Work Experience or Career History
The Work Experience section of
your CV must
sell you to an employer. It must be persuasive enough to convince them:
-
You have the skills and experience they
are looking for
-
Your employment history is
marked by relevant achievements
-
You have progressed throughout
your career
If these points sound a bit
daunting, take
heart - there are ways to present your Career
History that will demonstrate this is the case, even if
your career hasn't been straightforward.
List your jobs
First, write down a list of your
previous jobs. Start off with the most recent and work
back, note down the company name and
town or city, your job title, and dates of
employment in years. Do not include salary or
reasons for leaving. If a prospective employer is
unlikely to know what any of the companies does
write a very brief description too.
It's only necessary to provide
detail on jobs you've had in the past 10 years. For
jobs you had before this, just include the employer, job title and
inclusive dates.
If there are gaps in your
employment, provide a brief reason for them.
Define responsibilities
Now list the responsibilities of
each position you have listed. Write
them out starting with the most important or
key responsibility, and then work down. Don't include
each minor activity
that was involved in the job, you should end up with
around five or six for each post you held. Include more detail for your most
recent role and less about the earlier ones.
If you are unsure how to itemise
these points try to imagine how they would be
written out if the post were advertised in the
paper.
Add some achievements
You need to think about what you
have achieved in your career,
Click here for more about
achievements.
Keep it interesting
After you've put all the effort
into writing your CV you want to be sure an employer
will read it, so keep it interesting. If you've held
several similar jobs, phrase your responsibilities in different ways, so
that it doesn't become repetitive and boring.
Your descriptions need to be short and to
the point, yet they also need to be readable and
persuasive, so you need to strike a balance here. Use effective statements and professional language.
Be positive. Emphasise that you made things happen
as opposed to them happening
around you. Use active verbs - for instance, write
"developed role" rather than "given new
responsibilities", and "effectively scheduled work
for ten people" rather than "organised the rotas".
Try to include some key phrases
from the job description for the post you're
applying for. These will register with the employer
as they read your CV. Don't overdo it though, you
want the employer to think you are ideal for the job
not someone who has copied from the advert.
Once you have done all this read
it back to yourself, it's likely you will be quite
impressed with your career history, if this is the
case it's likely your prospective employer will be
too.
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