CV Templates

	Download a Sales CV Template
	Download a Technical CV Template
	Download a Skills Matrix Template

Or create one using your Linkedin Profile: resume.linkedinlabs.com

Or try creating a visual CV: vizualize.me

CV Writing Tips

1. Firstly, remember your CV is a marketing document. You’re marketing yourself, so try to make it easy for the reader to understand your key messages. Fifteen page long, verbose CV’s don’t often make the shortlist. By the same token, try to be descriptive enough to convey your core messages. As a rule of thumb, in the Australian marketplace at least, 3 to 5 pages is about right. You might find that in the UK and US markets 1 to 2 pages will be the maximum.
2. Try to summarise your story on the first page of your CV (contact details, brief summary, objective, education summary, certifications and career summary). The pages following should hold the detail but it’s important that your first page is compelling enough that the reader wants to turn to page 2.
3. It can be helpful to put down your objective and be specific about it, e.g. “To work with a leading employment brand, ideally within the financial services market, as a hands-on developer with some responsibility for team leading and architecture / design.” You may have a variety of suitable objectives so try to tailor this to the role you’re applying for.
4. If you are applying for a technical role, put your certifications on the front page. They’re not the be all and end all but you need to advertise these.
5. Try not to list everything you’ve had experience with as a skill. Generally speaking employers are looking for strength in certain areas and listing everything dilutes your areas of strength. You can always list all skills in a skills matrix (with a suitable self assessment) at the end of your CV but your first page should list your core strengths only.
6. Be specific about your experience, e.g. “Complete responsibility for the end to end delivery of a $20M network refresh project” is a lot more descriptive than “Project managed a $20M infrastructure project”.
7. List your achievements. If you’re in sales, be specific about your quota and your achievements towards that quota, e.g. “Achieved $1.2M of $1M GP quota (120%) in 2006”.
8. Use bullet points wherever possible, try to use 1.5 line spacing and a font like Arial or Verdana and try to use consistent formatting of titles, etc. Good formatting makes it a lot easier to quickly read and digest the information in your CV.
9. Be accurate with your dates. Conflicting dates of employment and education raise questions that may result in you not making a shortlist. If they legitimately conflict, explain why.
10. Avoid referring to yourself in the 3rd person, e.g. “Bob has been with XYZ for three years…”. Try to use an impersonal reference, e.g. “Three years experience with XYZ…”.

Finally, please don’t forget to reread your CV checking your grammar and spelling.