Sonic Career Series. CV Creation: Structure

Chapter 1: Structure

Hey guys 🙋 Welcome to Chapter 1 of CV Creation: Structure!

Structure is how your CV looks, how it’s presented, and how easy it is to find information.

I get it, applying for jobs these days is hard. You’re lucky if you even hear a response, right? That’s why you really need to make sure you nail the structure of your CV before you even think about sending it off.

Sections to include 👉 Personal details, Summary, Key skills, Experience, Qualifications, Education, Hobbies

Length 👉 No hiring manager has the time to read your life story, especially in this market. Recruiters suggest that the ideal CV length is 2 pages.

Font 👉 Keep it simple. Pick Times New Roman or Arial font, text size 11, and PEN. IN. BLACK 🕴🎶 (sorry, couldn’t resist 😔)

Experience 👉 List your jobs starting with the most recent. 

Job headings 👉 Write your job headings in bold and make sure these are laid out the same pretty way for each job. Example:

Sales Assistant, Marks and Spencer, Leicester, Sept 2018 – March 2020

Job descriptions 👉 Avoid writing long paragraphs🙏 Use 3-6 short bullet points per job, only using 6 points to talk about the most relevant positions!

No images 👉 As beautiful as you all are, in the UK you shouldn’t have any images on your CV. No word art, and no headshots.

Gaps in CV 👉If you have any gaps in your CV for longer than 6 months, you should explain why e.g. ‘Caring for a relative, March 2019 – Oct 2019’

In the next chapter, I’ll be going into detail about how to write the different sections… so make sure you have your CV structure ready to go before then!

Good luck and I’ll see you in the next chapter!

Love Julie 💜