Writing a great CV

Your CV is often your first interaction with an employer. It can immediately dictate whether you make the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ pile. Therefore, it is essential that you get it right. The CV should be a factsheet on your background, through which your personality shines.

Three CV golden rules...

Have a look at our sample CV for our recommendations and make sure you take our golden rules into account:

1: Follow the formatting guidelines! The vast majority of companies request a maximum two page CV. Don't go over two pages, however tempting. If a company CEO manages to condense years of complicated experience into a two page CV, you can do it too. 

2: Tailor it every time! It may seem unnecessarily time-consuming, but being immediately rejected because the employer couldn't instantly see what particular skills, attributes and experience they're looking for is FAR more time-consuming, because now you're back to square one. Read the job description and make sure you clearly demonstrate that you have the experience they want! Identify the company values and make sure you showcase these personality traits!

3: Show us your personality This point is so important and people often forget it. Remember, in a competitive job market, you might look quite similar to someone else 'on paper' going on experience alone, especially if you keep it generic and vague. Show the employer why they should hire you over other the other applicants. Your character and extra experiences are what sets you apart. Employers want someone they can imagine working in their organisation, gelling with the team and is three-dimensional, bringing something extra to the role or organisation other than just legal knowledge (while this is obviously crucial).