A skills-based CV (also known as a functional CV) is a type of CV that emphasises your skills and abilities rather than focusing primarily on the chronology of your work history. This format is particularly useful for job seekers who want to showcase transferable skills or competencies that are relevant to the position they are applying for, rather than drawing attention to a chronological career path.
The key facts about a skills-based CV are: 1. Emphasis on Skills and Competencies You group your skills into key areas such as leadership, communication, problem-solving or technical abilities, and under each heading provide examples of how you have demonstrated these skills in various contexts. For example:
2. Minimal Focus on Chronology Unlike a traditional chronological CV that lists your work history in date order, a skills-based CV downplays the timeline. The work experience section comes later in the document and usually provides only basic information like company names, job titles and dates, without detail about your roles or responsibilities. 3. When to Use a Skills-Based CV A skills-based CV is most effective in situations like:
4. Structure of a Skills-Based CV
5. Advantages of a Skills-Based CV
6. Disadvantages of a Skills-Based CV
In summary, a skills-based CV is ideal if you need to emphasise your skills and experiences over your job history, making it a great option for career changers or those with gaps in their employment. By focusing on what you can do, rather than where you’ve been, this CV format helps you demonstrate your value as a potential employee.
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Pilot, footballer, engineer, ballet dancer, train driver, singer, racing driver, scientist, school teacher. Who tells their friends at school that when they grow up they want to be a CV writer?
Following a successful career as a sales and marketing manager in film and TV post-production (I didn't say that was my career ambition either!), I was a busy mum, PTA volunteer, taxi driver, time manager, conflict resolver, creative thinker, finder of lost things and general dog's body who frequently met women trying to step back into their careers after a few years of raising a family. I saw the frustration as they received rejection after rejection from recruiters and hiring managers, and genuinely felt for them as frustration became despondency and a creeping lack of confidence. Enter Jo, fellow school gate mum. Jo told me I was “good with words” and asked me to write her a CV. So, whilst munching on my Thesaurus, I did some research into the world of 21st century CVs, which got me thinking there was probably a communication problem. The CV was duly written and Jo successfully secured interviews and a job. People heard about this, things got busy and eventually I realised I had a new business. The joy of being a CV writer revealed itself from day one. When someone gets an interview, I am thrilled. When they secure that dream job, I am right there with them celebrating! It is what gets me up in the morning after over 10 years of being a CV writer. The journey from enquiry to finished CV is an exercise in collaborative fact finding, teasing out the forgotten big and little career wins and forging a trusting relationship so that the history and ambitions can be explored in a safe space. It is unlikely that anyone has ever said, “When I grow up I want to be a CV writer”, but perhaps they should! If the criteria for job satisfaction includes variety, using your brain, building relationships and helping people to feel better about themselves, then this job ticks all the boxes. Oh, and I can still be all those things at the beginning, but I like to change the description from “finder of lost things” to “rediscoverer of confidence and unearther of talents”. When you are busy running your business and working with clients to give them the best service, it is easy to forget why you started doing what you do and to remember all those successes that make it all worthwhile.
Recently, I was interviewed by Subkit an online forum promoting small businesses and solopreneurs and it gave me pause for thought about the beginning of New CV. Here is the article, it is a 3 minute read. https://gosolo.subkit.com/new-cv/ In North America February 2nd is known as Groundhog Day, when, according to the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition the groundhog is said to come out of its hole at the end of hibernation. If the weather is sunny and it sees its shadow it goes back into its hole, which foretells six weeks more of winter weather. The alternative dictionary definition of Groundhog Day is “a situation in which a series of unwelcome or tedious events appear to be recurring in exactly the same way.” And for anyone who has seen the eponymous film with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, Groundhog Day specifically symbolises getting stuck in a relentless repetition of the same day until such time as you make the right decisions and find your purpose. For the past 10+ months every day has felt like Groundhog Day for many of us: wake, eat, exercise, teach (if you have kids), work (if you have a job), eat, teach, work, walk, eat, work, sleep, repeat…..or a variation on that theme. On February 2nd 2020, who knew? And the things that have brought changes to this monotony have not always been positive: illness, loss, redundancy amongst them. Being kind to yourself is the most important piece of advice I have heard for dealing with all these situations. In the film, Phil (Bill Murray) has many unsuccessful attempts at escaping Groundhog Day until he makes the right changes and wakes up to find snow, love and a new life. When dealing with redundancy, after the rawness of shock, grief and anger have receded there is the mission of finding a new job. If you read around the subject, and I have, you can find a lot of advice about preparing yourself for the task, identifying your goal, doing your homework and being disciplined and resilient about executing your plan. To help with one of the key areas of preparation, your CV and LinkedIn profile, here are 5 tips for getting them to work as hard as possible for you:
Good luck! #groundhogday #cvadvice #cvwriting #recruitment #applicanttrackingsystems If you are thinking of writing a CV it pays to do some research first. It used to be OK to create a document with your name, address, a list of where you have worked and or studied and some reference names at the bottom; but in these days of AI led recruitment and LinkedIn searches, it really does pay to be a bit savvy before putting pen to paper. Here are 5 things you need to consider before you write your CV: 1. Who is reading your CV? If you do not know who is going to be reading your CV you need to make sure it works equally well for a human reader and AI. ATS - applicant tracking systems, are programmed to search for keywords based on the person and the skills the recruiter is looking for.
2. What does a recruiter want to know? It is not good enough to feature your previous job descriptions hoping that the information will match the specification of the job you are applying for. Recruiters want to see how you contributed, your key achievements and that you have made a difference in previous roles. 3. What are the keywords for the role you want? This is pretty straight forward, if you don't know what the keywords are then your CV is unlikely to include them and therefore will undersell you to the human reader and be invisible to AI. 4. Did you know that you must tailor the CV for each application? Know what you need to say in your CV in order to have an impact on the recruiter. That does not mean you lie, it means you emphasise the skills the recruiter is looking for and edit out the irrelevant bits to make a punchier, more compelling read. 5. What are the company's values? Look at the website of the company you are applying to to find out what their mission statement is and what they value. If you are not able to reflect these in your CV, you will definitely have the opportunity to do so in your cover letter. Writing a CV is not complicated, in fact the subject matter is at your finger tips (or in your head!). The important thing is how you write it and what you do and do not say, so taking the time to do your homework will reap rewards later. For further information about CV writing contact CV experts New CV. #cvwriting #writingacv #cvtips # cvhelp #cvwritingservice Graduating from university or college is going to not going to be the same this year; let's face it, what is? Whilst the experience will probably not be the big day full of fanfare that everyone expects, the process of graduating, of finishing that stage of life and moving to the next, will still happen. The reality of this period of change and the need to get a job can be phenomenally daunting for both the young people and their parents and, often, the favoured route is to start applying for jobs without taking stock of what the graduate has to offer an employer. After the champagne is finished and the uni flat is emptied (if it isn't already due to Covid-19), the very first thing anyone in this situation needs to do is write a CV based on their experience and achievements in the workplace. They need to think of themselves as a brand and use dynamic language to describe their accomplishments so that recruiters can see they take their personal brand seriously and are ready to work. Work experience is key. Whilst educational establishments drive home the importance of study, in the world of recruitment, it is what a person has done, as well as proving they have the ability to learn, that will get them noticed. And if studying and socialising have taken up most of the last 3 or 4 years it is time for them to get some experience in a voluntary role, to prove they have a work ethic and staying power. More advice about CV writing and the importance of using LinkedIn to promote your personal brand will be in the next blog. #cvwriting #graduatecareers #graduatejobsearch # howtowriteacv #cv #findingajob #cvhelp #cvtips |
AuthorNew CV is driven by Jaqui Winston, who has been writing CVs and LinkedIn profiles since 2013 and previously enjoyed a 25-year career in sales, marketing and management. Archives
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