Relaunch Your Career

When you write your CV, regardless of the layout, you will need to cover:

• Personal details and contact info, including confirmation that you have the right to live and work in the country where the job is based, if there could be any doubt
• Personal/career objective
• Relevant key skills
• Relevant education and training
• Something about yourself that conveys your character
• A summary of your career so far.

You need not – and in fact probably shouldn’t, in most cases, include:

• Your age
• Your marital status or sexuality (unless directly relevant) – although we would advise you to include clear signposts about your gender if it’s not clear from your name
• How many children you have and what they are doing
• Anything not relevant to the job, unless it’s to showcase your character/skills
• Any exam failures
• Reasons for leaving or changing jobs
• References until/unless asked
• Any pictures of any kind unless they are requested, or directly relevant to the role being applied for.

Try to keep information grouped within recognisable sections, so it’s easy to find. In some circumstances the order of the sections may change, or you may have some additional or different sections, but there should always be one smooth story moving between the sections.