Engineering and Technical CV guidance & advice

Generally, your CV is the first chance you get to make a good impression on a potential employer. As employers spend only 20 to 30 seconds on each CV, you need to make yours stand out from the crowd.

Format

There are two basic types of CV and you should choose the one that best suits your experience:

• The Chronological CV lists achievements and responsibilities against each job role. Career history is presented in reverse order, starting with the most recent. This format is appropriate if you have a formal history of experience
• The functional/skills CV is more descriptive and focuses on skills and direct experience. It is suited to contractors and others who have moved around a lot or held a number of unrelated jobs

Style

Your CV is a way of showing a recruiter what you have to offer, and should make the reader want to meet you.

• Use active verbs such as 'created', 'managed' and 'developed' to emphasise your responsibilities and achievements
• Use bullet points rather than full sentences to avoid unnecessary wordiness and ensure you get your unique selling points across succinctly
• Make sure you use lots of white space
• Tailor your CV to the particular post you are applying for

Content

Ideally, your CV should be no longer than two pages:

• Page 1 should include your personal details - name, address, e-mail and contact numbers followed by a short descriptive profile to sum up who you are professionally and list your key skills as bullet points. Next, include details of your most recent role including job title, date of commencement and four or five bullet points describing your key activities.
• Page 2 details previous work experience with examples of your responsibilities and achievements, using bullet points. Give quantifiable examples of everything you say. This page should also include details of any professional and secondary qualifications you hold and a couple of lines on your interests. References can be 'available upon request'.