The last time I wrote a CV I found it REALLY hard.
I was asked to start a business with a former work colleague, and I had to put something together to go along with a business plan.
Because I was working with an organisation that specialised in Recruitment funding, I believed that I wouldn’t have to go into great detail, they were in the business, just giving my job title and some basic information would probably be enough (or so I thought).
This turned out not to be the case, and so I was disappointed, maybe even a little offended when I was asked for more information.
So I started to work on my CV.
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As an experienced Manager of a Recruitment Agency, I’d seen plenty of CVs in my time, but for some reason……………..Nothing.
Writers Block?
I’d managed to stretch it out to about 3 lines when I realised that it wasn’t showing my backers anything close to my potential or any of my achievements.
Then I remembered something a writer had once said on a podcast.
How I Solved The Problem
He said “if you want to learn to write, then you need to write and write and write and write and write and write and write”.
Basically what he was saying is that you need to just dive in.
Don’t worry about the content or the quality at this stage (see I’m doing it now :), just start the process of writing, and then refine what you’ve written.
And then leave it.
And then refine it.
And then leave it.
So I started to make a list of everything I’d ever done in my current role.
I listed every detail, no matter how small, every achievement no matter how big 😉 and just kept adding to the list.
I closed my eyes and recalled everything I’d done during a typical working day, the tools I’d used to do it, and who I contacted to get it done.
By the time I finished I had too much information, so started trimming back the not so important stuff (to be honest there was quite a lot). But the point was that not only had I pushed past my writers block, but also had given a more comprehensive account of the role I’d held.
If you’re having trouble putting together your CV try it – you may be surprised.
Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Incredulity?
Leave a comment.
I won’t mind…….
Some great advice, and this will help when your applying for multiple jobs to have written down all your achievements and skills, you can then just replace them according to the job your applying for. We also think a good, clear design works well and helps to lead the reader to the key points you want to talk about on your CV. We have some examples to view for free at http://www.hashtagcv.com
Thanks for commenting Chris.
I think you’re right a CV design that leads the reader to the key relevant points of the experience needed for the role is helpful and a good CV template will do that.