CV Formats

In the UK, curriculum vitae / CV / resume are all different names for the same thing.  A CV / resume is essentially a marketing document which will be your first point of contact with a prospective new employer. It is essential to demonstrate your transferable skills and competencies in a concise, easy to understand format so that you give a good first impression. 

A professionally written CV
The right CV / resume can make a dramatic difference to your future career prospects so it is well worth investing in having it professionally written for you.  The CV Consultancy provides a unique level of in-depth consultancy, making sure that the resulting CV / Resume is of the highest possible standard.

Get an expert opinion
We provide a free of charge assessment service so that you can find out what changes we would suggest to your existing CV.  This will give you the opportunity to evaluate the quality of our advice before you consider employing our Professional CV writing service.  

Just as all people are different, so all CV / resumes will be different
It is obvious that the CV / resume for an actress will need to be presented in a very different way from that of a nurse. The level at which you are working will also make a difference, so a graduate CV will not be the same as that of a Senior Executive. This is why CV writing software simply cannot give a satisfactory result.

What to choose
There are no hard and fast rules about how you should format your CV. However, you should not lose sight of what you are aiming to do, which is to ’sell’ your skills to a prospective employer. You should be sure to choose a format for writing your CV / resume which will best achieve those aims at the level you are ‘pitching’. It is usually wise to stick to a conventional style for your CV / resume as this will be what the employer is expecting.  

Performance CV / resume
This is the most popular format for CVs because it clearly demonstrates your career development and experience. It will usually be organised under the following headings:

• Profile
  Demonstrating your transferable skills or competencies
• Career History
  Including details of your career to date usually in reverse chronological order, so that your most recent experience is shown first. Achievements can be included under each individual job. It is not always necessary to go back beyond about ten years. However if you only include ‘Recent’ or ‘Relevant’ Career History, then be sure to change the title of the section to reflect this.
• Education and Qualifications
  For a graduate CV, or early on in your career, you may choose to include this before the Career History. As your career progresses it will usually be relegated to the second page. It is not necessary to include details of early schooling. However, you should include career-relevant training courses under this section.
• Other Information
  Personal information including date of birth; visa or marital status; driving; languages; interests; or anything else which may be relevant can all be included under this section
• References
  Names and addresses of referees should not be included. It is sufficient to put ‘available upon request’ under this heading. This has the advantage that you can monitor your application - if the prospective employer asks for references you know you are getting somewhere!

Chronological CV / resume
This is the same as the Performance CV except that the profile is omitted. Details of your Career should still be included in reverse chronological order.

Functional CV / resume
This type of CV is very useful if you are seeking a career change or if you have had gaps in your employment for whatever reason. It can also be very good for drawing attention to skills and achievements that you have not used in your most recent jobs.

• Profile
  You should lead with a short profile which should introduce you and what you have to offer. Avoid describing yourself in glowing terms. ‘Confident and energetic’ are the type of phrases you should avoid. Whilst they may well be true, you have no way of demonstrating this within the body of the CV. Your achievements should speak for themselves.
• Functional Headings
  Your skills and achievements should be listed under four to six functional headings which will be relevant to your job sector and experience. It could be a good idea to check the job specification so that you can try to broadly match these headings to the skills required for the job.
• Career History
  It is usual even on this type of CV to include brief details of the names of your employers and your job descriptions. You should also include here any relevant voluntary work.
• Education and Qualifications
  This should include details of your Education, but you can be selective about how far you choose to go back. It is also a good idea to include job specific training under this section.
• Personal details
  Date of birth; status; driving; interests can all be included under this section.
• References
  Most usual thing to put under this heading is ‘available upon request’.

Hybrid CV / resume
This, as the name suggests, is a cross between two other types of CV.  It usually leads with two or three functional headings.  The career history will be more concise than in the performance or chronological CV but longer than in the Functional CV. The danger with this type of CV is that it can easily become too long if you include too much detail.  

Targeted CV / resume
As the name implies this type of CV demonstrates specific skills and achievements. It is best used when you are seeking a start within a new career. It is also particularly useful for people who have a number of different skill sets which they would like to use to target different job sectors. This type of CV is usually best presented as a one-page format so remember to keep it brief. It may be a good idea to have a number of job-specific versions of this type of CV.

• Profile
  This should be focussed upon your achievements and experience within your targeted sector.
• Key Skills
  A bulleted list of skills that are appropriate to the position you are applying for.
• Achievements
  Include here anything which may be relevant including educational achievements and voluntary work.
• Career History
  This should be included in a summary form showing dates; name of employer and job description.
• Education
  all relevant educational qualifications and training courses
• Personal Details
  Date of birth; status; driving; interests can all be included under this section.
• References
  most usual thing to put under this heading is ‘available upon request’.

Alternative CV
There is no hard and fast rule about the format which should be used for your CV. If you feel that you would like to present yourself in a less traditional way than any of the above, you have every right to do so. However, be warned, this type of approach is only really suitable for artistic people, or people in very unusual careers.

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