SELLING YOUR SKILLS WITH A GREAT CV
A high-quality CV is essential for securing an interview. It’s your first opportunity to sell yourself and your chance to show us that you have the skills and experience that make you the best person for the job.
An effective CV will convince us that you:
• Are competent, skilled and talented
• Have the ability to succeed and progress
• Can demonstrate achievements and accomplishments
• Are motivated to deliver against key objectives and are committed to continuous improvement
• Have great problem-solving skills and are innovative
• Are a good team player
TIP #1: TAILOR YOUR CV TO THE JOB ADVERT
Every job is different and therefore you should tailor your CV for every role you apply for, ensuring that it highlights your relevant (technical and transferable) skillsets in line with the essential criteria listed in the job advert. The DE&S application process is based on meritocracy. Both CVs and interviews are evaluated and scored against the required skills and competences for the role, so it’s important to read the job advert thoroughly. Take a look at the ‘Person Specification’ section, and ensure you’re explicitly showing the ways in which you meet all of the essential criteria on your CV.
Tip #2: Structure your CV
To ensure your CV is clearly laid out and the key information within it is easy for recruiters to spot, we recommend following this format:
• Personal profile
• Key achievements
• Relevant experience
• Applied knowledge and skills
• Qualifications
• Additional capabilities
Personal profile
This is your introduction to us. Use this section to give a brief background of yourself. Good practice is to include your current role, at least one professional accomplishment and a summary of your main skills and qualities against the job description, in order to create a positive impression.
Key achievements
An achievement should be something that’s quantifiable. Employers love to read through key achievements, but they are specially interested on the impact and outcome for the organisation and yourself, so make sure to include this on the Key Achievement section of your CV.
We recommend adopting the ‘STAR’ method in this section – Situation, Task, Action, Result. Consider what you’ve accomplished: What situation were you faced with, and what were the tasks? How did you approach it and what actions did you take? What was the result?
This is the opportunity to showcase your successes, how you exceeded targets or went above and beyond what was expected of you. What was challenging and significant? Between three and five examples are best practice.
Relevant experience
List your professional experience, starting with your present job and working back in time. Highlight to what extent they demonstrate your suitability for the advertised role. Include:
• Job title, employer’s name and dates of employment
• Your main activities and responsibilities within that role (particularly if its relevant to the advertised role)
• The main skills you used, which should be linked and relevant to the job advert
Write small paragraphs for each role and briefly explain any career gaps.
Applied knowledge and skills
This is your opportunity to really promote the skills and knowledge you gained and how you’ve applied them in roles you’ve held. If you have unique skills that will help you stand out from other candidates, please include them.
We recommend using bullet points to list these skills, accompanied by a brief explanation about how you acquired this skill and any recent tasks or events where you have used it.
Review the Job Description section of the job advert, to identify the specific qualities we’re looking for, so you can match these with your experience. There needs to be enough information in this section to help us understand if your skills and experience are relevant and transferable to the advertised role.
Qualifications
List your professional memberships and academic qualifications in reverse chronological order (most recent first), ensuring you have included those that are relevant to the advertised role.
Additional capabilities
Do you have interests that carry responsibility in your personal life that highlight leadership, organisational and communication skills? Any activities or hobbies outside your scope of work, for example coaching a football team? Remember these examples need to show skills that could be transferable to the role - this is a final opportunity to make a positive impression.
TIP #3: MAKE SURE YOUR CV IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND
Ensure your CV is concise, and information is easy to find and understand. We recommend that you:
- Limit your CV to 2-3 pages of A4, with clearheadings
- Avoid using acronyms that aren’t commonly usedoutside of Defence
- Use active language, using words such as‘developed’, ‘organised’ or ‘achieved’ to really highlight the actions you’veundertaken
- Check the CV is tidy and well formatted
- Proof-read – check grammar and spelling
Remember to avoid using acronyms wherever possible; many civilian employees may not be aware of what the acronyms mean and could dismiss your CV due to a lack of understanding.
HEAR FROM THE TEAM
“The main points we look for are formatting, clear and easy-to-read information, and being concise and relevant to the post being applied for (as opposed to sending out generic CVs for every job role). The Talent Acquisition team initially pre-sift CVs against the essential criteria, so this needs to be clearly highlighted in your CV. During the sifting process, your CV will be scored against your key achievements, relevant experience, applied skills and knowledge. It’s important you emphasise your skills and make them easy to identify, avoiding long paragraphs. Try to include extra-curricular activities that highlight a relevant aptitude or talent, for example if they demonstrate strengths in leadership, organisation, or communication.” - Molly, Recruiter