How to write a CV
A Curriculum Vitae (CV) gives you an opportunity to provide
the employer with a summary of your education, experience
and achievements and helps you get an interview. This is
your marketing document to a potential employer. Use this
opportunity by making your CV as interesting and appealing as
possible.
KEY FEATURES
No more than two well-balanced A4 pages
Effective use of headings (dont change typefaces, but
consider capital letters or bold to make headings stand
out)
Clear layout, concise format
Organised into typical standard sections of information (see
below)
Tailored to the job/work area
Using bullet points can help to give your CV more impact,
especially if combined with Action Verbs (see over page)
Use note form so avoid using I and my, the or a, etc. asked. If asked, you need to provide full contact details of two
HEADINGS FOR YOUR CV
Headings are very powerful as they signpost the reader. Your
headings reflect the content of your CV. These are examples,
but you can use alternative headings.
Personal Information Put your name in larger font at the
top of the page as your main heading, and make it stand out.
There is no need for the heading Curriculum Vitae as the
document is self-explanatory. Provide one reliable address,
daytime telephone number and email address. Sub-titles are
not needed. Nationality (if there might be a query with regards
to your work permit status) and gender (if this is unclear or
could be male or female) are both optional. Date of birth is not
needed due to anti-ageism legislation. Marital status is not
needed either.
Education Begin with your most recent education, include
university name, degree subject, projected outcome and
details. Consider what is relevant and important for the job
role. Include as much technical information as possible for
technical roles, but keep it more general for graduate training
schemes not related to your degree subject. Then continue with
A levels and GCSEs (or equivalent for non-UK qualifications).
Work Experience - Dates (also in reverse chronological order),
job title, organisation, place or country (avoid stating full
Careers Service
www.imperial.ac.uk/careers
address). Consider organising your experience, e.g. Finance
Experience and Other Experience if applying for a finance
sector job, Scientific Experience and Other Experience if
applying for a science sector job. Use relevant headings. Then
describe your tasks and achievements indicating the skills you
have developed. Make use of action verbs (see page 2) and use
the past tense of these for work carried out in the past. Include
any unpaid work, as this still provides evidence of your skills.
Skills IT skills (e.g. packages you can use competently),
driving licence, language skills (give an indication of the level
of written/verbal skills), First Aid qualification or any other
certificates you may have. For technical positions provide more
detail on relevant technical skills.
Interests and Achievements - This could also be called
Achievements and Responsibilities and includes information
about key interests, roles of responsibility, awards,
volunteering, travel, etc. Be specific - quantify what you do or
indicate positive outcomes, rather than just providing a list.
References - Insert available on request unless specifically
referees, typically your tutor and a previous employer.
OPTIONAL EXTRAS AND FURTHER TIPS
Profile This is a short and concise summary of your
education, skills and experience, designed to attract immediate
attention. Aim for no more than 3 or 4 lines maximum. It
comes after your personal details and you could use this to
tailor your CV to a specific area of employment or to highlight
your career objective. Bland statements are best avoided (e.g.
Seeking employment with a dynamic business to build on my
outstanding achievements.) However, it can work well if you
are considering a change in career direction.
Awards Include this as a separate heading after education if
you have achieved a number of scholarships, school prizes or
any other awards.
Other countries Please note that each country has its own
etiquette for writing CVs. See www.prospects.ac.uk/links/
countries for examples and information
Reasons CVs are rejected:
Poor presentation, chaotic layout, untidy, containing
spelling errors
Use of bold, capital and underlined all at once
No clear link between experience and employers
requirements
Too long (too wordy, too many pages, not enough time to
read it all)
Too much jargon, fancy fonts in many different sizes
Poor spelling and grammar. If in doubt get someone else
to check your CV
ACTION VERBS
When describing projects or work experience in your CV,
aim to express yourself clearly and concisely, making use of
the language used in recruitment. Here are a few examples
of words you might like to use, describing actions which
demonstrate particular skills. Using your thesaurus can help
you find others:
Achievement - accelerated, accomplished, achieved, carried
out, completed, improved, delivered, enhanced, finished,
negotiated, obtained, produced, secured, increased, doubled,
implemented
Communication - advised, participated, chaired meeting,
wrote, instructed, demonstrated, edited, presented, discussed,
promoted, persuaded, recommended
Taking initiative - created, formulated, designed, established,
introduced, devised, started, developed, set up, launched,
initiated, enabled
FURTHER INFORMATION
Available from the Careers Service:
Careers Service Website - www.imperial.ac.uk/careers/
applications includes detailed information about
producing effective CVs and covering letters, includes a
Quick Guide to CVs. Develop Your CV: how the Careers
Service can help - leaflet with practical steps to take to
improve your CV. Available from www.imperial.ac.uk/
careers/handouts
Reference books - some students find it useful to consult
books on CVs so a selection is provided at reception. None
can be particularly recommended: advice is prescriptive,
often aimed at experienced job hunters and with a US
bias; this is often also the case with online advice on
perfect CVs. Prospects website - www.prospects.ac.uk/
links/appsinterviews includes detailed information
about producing effective CVs and covering letters, with
examples for different types of CVs.
Having your CV checked - we offer Careers Consultations
daily which can be booked from 07:00 through JobsLive via
the Careers website. At certain times of the year, we also
offer 5 Minute Final CV checks (simply turn up and sign up
check the website for details).
CV seminars - are run during the autumn and spring terms
and are open to all students.
For information on the disclosure of disability or specific
learning difficulty such as dyslexia please see information on
the Careers Service website:
www.imperial.ac.uk/careers/disclosure

Research - classified, differentiated, investigated, determined,

experimented, equated, searched, developed, surveyed,
examined, indexed, compiled, catalogued
Organising and planning - distributed, reorganised, arranged,
restructured, budgeted, verified, scheduled, computed,
planned, produced
Interpersonal - advised, negotiated, consulted, evaluated,
proposed, handled, sorted out, collaborated, discussed,
mediated, facilitated
Leadership - directed, supervised, motivated, guided,
managed, led, organised, undertook
Managing - organised, implemented, established, produced,
initiated, attained, maintained
Problem solving - analysed, diagnosed, reduced, increased,
simplified, evaluated, synthesised, tackled, investigated,
reviewed, identified, refined, streamlined, examined,
reorganised, solved

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