Harper Adams Careers Service: Guidance On Constructing CV's

Harper Adams
Careers Service
Guidance On
Constructing CVs
INTRODUCTION
CVs and covering letters combined form a package that should provide an
employer with sufficient information for them to select you for the next stage
of the recruitment process. Together they should be attractive, informative
and interesting yet concise and to the point.
Many of us find these two documents difficult to construct because, unlike
application forms, there is no structure to follow. Whilst this can be
disorientating, it has the advantage of allowing you to sell yourself how you
want.
The following pages give you some idea of how to approach constructing
CVs and covering letters in a way that allows you to sell yourself effectively
and get that interview:
ie. you have demonstrated you have the strengths that link you to the job.
THE CURRICULUM VITAE
Purpose:
To get you to the interview stage of selection
To tell an employer that you have skills, qualities, knowledge and
experience that they need in the post for which they are selecting.
To enable you to market yourself to employers in a way that you decide is
appropriate.
THE BASICS
CVs do not have to follow a standard format. You can design them to suit
the purpose for which they are needed.
They should be two sides of A4 in length or less, even if you have substantial
work experience behind you.
Information needs to be easily accessible i.e. clearly labelled, not hidden in
lengthy paragraphs and well spaced.
They should look professional use the best quality print and paper possible.
Think carefully about the use of coloured paper and to whom the CV is
intended.
CV Construction Booklet updated 23/11/06
You should be consistent in use of format, layout, style etc.

It should be possible to pick out your main selling points with just a quick
scan of the CV first many employers scan CVs before reading them in
depth.
A good test of this is to see a pile of CVs together and at a glance think
which ones stand out. Which would you want to single out and read?
CONSTRUCTING THE CV
The steps in constructing a CV:
Study the advertisement/job description and analyse the
experience/abilities/skills required.
Collect the evidence from your experience/qualifications which meet these
requirements.
Prioritise the importance of your evidence.
Decide on the headings you wish to use.
Design the layout.
Write the CV
Before you start anything you will need to find out about the skills, abilities,
knowledge and experiences required for the career you have chosen. What
you are aiming to do is make the match with some of the qualities the
employer is looking for.
The next stage is to gather together the evidence of these skills. This could
come from your course, your work experience, leisure activities, student
experiences, previous courses, family responsibilities etc. You could have
several pieces of evidence that demonstrate a specific required skill.
What you may believe to be mundane experiences can be used to
demonstrate valuable skills acquired. For example, you can use restaurant
work as evidence of ability to cope under pressure, effective communication,
exercising tact and diplomacy, numeracy, being flexible and using
persuasion.
You may find you have more evidence of certain experiences than others.
This would indicate that they are going to be the most important pieces of
information to incorporate within the CV.
HEADINGS what headings are appropriate to display these valuable pieces

of information. Some suggestions are listed below:
Education
Skills
Position of Responsibility
Activities & Interests
Achievements
References
All headings should be positive you should avoid headings like Additional
Information, Other Information etc. as these do not tell you what you are
going to find in that sections and can tend to undervalue the information
contained within it.
Which heading should come first is another important issue. The simple
answer is that the section containing your best quality information should be
the first thing the employer sees.
If your degree is relevant to the type of work you want, then education could
well come first. If your career choice is some way from you degree content
then you could start with skills, achievements or work experience depending
on which is going to show you in the best possible light.
HOW TO WRITE A CV
Focus on achievements, skills and results skills if there is limited work
experience.
Never include statements or achievements that can not be substantiated.
Keep sentences short and punchy.
Your CV should be attractive and easy to read good spacing, margins
and bold printing. Avoid overcrowding.
Do not use abbreviations when there could be doubt as to the meaning.
Be clear and precise.
Keep it short. A good CV will be as short as possible, certainly no longer
than 2 pages.
Do not use personal pronouns (I/We).
Use action words to describe each achievement.
Wherever possible, show results in figures.
Try to be original and avoid exaggerations and flowery items.
If you have a sense of humour, let it show a little in your CV.
WHAT YOU SHOULD (AND SHOULD NOT) SAY AND HOW YOU SHOULD
SAY IT
The language you use in your CV should be positive, concise and straight
forward. It needs to convey the maximum effect in as few words as possible.
PROJECTING FORWARD
CVs should show the employer what you can do rather than just reflect on
what you have done.
If you have worked in practical farming but are now trying to get a job as a
food technologist with a leading multiple, a listing of your jobs in farming that
only lists your responsibilities, will read as though you still want to work in
practical farming. However, if you use the content of the job to display
evidence of the skills required by a food technologist then the CV starts to
look forward rather than backwards and employers can see you doing the job
for which you are applying rather than the one you did before.
WHAT YOU SHOULD REVEAL ABOUT YOURSELF
Many CVs contain a lot of information about gender, marital status, children,
nationality, age etc. The principle to stick to is that you should only reveal as
much as you feel you need to disclose. This way you stay in control of the
picture the employer is forming of you.
Powerful Language CVs should be positive, powerful documents.
Therefore the words you use should be strong and very descriptive.
Terms such as liaised, worked with and was involved in do not quantify
what you actually did. They merely say you were there. Instead use strong
active, descriptive verbs such as:
Designed
Led
Managed
Decided
Analysed
Controlled
Researched
Produced
Resolved
Assessed
Organised
Influenced
Achieved
Solved
Arranged
Negotiated
Presented
Initiated
Co-ordinate
Persuaded
Supervised
Devised
Facilitated
Describing Skills Here it is important to accurately name the skill and then
substantiate your claim by providing concrete evidence of your using that
skill.
Therefore, your skill section could look something like:
IT:
European Computer Driving Licence Certificate

competent in all Microsoft Office packages including Excel,
Word, Access, Powerpoint. Regularly used for academic
and work projects. (The ECDL is available from Harper
Adams, ask at the Computer Helpdesk).
Team Work:
Successfully co-ordinate work of course project team

presentation monitored progress, delegated tasks,
ensured completion to deadline
Negotiation:
Secured co-operation and use of facilities with J Bloggs &

Co for final year project
Languages:
Fluent spoken and written Spanish, some knowledge of

French
Driving:
Full, clean licence
This layout will enable the name of the skill to stand out when the CV is
initially scanned and also throw more light onto some of the experiences
mentioned elsewhere on the CV.
Describing Your Course: If your course is relevant to the type of work you
want (and because of the vocational nature of the courses at Harper Adams it
probably will be) then this will be a major selling point for you. In this case
you will need to prioritise the elements of the course that best fit with the job
requirements.
It is also important to bring out specialisms you have developed within the
course, especially through investigational projects or course research based
work.
If your course content has nothing to do with the job you want, it is a good
idea to examine the way in which you have studied to bring out the skills you
have developed. For example, 2002-2006 BSc Agriculture with Land and
Farm Management included module on computer applications,
development of critical reasoning through a study of land usage, presenting

seminars and the meeting of frequent deadlines.
Avoid just listing names of modules you have studied. Employers prefer to
hear about experience and achievements.
Visual Impact: Employers will want to find the key information they need
quickly and easily. Therefore keep the CV simple.
Information presented on the CV should look sharp, be easily found, be
concise and be in small chunks.
References: You should give the names and addresses of two referees.
One should be from the University, normally you Course Tutor, Dissertation
Tutor or a Tutor who knows you well. The second should be either a recent
employer (especially if you have done a placement who has known you for a
long time, holds a reasonably responsible position and is not related to you.
Occasionally people say that references are available on request. This is
usual when you are already in work and do not want your employer to know
that you are job-hunting.
COVERING LETTERS
Covering letters need to be different depending on whether the application is
speculative or is answering an advertisement. They should be individually
written for each application you make. Covering letters can be typed unless
the firm specifically asks for a hand written letter. However, if you do word
process you letters, make sure they do not read like a standard letter.
Speculative Applications: Here you need the concise, simple four
paragraph letter:
Paragraph 1:
The Introduction:
Here you introduce the CV, explain that you are about to graduate/have
recently graduated, giving your subject where it is relevant and that you
want to develop a career in e.g. farm business consultancy.
Paragraph 2:
Here you make the case for why you want the type of work you are
asking for. You need to answer the question of what is motivating you
towards this career and then provide some supporting evidence for why
you are the ideal candidate for the job.
To do this you may want to refer to some of the skills you have
mentioned in your CV where this is the case you should not merely
repeat what is said on the CV. You would either expand on that
information or draw the employers attention to the fact that they will find
details on the CV.
Paragraph 3:
This could be used to explain why you want to work for the company to
whom you are writing. This is a good ploy provided that your reasons
show that you have done some research into the firm.
Phrases such as I am applying to you because of the challenging and
dynamic opportunities you can offer do not work. There is nothing in
this statement that shows any knowledge of the organisation.
If information on the firm is difficult to come by, you can use this
paragraph to highlight other experiences or achievements that help
show you as having skills, knowledge or qualities that the organisation
needs.
Paragraph 4:
This merely closes the letter and invites a reply or further contact with
the organisation eg. You could mention your availability for interview.
Applications to Advertised Vacancies: Here the letter is short and simple.
It should open by introducing the CV saying which post you are applying for
and where you saw it advertised.
The next paragraph should say why you are applying and should briefly
mention what points make you the ideal candidate and link you to the job.
These could be based on experience, skills, part of your course or a
combination of these factors.
Following this you should close the letter again inviting a reply or further
contact with the organisation.
REMEMBER
In both the CV and covering letter make absolutely sure that there are no
spelling mistakes and that it is grammatically correct.
In many jobs today written communication is an important skill. Your CV and
covering letter will be judged as evidence of this skill. At this stage these
pieces of paper are all the selector has to go on in order to make judgments
on whether to call you for interview.
If in doubt, ask a Tutor, the Careers Office or a friend to check it for you.

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Harper Adams

You should be consistent in use of format, layout, style etc.

CV Construction Booklet updated 23/11/06

HEADINGS what headings are appropriate to display these valuable pieces

CV Construction Booklet updated 23/11/06

CV Construction Booklet updated 23/11/06

European Computer Driving Licence Certificate

Successfully co-ordinate work of course project team

Secured co-operation and use of facilities with J Bloggs &

Fluent spoken and written Spanish, some knowledge of

Full, clean licence

development of critical reasoning through a study of land usage, presenting

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