CV help!..what do I need to include?

Question

Could someone tell me what needs to be in a basic CV. I've looked on the internet but each web site is different and I am no longer sure what I do and do not need to include.

From the view of an employer what is the most important aspect of a persons CV?

Also does anyone think it would be beneficial to put in that I was home educated before going to college?

Thanks :)

Answer 1

It's often best to suit a CV specially to a job instead of just having one 'default' CV to send out.

as for most important aspect for an employer, it depends mainly on the job position being offered.. for example, someone seeking a babysitter may be looking especially for experience caring for children etc.

and home education should in no way count against you as long as you have equal qualifications.

theres a website that has a lot of ace examples of CVs: http://www.cvtips.com/CV_example.html

and this website has a list of criteria: http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv.htm

hope that helps :P

Answer 2

A CV must ONLY contain the following:-

Personal Details - Name, Address, Date of Birth

Education - EVERY school you have attended since the age of 11 (if were Home Educated say) and EVERY exam you have taken with the grades.

Employment - EVERY job you have worked, Name and address of the company, dates you were there and a VERY brief description of what you did (a MAXIMUM of two lines).

Hobbies/Interests/Other Information - the computer software you are familiar with goes in this bit.

Referees - 2 people who you have worked with or know you well, but you must NOT be related to them in any way.

Your CV should be a MAXIMUM of 2 pages long - a lot of employers stop reading at the bottom of page 2.

Answer 3

Hello - I work in Human Resources so hopefully I can give you some useful information from a recruiters perspective! The basics you should include on your CV are:

- Your name, address and contact details

- A personal statement - which summarises in no more than 4 lines what you're about. For example, "I am a confident professional and personable HR Officer with a vast amount of experience in employee relations....." I'm sure you get the picture

- Your education history - include the grades you got at school, what you studied at college and your grades. If you don't have these yet put in your projected/expected grades. It doesn't matter if you were home schooled or attended a school, its just your grades that are important

- Also include any other relevant qualifications such as first aid, fire marshall etc, and any other short courses you may have attended such as IT

- Then list your work history (with your most recent/current job first) If you haven't worked yet then try to include any voluntary work that you have done

- Final thing to include is contact details of two references, name and address should be fine.

Good luck x