Which CV layout is suitable for you?
Author: CV Knowhow, CV writing experts in CV Writing
It’s a big enough decision to start thinking about putting together a CV. It could be the first time you’ve ever had to create such a document, or it might be years since you’ve had to apply for a job, so where do you start? A quick look online can bring up a huge variety of examples: different layouts; different sections; some with colour, and some without; and you never knew there were so many font styles to choose from!
But which one is right for you?
The point of a CV is to provide a prospective employer with just the right amount of information about your skills and qualities, in an easily accessible way, to make them want to find out more about you. From the first few seconds of reading your CV they will be able to either see you working with them or not. So, it is crucial to choose the right CV design which best reflects what you have to offer.
There are 5 main styles of CV:
Resume
This is a single page CV, mostly used in the USA and Canada, and you would adopt this style if you are looking to apply for roles in either of those 2 countries. Its focus is on your skills and achievements within jobs and education, and, because of the space restrictions, being concise is absolutely the key to success here – every word counts. There is no room to include anything that is not totally relevant to the job role you are applying for, and so you must have a solid understanding of the skills and experience required to fully tailor your CV. This style of CV is also used for some jobs within the Financial sector – check with the employer if they require this style, if it’s not made explicit in the job advert or application guidelines.
Skills Based CV
The clue is in the name! This CV prioritises your skills before listing your work experience or academic achievements. You provide a list of skills as headings, once again remembering the golden rule of targeting them to the requirements of the role you are applying for, and then give evidence, written in bullet points, of when you have used that skill, For example:
Team Work:
•Worked in a small team whilst employed at Fred’s Diner, supporting colleagues through flexible working and sharing best practice.
•Achieved first place in a debating competition, working with fellow team members to develop a successful group strategy.
•Supported fellow students whilst creating an IT presentation, sharing ideas and enabling others to express themselves coherently and concisely, resulting in achieving a group mark of 92%.
The variety of examples here, taken from work and education, give an added depth to the CV. This style of CV is useful if you have undertaken a number of short term jobs and have generated a lot of work history within a small space of time, helping to package your information in a much clearer way. This is also the ideal CV style for career changers or those with a limited amount of work history, but other, equally valuable, experience from elsewhere, such as voluntary work – the evidence you provide to support the skill can come from anywhere!
Chronological CV
This is a nice, ordered layout – taking an employer through your employment / academic history from the present day all the way back, reversing the chronological order. Usually, you would only provide information on the last 10 years of your work history – however, this rule isn’t set in stone, and it would depend on how much work experience you had accumulated and the value of what you have done in relation to what you now want to go on to do –remember to target the CV to the role requirements! This CV works wonderfully if you have a clear employment history within the same sector, and you are quite happy to stay in that same area, providing an obvious pattern of progression and achievement.
Hybrid CV
This is a little more complicated, but is, actually, one of the main styles of CVs used. It has a foot in both camps, taking elements from the skills based and the chronological formats, spinning them together to create something new and very effective. This style of CV would have a Key Skills or Key Competencies section and / or a Key Achievements section, highlighting the targeted skills required by the employer or sector. Following these sections would be the chronological elements of work history and education. This is a particularly good style for highlighting, very concisely, those key targeted skills - use the job description and person specification to help you focus on the right vocabulary, reflecting the employer’s expressions within your CV. A small word of warning, though: take care not to add too many of these sections in: you don’t want it too complicated or run the risk of repeating yourself in the chronological sections.
Academic / Medical CV
This is the only style of CV where size does not matter! There is no prescribed length for an academic CV – unlike the Skills based, Chronological and Hybrid, which usually can be no longer than3 pages. However, all the information still has to be relevant and concisely expressed – it is not a cart blanche to tell them every detail about your life! As it suggests, this style of CV is used by medics / post-doctoral students or academics looking to work within research or teaching at academic institutions. It allows you to include sections on research work; teaching experience; and publications.
A final thought ………
So, knowing more about the different types of CV you can use should make it easier to pick the style most suited to your needs! Just remember, though, that you are not alone – help is always available at CVknowhow, where our consultants can advise on style as well as content. If you are wondering if your CV is right for you, submit for a free CV review here.