In order to make the right first impression, a well structured CV that is tailored to the role you are applying for is essential to securing that next step. 

This blog focuses on how to enhance your career history so that the hiring manager can see how you’ve gained the skills and experience to do the role. 

By this stage, you have written an impressive Bio/Personal Statement and provided a good overview of your skills and experience.  It’s now time to entice the hiring manager further by highlighting your career history and education so that it demonstrates how you gained your skills and experience.

Below are some key steps which help guide you to produce a CV that stands out. 

• Always start by naming the company you worked for and break your experience down by the roles you have undertaken. 
• In bullet point format, highlight the experience and personalise it to the role you are applying for by focusing on specific metrics that enable you to stand out from others. 
• Your CV must be succinct, so spend more space talking about your most relevant role vs the less relevant roles. 

In this example, the candidate is a qualified accountant who worked in the construction industry. 

Construction Ltd, 2017 – present, Accountant

• Spent 6 years producing financial reporting
• Conducting audits 
• Produced a budget and forecast for the financial year
• Used ERP systems like Oracle and SAP

The above example identifies that the person has gained experience in accounting, but it gives no real indication of the level of competency they have.  The example below provides a much more detailed view which helps the hiring manager clearly see how you have added value. 

Construction Ltd, 2017 – 2023

Trainee Accountant 2017 – 2021

Qualified Accountant 2021 – present

• Prepared and analysed complex financial reporting such as invoices, balance sheets and cash flow statements for a company who generated £6m in revenue last year
• Conducted and implemented audit procedures to ensure compliance with regulatory standards
• Led a team of financial analysts to help generate the company budget for the next financial year looking at historic trends, projected growth and market insights
• Acted as a subject matter expert in ERP systems during a migration from SAP to Oracle and was responsible for implementing Oracle into our everyday processes driving efficiencies across the team. 

The above points personalise this accountants experience and bring to life the level of competency and the total impact they had whilst in their role. 

Always remember to include your education and your professional qualifications too, but make sure to take the time and make them relevant.  For example, if you have a degree, I would focus less on your high school qualifications.  If you have 8 professional qualifications, focus on the most recent and relevant ones compared with listing them all.  No one needs to know about the expired first aid qualification you have from 8 years ago!

For more hints and tips, check out my website or follow me on LinkedIn.  

If you would like help and support with ensuring your CV gets a hiring manager excited to meet you, get in touch to see how I can help.