How to write a great CV

Wondering how to write a great CV and what should be included to help secure your dream teaching role?

Your CV should not be longer than 2 sides of A4 (depending on your experience) and should be as short and punchy as possible whilst at the same time showcasing your skills and experience.

Here is how you should structure your CV:

Header

Name, professional title, location and contact details: phone number and email address. You can add your LinkedIn profile but your full address, age, DOB, a photo of yourself and marital status should not be included.

Personal Profile

4-6 lines summarising you, your goals and achievements – this should be tailored to the job you are applying for so that you sound like the ideal candidate for the role you are applying for. Remember – this is the first part of your CV that employees and recruiters will read. Make a good impression.

Core Skills

This is an excellent way for you to showcase your key skills and allows the recruiter or employer to quickly recognise your suitability for the role. Make these skills short and punchy and use bullet points. 6-8 bullet points is enough.

You could list specific experience, experience in a piece of software or courses you may have attended. This will also help recruiters and employers find your CV, if they are searching online for specific skills for a particular job. For example, if you’re a school administrator and within this role you were the attendance officer or you had finance responsibilities, you could list these here.

Work History and Experience

This should include previous roles, experience, volunteering, placements or internships. You should list your most recent experience first and then go back in time.

Each item should include your job title, dates to & from, name of employer and then a few sentences (no more than 4 lines) about the role and your significant achievements. Use facts and figures to back up your achievements and use words like planned, built, created.

If you have taken time out due to illness, to travel, study or complete a personal project be open and transparent and include it here. Do not try to cover these gaps by extending roles as this may cause you trouble when your references come back.

Education

This should be a simple list in reverse chronological order and include qualifications, grades achieved, name of the institution/governing body and the year.

References

This no longer needs to be included however if you like you could put references available on request or list your referees here.

If you are still unsure about writing your CV or you would like us to proofread your CV before you send it out, please get in touch with your consultant today on 0121 4233557

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