 2 pages is enough).
 Be clear.
 Be positive.
The style of your CV does not have to follow a set layout – the style is
your choice.
Remember you don’t have to have one CV for all jobs!
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The right information for the job
Pick the information about yourself that is relevant to the job application
and customise it for the job you are applying for. You do not need to have
one CV for all jobs.
Instead, pick the information about yourself that is relevant to the job
application.
Which details would you include in your CV if you were applying for these
jobs?
A nurse in an old
people’s home
A dancer in a
West End show
A check-out assistant
at a supermarket
A receptionist at a
drug counselling centre
An electrician with
a large firm
A traffic warden
for the local council
Now look carefully at the details of the job you are applying for and
NOTE what information the employers are looking for!.
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There are many different styles of CV, but much of the information in
them remains the same.
1
Write down a list of the dates you went to school
and/or college.
............................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
2
Write down any qualifications you have.
............................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
3
Think of two people who would be willing to give
you a reference.
............................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
Telephone or write to them to ask if they would be willing to take on
that task.
4
Think about the job you are applying for and how
you can match the needs.
Think about your strengths and turn to the next page
of this worksheet.
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Your strengths
Make sure you use the CV to stress how you have the strengths or
experience needed for the particular job that you are applying for.
Here is an example:
Here is another example:
I am an enthusiastic retail sales person with
several years’ experience in the audio, video and
domestic appliance field.
I am a motivated and sociable person. I recently
completed three months full-time voluntary work
and used the experience to strengthen my
communication and team-working skills.
Write a brief list of your strengths here, relating them to the position
you are applying for.
Talk about what you have written with your Support Worker.
See if, between the two of you, you can make it better. Quite often,
another person will see positive things that you had not thought of.
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