What is the best structure for my CV?

Friday, February 26, 2021
When thinking about how best to structure your CV, the answer should be determined by the following question: “How can I get all the most valuable information on the first page?” The reason for this is quite simply that most attention will be spent reading the first page. It makes sense therefore to structure your CV in a way that enables you to get all the critical information at the beginning of the CV.
 
The reverse chronological CV
 
The most popular CV structure. Beginning with a professional profile to position you in line with your target roles, your career history then follows with the most recent employment first followed by earlier jobs. This allows for your most recent achievements to be the focus of the CV on the first page. You will write more on these and summarise the earlier jobs. Qualifications will generally go at the end of the CV. This CV structure is ideal for most job seekers who are looking to continue their career in a similar field to their previous employments.
 
The skills or competency-based CV structure
 
If you are looking to transition your career into something new or are a graduate with little or no relevant work experience, then this is an option to consider. After the professional profile select 4 or 5 competency headings aligned to your target roles. Then provide 2 or 3 examples of how, where and when you have demonstrated these skills. You can choose examples from work, academic or other experiences. This will then become the dominant feature of the CV and you should be able to get this information on to the first page. A shortened career history will then follow at the back of the CV.
 
The hybrid CV structure
 
Few things, of course, are ever black and white. An increasingly popular CV structure is a hybrid combination of the two above. Here a short key skills section will follow the professional profile followed by the career history. The key skills section should be populated with terms and phrases aligned to your target roles has two advantages. Firstly, this can help the CV to pass through ATS filters analysing your CV against job descriptions. Secondly, it reaffirms to the reader areas of expertise that may not necessarily be apparent within the career history section. 
 
Which CV structure is for you?
 
Choosing the most appropriate CV structure is really down to what is best for you and your own career circumstances. Asking yourself the question at the beginning of this article is the best way to determine the right structure that will enable you to get all the most essential information on the first page.
 
This article is written by Neville Rose, Director of CV Writers.

Original Article @ https://jobs.theguardian.com/article/what-is-the-best-structure-for-my-cv-/?s=44