Everyone has a different perception of what makes a successful CV and we wanted to give you our perspective.
Start with your name, current job title, address and contact details. The layout should include the following things, introduction, qualifications, experience and hobbies and interests. Keep everything clear, in paragraphs and bullet points, try not to have more than two pages of content. You can always elaborate more on an application form or interview. The font should be clear, we like Times New Roman or Calibri, but pick whatever you prefer.
In the introduction, introduce yourself with some strong adjectives and describe the type of role you are looking for (Drama Teacher or Plumbing Assessor).
Write your qualifications in order of most recent first. Henry Blue like to look at CVs that allow us to quickly find your teaching, assessing and degree qualifications. Sometimes people don’t read through a CV from top to bottom so having this information easily accessible gives you a better chance. Sometimes our clients like to see A-Level and GCSE results, so we prefer it if these are on the CV, particularly in the compulsory education sector. Don’t hide any results you are disappointed with as it looks like you have something to hide, which can be perceived worse.
When it comes to your experience we need to see the most recent or current employer at the top and work backwards. Ensure that you highlight any key achievements in terms of learner outcomes and responsibilities and put the dates of employment including the month and year, when you started and finished. Make sure that you don’t leave any gaps in employment for safeguarding reasons and we recommend you start your experience from when you started in the education sector.
Finally, write a few interests and hobbies or an interesting fact but only if you feel that it adds value to your CV, don’t write anything strange, show you are human!
Henry Blue is more than happy to help applicants improve their CV so feel free to contact us via email or on 0161 407 6333 for more advice and guidance.