As a student, you’ve probably heard lots about the word “CV” and its importance in helping you secure a job role for the future.

“CV” stands for Curriculum Vitae and is a brief account of your education, experience and skills that you send to employers to prove you’re best fit for the job they are advertising. The job market in the last couple of decades has understandably changed a lot, but CV’s are still as relevant as ever and you will most likely be asked to provide one when applying for jobs. 

There are many templates available online for you to use when writing your CV, but how do you know what to include? What information is relevant? What are the recruiters looking for? Often when applying for jobs they will give you indicators of what specific skills they are looking for in a candidate, so you can alter your CV to make it more appropriate for the job role. 

What is a CV?

When applying for a job, the CV is essentially where you ‘show off’ about yourself. After listing all your educational achievements and qualifications, you can talk about what makes you the perfect candidate for the role. This could include:

Experience 

What relevant experience do you have to bring to the role? This is the part of your CV where you can talk about previous job roles that you have had that are relevant to the one you’re applying for. The relevancy is important; if you’re applying for a job as an Executive Assistant, is the paper round you did when you were 13 relevant? Probably not. But the year you spent as a receptionist in your local hotel when you were 17? Definitely. 

Also remember that experience doesn’t necessarily have to be solely ‘work.’ It can relate to almost any experience you’ve done above your academic studies to help you gain additional skills for the future workplace. Have you been a school councillor and implemented changes to improve the student experience? Do you enjoy participating in an extracurricular club or have hobbies that have helped you develop skills outside of the classroom? Any experience that is relevant to the role you’re applying for can be beneficial to include on your CV. 

Volunteer work is always really well received by employers. Research shows that 82% of employers are more likely to hire a candidate with volunteer experience over one who has none. So if you have done any kind of volunteer work, put this in! Whether it’s volunteering at the food bank or at your local Scout group, volunteerism shows you not only care about helping your community, but you are the type of person to go above and beyond even when there is no financial motive for you. If you have no volunteer experience yet, try looking here for some local volunteer opportunities in the UK. 

Skills

The skills you have acquired over the years are very important to include in your CV. These are what is going to help you stand out from the rest and is going to make the employer want to hire you. 

Again, relevant skills are important, but if you think about the previous experience you have had you will probably find that you learned skills from all your jobs that will apply to this one. For example, if you only have your 13 year old paper route as your experience, I’m sure that job taught you time management and how to meet a deadline? These transferable skills are what employers want to hear about and will help you stand out from the rest.

Examples

Probably the most important aspect of your CV - include examples. It’s all well and good putting in how your job in the pub helped you to work in a team and to face challenges, but if you don’t include examples of what you mean then you will just sound like every other applicant. 

The best way to kick start this is to use the PEEL method of writing (you may remember this from essay-writing in school). If you’re new to the method, it’s pretty simple and will help you not only in CV writing, but with essays and exams too! 

Point: What is the point of what you’re saying - in this case, what skill did you learn? 

Evidence: This is example time! Give an example of when you had to face a challenge and how you dealt with it.

Explanation: What did this experience teach you? Why are you now a better candidate for having been through this experience?

Link: Connect this back to your original point and reiterate the skill you learned in this situation.

Using the PEEL method in your CV will also give you a clear structure to your writing and remind you not to forget to include examples.

Top skills employers look for on a CV 

There are some key skills employers will be looking out for no matter what the job they’re advertising. These are general skills that make every individual a proactive and effective employee. LinkedIn is one of the most commonly used platforms for job seekers and employers to network and find opportunities, they suggest the following skills are most desirable on CV’s.

Communication skills

Communication skills are needed in pretty much every job. Employers look for this skill in their staff as it’s important for a company and team to run efficiently if all the employees are able to communicate their ideas in a professional manner. It’s also important that you have the communication skills needed to voice concerns and have potentially difficult conversations, as this will come up in your career. 

Leadership skills

Leadership skills are a big one, even if you’re applying for an entry level position. Leadership skills can help you motivate others and show initiative in your role - they’re not solely for people managing teams or other individuals. 

Common leadership skills you could include in your CV are active listening, dependability and the ability to give and receive feedback. 

Teamwork skills

Working as a team is a skill that every employer will look for as in almost every job. Regardless of the role, you will be working alongside other people so it’s important you can work well in a team! Teamwork is a skill that you will have learnt at school while group working - so this should be an easy one. 

Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills allow you to interact and work well with others, similarly to team working skills. These skills enable you to build relationships, communicate effectively and handle situations in an appropriate manner. Interpersonal skills that employers look for include; motivation, flexibility and empathy.

Learning/adaptability skills

Learning and adaptability skills are crucial in an ever-changing working world. You need to be able to adapt and react to change whenever it happens to minimise disruption to production and performance. For example, adjusting to working from home, or being able to react to the fast-paced nature of the market. This will show employers your willingness to learn and adapt to new challenges. 

Self-management skills

Self-management skills allow you to best manage your time so you can be as productive and proactive as possible. These skills mean you can prioritise your work, so you do the most urgent work first, and are able to focus on your professional growth. 

Organisational skills

You should already have pretty good organisational skills as a student - even planning when to do your homework and scheduling in your extracurricular activities demonstrates your organisational skills. This is highly sought after by employers as they are looking for employees who can effectively plan and organise their work to meet deadlines on time. This also goes hand in hand with the above mentioned self-management skills. 

Computer skills

Nearly every job nowadays requires a basic level of computer skills. If you have access to computers at school or college this can count towards your experience in the area, or research to see if your local library has computers available to use to get some practice in. If you have some more in depth knowledge in computer skills, like data management or social media, be sure to include this too. 

Problem-solving skills

Problem-solving skills show your ability to productively manage challenging situations in the workplace. This is especially important for employees who work in a large organization or as part of a team, but they are often considered essential skills for nearly all occupations. 

Open-mindedness

Even if you are applying for a position similar to one you have already had, being open minded to a different way of learning and working is important to employers. This shows your willingness to adapt and try new things. 

Strong work ethic

A strong work ethic shows you can meet deadlines, complete your tasks and manage your work effectively even when no one is regularly checking your progress. This is a skill all  employers will be looking for as companies need staff who are able to get on with their work to a high standard. 

What skills should I put on my CV?

After looking at the LinkedIn suggestions for skills to include on your CV, it’s good to know what are the best skills to suit you. If you don’t have a lot of previous experience, that’s okay! You can still include a lot of skills and experience you have from school and extracurricular activities.  

Before deciding on which skills to put on your CV which best align with your experience, let’s go into the difference between soft and hard skills. 

Hard Skills

Hard skills are demonstrable and an individual can be tested to prove their capacity in the hard skill. An example of this is typing. 2 people can sit and type at the same time and be judged against each other. If one person types more correct words than the other in a certain amount of time, it can be judged that they are the better typist. 

A degree is also an example of a ‘hard skill’. Even though it may not be interpreted as one particular ‘skill’ per say, a degree from university can be compared against others and subsequently tested as a hard skill. 

An employer may compare hard skills between applicants of a job to see who is the most suitable for the job. This is why it’s important to include things like your educational qualifications in your CV to show off all that you have accomplished!

Soft Skills

Unlike hard skills, soft skills are characteristics that are nearly impossible to quantify or measure in an objective way. Soft skills are often referred to as interpersonal skills or people skills. An example of a soft skill is team working and a good work ethic, these are skills that employers desire and are looking for, but can’t be ‘tested’ against each other (there is no test to see who is the best team worker!) 

When demonstrating hard skills on your CV, you can list your qualifications and tangible strengths.  In contrast, soft skills can be demonstrated through using examples from your previous experience. Refer to a time where you have been able to show leadership in a workplace environment to show your expertise in this soft skill.

Both hard and soft skills are as important to practice and put on your CV, employers are looking for someone with a good mixture of both; it’s great to have tangible skills that can be compared to others (like good GCSE results), but you also need to show that you’re good at problem solving, and aren’t afraid of a challenge. 

Skills-based CV

CV’s can be written in a hundred different ways with varying formats and templates. The most common type of CV to write is the skills-based CV. This is what we will be looking at in more detail as a skills-based CV primarily focuses on transferable skills and relevant aspects of your experience to provide the employer with information on your abilities and achievements. 

What makes a skills-based CV different from others is that it puts the skills employers are looking for front and centre and makes this the prime focus of the document. This type of CV isn’t necessarily focused on your previous work experience, rather what skills you have learned from these roles and how this can be transferred into new roles.

Skills-based CV’s are becoming more popular as you can tailor them to reflect specific job adverts and highlight your skills in line with what the employer is looking for. This means that instead of just having one document you copy, paste and send to every employer, you are easily able to change your CV to reflect why you would be the perfect fit for a specific role. 

This type of CV is also very desirable if you don’t have a lot of previous work experience, you can focus on the transferable skills you have learned in your limited experience and make this the focus of the application. 

Should I use a skills-based CV?

It’s important to recognise that skills-based CVs aren't crucial for everyone. If you have a lot of previous work experience you can draw on then a more traditional chronological CV might work best for you. However, for many people, skills-based CVs are the best way to demonstrate the skills you have learned in your life and how they can apply to the job role. 

Using a skills-based CV is a good idea if you are applying for a new job in a career you haven’t experienced before, or applying as a graduate and have no prior experience in the working world. While you can still refer to experience you do have, use these examples to reiterate the skills it taught you and how this can be transferred to the new job role. 

As you might have guessed, a skills-based CV has a primary focus on soft skills. Due to the focus on transferable skills and less of a spotlight on previous experience in the field, you can concentrate more on showing off your teamwork skills and your ability to adapt to new situations. While you can still reference experience you do have, you can use this in a way that highlights the skills you learned from this and how it makes you the perfect candidate for the job role, rather than the actual experience itself. 

This is not to say you can’t mention your academic qualifications or previous work experience in a skills-based CV - please make sure you do! But usually the focus and bulk of the writing goes on your transferable skill set. To find the perfect balance between what you learned in previous experience, how you gained your skills and why they would be perfect for a particular job, I would recommend using the good ol’ PEEL technique, as discussed above. 

While there are a lot of different techniques and templates you can use to write a CV, the main thing to remember is that you’re communicating to the employer why you would be best suited for a role, so make sure you read the job description carefully and create your CV in line with what they are looking for. This should go without saying but I’ll say it anyway, do not lie in your CV or embellish truths because you think it will help you get the job. This is a really bad idea - believe in yourself enough to stick to the facts and let your wonderful skills and experience speak for themselves!

Summary

Knowing where to start when writing a CV or applying to jobs can be really difficult when you haven’t done it before.

At Melio, we offer bespoke One-on-One Tutorials where students can get experience in a subject and get unique career advice from a world class academic. Not only will this help you in progressing to the career you want, but an online course is highly desirable on CVs as it demonstrates a motivation to better yourself through online education and commitment to the online course (both very good soft skills!)

For more information on our courses, and how you can get started today, contact our admissions team.