The way in which your CV is written is just as important as the way you present yourself in an interview, and first impressions count.

The way in which your CV is written is just as important as the way you present yourself in an interview, and first impressions count. Your CV should be tailored to the job that you’re applying for and should be presented as professional as possible.

Here at Spicerhaart, we have a range of roles that could be suited to you, from our contact centre to our estate or lettings agency to our head office. Here are our top 10 CV writing tips designed to help you apply for one of our roles.

Structural Layout

To come across as professional as possible, we recommend using black text on a white background. Your CV shouldn’t be more than two pages long and the text size kept at 11, with the font either Arial, Times New Roman or Tahoma.

Do not use graphics as this will be as unprofessional. A good way to break the sections up is to underline the section header and allowing the line to cross

Why You?

After providing your general information (name, phone number, email address), write 3 or 4 lines explaining why you’re right for the role, your career goals and why you want to work for the company.

This is a great opportunity for you to stand out above the rest, showcase your personality and what skills you have.

Education

Your educational background should only be ahead of your work experience if you believe it’s more relevant to the role you’re applying for. For example, a school-leaver will have minimal experience so they’re education will be put first.

If you have 10+ years’ experience as an estate agent, we advise to put your work experience first.

Work Experience

As mentioned above, decide which section is more relevant to the role and put it after the second section. When writing your work experience, put your most recent job first as it matters more what you did recently rather than where you started.

Focus on the achievements within the roles that would be relevant to the job you’re applying for – writing these in bullet points will help the reader pick them out. Explain your role with the company and your responsibilities, give the dates that you were in the role and explain why you left/want to leave.

If you have any, mention any gaps between jobs and the reason why.

Skills

This is where you can highlight skills that you may have not been able to in any previous section. Such examples could be speaking another language, what computer level of proficiency you are or if you have customer service skills. 

Grammar. Grammar. Grammar.

First impressions count and to appear as professional as possible, you need to get your CV as punctually correct as possible. Recruiters will look at punctuation mistakes as negligent and will link that to your organisation and administration skills.

It’s always useful to have a third party look over any work that you do, and it’s certainly the case here.

Your CV is the first stage in either taking your first step into employment or applying for a new role. It’s important to come across as professional, honest and as genuine as possible.

Here at Spicerhaart, we value professionalism and honesty very highly and it’s something we look out for when recruiting.