CV CREATION MANUAL

By David Lister

Table of Contents

Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... 1

Why is it important to have an up to date CV? ...................................................................................... 2
How do recruiters find us?...................................................................................................................... 2
CV = First impression............................................................................................................................... 2
What makes a good CV? ......................................................................................................................... 3
Structure, Layout & Wording .................................................................................................................. 3
Profile Header ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Personal Profile ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Core Competencies ................................................................................................................................. 4
Career History ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Achievements.......................................................................................................................................... 6
Education ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Hobbies & Interests ................................................................................................................................ 8
Final Profile ............................................................................................................................................. 9

Page 1 of 11
Why is it important to have an up to date CV?

Whether you have started to think about exploring new career options or not, it is always good to
ensure your CV is up to date. The ideal scenario for any job seeker is of course to have the luxury of
not actually needing the job they are currently applying for, but rather simply seeking personal
development of some kind. However, here complacency is the enemy and you should always take
the opportunity to tailor your CV to the exact specifics of the singular role you are applying for, even
if it is just a role you came across by chance and didn’t want to miss out on.

It is important to say that success in finding a new role can be directly correlated to the amount of
work you put into your CV and the application process. You should also bear in mind that you are
always in competition with others and by not doing everything you can, you are handing the other
applicants in the process an undeserved advantage.

With all this said, don’t rush, the military use the phrase, “slow is steady, steady is fast”, if you rush
errors can occur that can cost you dearly further down the line. Best practice dictates that you
should prepare a more utilitarian CV that can be edited quickly and easily for each role, or maybe
even prepare multiple CVs for different types of role e.g. one that is more orientated towards
management responsibility if the role requires leadership skills or one that is more detailed focused
for technically orientated assignments.

How do recruiters find us?

There are three main methods recruiters use to engage new talent, through job board sourcing,
headhunting or direct application to their adverts. To attain the best chance of success you should
blend a passive and active approach to job seeking by;

1. Ensuring that your CV is active on multiple job boards, namely Total Jobs, Indeed, Jobsite &
CV-Library – passive
2. Ensuring it contains searchable relevant key words - passive
3. Direct application to online adverts with a tailored profile – active
4. Speaking to friends, colleagues, family members and your wider network to see if they are
aware of any roles or could recommend you to anyone of influence – active & passive
5. Build relationships with role/industry specific recruiters - active

CV = First impression

Writing a CV can often seem like a daunting or arduous task, but when putting one together it’s
important to remember that this document is a representation of you as well as acting as your first
impression to any potential new employers. Its structure, wording, layout and overall content will be
assessed and worst still, in the first instance at least, you will likely have never met the assessor. So,
when putting our profiles together we must take the time to ensure that we have thought about the
overall impression we want the document to give and that we have thoroughly checked it for any
errors prior to sending out.

Page 2 of 11
What makes a good CV?

The answer to this question is somewhat subjective and in all honesty a CV, despite being a
professional document, should to some degree show your personality. This can be through your
choice of wording, its content, its structure or maybe you have a visual flare for design that you’d
like to integrate. Here are a few key tips to always take into consideration when constructing your
CV;

1. It is written in one tense, 1st or 3rd person

2. Whatever layout is chosen, it is uniform and aids in the reading and comprehension of the
document
3. The grammar and choice of wording is correct and makes sense in context
4. Any visual embellishments are in line with the overall tone of the document
5. The information contained within it is up to date, accurate and honest
6. It demonstrates alignment with the description of the role
7. You demonstrate an understanding of your audience e.g. marketing will want to see flare
and individuality, whereas operations might want to hear that you are process driven
8. You effectively demonstrate the impact you have had so far/will continue to have
9. It is ideally no more than 2 pages, 3 at maximum

Structure, layout & wording

The layout, structure and wording of the CV is vitally important, ensuring these factors are in good
order will aid the assessor in their task by making the document easier to read and understand. The
easier the document is to digest the more likely it is that the information will remain in the head of
the assessor. However, again this is a professional document and so a certain level of finesse is
expected in its aesthetic.

Unlike in the Schengen zone in Europe, who have a standardized format CV template called a
Europass CV, we here in the UK do not have a standardized format for CVs. With that said there is
generally held structure, which is as follows… Disclaimer, the following character is totally fictitious,
any similarity to any real-life individuals is purely coincidental.

1. Profile Header

Example A
FULL NAME
Full postal address
Phone number/landline number
Email address
Linkedin address

Example B
Joe Blogs
369 Made-up Road, Unrealsville, Imagination Land, NE30NE
+44(0)768-229-000 / +44(0)208-884-556
j.blogs@noresponse.com
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/whoisjoeblogs

Page 3 of 11
2. Personal Profile

A short description of yourself, made up of your positive behavours, your level of experience, any
relevant qualifications, your function/specialism and your industry experience

Example C

PERSONAL PROFILE
A team focused and driven (insert name of qualification) qualified professional with
(insert number) years’ experience working in a (insert current or desired
department) function as a (insert current job title), within the (insert industry
name/names) industry/ies.
Example D

PERSONAL PROFILE
A dedicated and focused, 17th edition certified, imaginary character with several
electrical C&G qualifications and 7 non-existent years’ experience working for such
global technology brands as Lex Corp and Wayne Enterprises, as an Electrical
Technician & Team Leader.

3. Core Competencies

Your core competencies should represent where you feel your skills are strongest and they should
be subjects on which you are confident to talk at length. They are not duties or daily actions but key
specialisms laid out in bullet point form.

Example E

CORE COMPETENCIES
- Interpreting complex electro-mechanical engineering drawings
- Fault finding and Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
- Lean Manufacturing and 6 Sigma techniques
- Management and team leadership
- Electrical test, soldering and PCB repair

4. Career History

This section should make up most of the document. It should accurately and honestly layout each
role you have had thus far in your career, with each containing;

- the respective names of your employers

- a short summary of the employer
- your job titles & the dates of employment
- a summary of your role and key core duties
- 3 or 4 achievements for each piece of employment, more detail on this topic in point
5

Page 4 of 11
Example F

CAREER HISTORY

Lex Corp. PLC August 2018 – present

Lex Corp is a global product development and manufacturing business, with a

turnover of over $100 billion, that supplies keyhole technology solutions to sectors
including infrastructure, government, defense, finance and aerospace.

Electrical Team Leader August 2018 – present

Responsible for the delivery of monthly departmental production targets, 3,000 units
per month, as well as onsite commissioning and the direct management of a team of
5 Electrical Technicians including their health and safety, recruitment, personal
development and any grievance / disciplinary procedure requirements.

Additional duties:
- Proactively identifying problems and leading the team in fault finding and
root cause analysis activity
- Lead electrical commissioning activity on customer sites
- Develop training programmes for key skills development
- Lead continuous improvement activity on the shop floor utilizing Lean Six
Sigma techniques
- Provide technical support to the team and address bottlenecks in the
process
- Ensure effective coordination with purchasing, supply chain and
engineering
- Ensure that product quality meets company standards and that all product
documentation is correct
- Assist in auditing against ISO9001 & 14001 quality standards
Achievements:
- See section 5

Wayne Enterprises Ltd. July 2013 – August 2018

Wayne Enterprises is one of the world’s largest family-owned multinational product
development and technology solutions providers. They manufacture a wide variety of
products for the automotive, aerospace and medical devise industries.
Electrical Technician July 2014 – August 2018
Responsible for the delivery of a personal target of 50 units a day as well as
supporting the aftermarket department in their fault-finding activity.
Additional duties:
- Soldering and repairing PCBs, familiar with the safe use of both 500W
and 200W industrial solders

Page 5 of 11
 - Testing boards using Oscilloscopes and Multi-meters to identify any faults
present
- Supporting the Team Leader in departmental Lean initiatives and Kaizen
groups
Achievements:
- See section 5

Electrical Intern July 2013 – July 2014

Joined the Wayne Enterprises Ltd. Electrical Engineering Internship Programme In
July of 2013. The course covered topics including;
- Electrical Fault Finding & Root Cause Analysis
- Electrical Testing & Commissioning
- Lean Manufacturing Tools & Techniques

5. Achievements

It is always worth dedicating serious time to thinking about your achievements, they are the “closer”
or the “sizzle”, it’s the thing that’s going to really make the assessor want to progress with your
application. Ideally at the end of the exercise you should have far more achievements than you really
need, and you can save some for the interview. However, this is where things can get a little tricky as
people can often struggle to think of and furthermore quantify their impact on their employer. They
know they do a good job but how do they express that in a way that clearly and concisely shows
what they can do, and will go on to do, for their employers?

Potential achievement examples can include:

- Departmental projects you have led or played a significant role in
- Problem solving initiatives that had a measurable impact on the business
- Times where you exceeded your personal/departmental KPIs
- Any cost savings or process efficiencies you have helped create

Now we have our examples, how do we quantify them? Let’s break down the quantifiable factors of
each:

- Projects – budgets, time scales, commercial value of delivery to the business, net
promoter scores, value of repeat business, value of cross/up selling
- Problem Solving – amount of downtime avoided, cost effective solutions, innovative
solutions, additional man hours committed to ensuring delivery, fines avoided
- KPIs – your personal targets, departmental targets, comparisons with the wider
business, awards
- Process/Continuous Improvement – man hours saved, cost of materials saved, right
first time, defects reduced/yield increased, delivery on time in full

Page 6 of 11
Example G

a. Projects
- Lead Commissioning Technician and key customer contact for
government projects worth over £4 billion per annum to Lex Corp.
Achieved a favourable project budget variance of over £600,000 in 2019.
- Created additional revenue of £200,000 in 2019 by effectively upselling
company products and services to key customers while onsite
- Achieving only a 2% variation on budgeted project time scales, across the
year 2019, with a 120% customer retention score

b. Problem Solving
- Received a shipment of PCBs from a supplier that were deemed faulty,
coordinated with procurement to source alternatives but none were
available in the time frame required. Lead a test and repair programme,
negotiated offsetting the cost of an extra shift to get the PCBs repaired
against the original price, installed them and met OTIF target
- Key piece of automation equipment went offline, performed a Root Cause
Analysis/Ishikawa and, through a process of elimination, identified and
rectified the fault within an hour saving the company thousands of pounds
in lost man hours

c. KPIs
- Used DMAIC method to define and implement departmental KPIs with
year on year productivity gains of 6%
- Attained a 98% compliance rating against personal targets including units
per month, lead time and material waste
- Awarded the “biggest impact” award by CEO Lex Luther due to team and
personal success, ranked internally as the most efficient production team

d. Process/Continuous Improvement
- Lead area 5S initiative that drove productivity gains of 3%, allowing the
team to produce an additional 90 units per month, and a reduction in
waste of 2%
- Worked as part of a cross functional team, made up of engineering,
production and supply chain, to identify key areas for materials cost
savings. Identified over £300,000 worth of savings through utilization of
new materials and engagement of new suppliers.
- Identified a novel solution that allowed the removal of redundant part from
the system saving the business approximately £1.50 per unit, £3,500 per
month cost saving

Page 7 of 11
6. Education

The education section is never more important than when you are starting off in your career. At that
point it will make up the vast majority of your profile but as time goes on it should only really end up
accounting for approximately 20% of the profile at most. It should be a concise breakdown covering:
- the title of the qualification
- the body that awarded it
- its validity (if it has an expiry date)
- the date it was awarded.

With that said, if you feel the courses have a particular relevance to the role you are applying for
make sure you highlight them. This a loose guide, not a rigid set of rules.

EDUCATION
- BS:7671 18th Edition November 2018
Unrealsville Technical College
- City & Guilds 2382-15 17th Edition March 2017
Unrealsville Technical College
- City & Guilds 8030-23 April 2016
Adv. Diploma in Electrical & Electronic Eng Level 5
Unrealsville Technical College
- City & Guilds 2365-03 Electrical Installations Level 3 June 2015
Unrealsville Technical College
- 9 GCSEs including; Sept 2011 - July 2013
Maths, Double Award Science, English, etc
Grades A - C
Unrealsville’s Park School

7. Hobbies & Interests

This is a conversation starter; in the grand scheme of things it is not a crucial element of the
document. With that said, it is important to show that you are someone others will enjoy spending
time with, they aren’t just buying a set of hands but a fully fleshed human being. Just remember,
keep it professional and watching television is not a hobby.

HOBBIES & INTERESTS

I am keen sportsman and avid mountaineer. I collect comic books and in my spare
time I like to salvage old electrical equipment.

References available on request

8. Final Profile

Now let’s see how that all looks together, please go to the next page…

Page 8 of 11
Joe Blogs
369 Made-up Road, Unrealsville, Imagination Land, NE30NE
+44(0)700-000-000 / +44(0)208-000-000
j.blogs@noresponse.com
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/whoisjoeblogs

PERSONAL PROFILE

A dedicated and focused, 17th edition certified, imaginary character with several electrical C&G
qualifications and 7 non-existent years’ experience working for such global technology brands as Lex
Corp and Wayne Enterprises, as an Electrical Technician & Team Leader.

CORE COMPETENCIES
- Interpreting complex electro-mechanical engineering drawings
- Fault finding and Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
- Lean Manufacturing and 6 Sigma techniques
- Management and team leadership
- Electrical test, soldering and PCB repair

CAREER HISTORY

Lex Corp. PLC August 2018 – present

Lex Corp is a global product development and manufacturing business, with a turnover of over $100
billion, that supplies keyhole technology solutions to sectors including infrastructure, government,
defense, finance and aerospace.

Electrical Team Leader August 2018 – present

Responsible for the delivery of monthly departmental production targets, 3,000 units per month, as
well as onsite commissioning and the direct management of a team of 5 Electrical Technicians
including their health and safety, recruitment, personal development and any grievance / disciplinary
procedure requirements.

Additional duties:
- Proactively identifying problems and leading the team in fault finding and root cause analysis
activity
- Lead electrical commissioning activity on customer sites
- Develop training programmes for key skill development
- Lead continuous improvement activity on the shop floor utilizing Lean Six Sigma techniques
- Provide technical support to the team and address bottlenecks in the process
- Ensure effective coordination with purchasing, supply chain and engineering
- Ensure that product quality meets company standards and that all product documentation is
correct
- Assist in auditing against ISO9001 & 14001 quality standards

Achievements:

- Lead Commissioning Technician and key customer contact for government projects worth
over £4 billion per annum to Lex Corp. Achieved a favourable project budget variance of over
£600,000 in 2019.
- Created additional revenue stream of £200,000 in 2019 by effectively upselling company
products and services to key customers while onsite
- Used DMAIC method to define and implement departmental KPIs with year on year
productivity gains of 6%

Page 9 of 11
Wayne Enterprises Ltd. July 2013 – August 2018

Wayne Enterprises is one of the world’s largest family-owned multinational product development and
technology solutions providers. They manufacture a wide variety of products for the automotive,
aerospace and medical devise industries.

Electrical Technician July 2014 – August 2018

Responsible for the delivery of a personal target of 50 units a day as well as supporting the
aftermarket department in their fault-finding activity.

Additional duties:

- Soldering and repairing PCBs, familiar with the safe use of both 500W and 200W industrial
solders
- Testing boards using Oscilloscopes and Multi-meters to identify any faults present
- Supporting the Team Leader in departmental Lean initiatives and Kaizen groups

Achievements:

- Attained a 98% compliance rating against personal targets including units per month, lead
time & material waste
- Led area 5S initiative that drove productivity gains of 3%, allowing the team to produce an
additional 90 units per month, and a reduction in waste of 2%
- Identified a novel solution that allowed the removal of redundant part from the system saving
the business approximately £1.50 per unit, £3,500 per month cost saving

Electrical Intern July 2013 – July 2014

Joined the Wayne Enterprises Ltd. Electrical Engineering Internship Programme In July of 2013. The
course covered topics including;

- Electrical Fault Finding & Root Cause Analysis

- Electrical Testing & Commissioning
- Lean Manufacturing Tools & Techniques

EDUCATION

- BS:7671 18th Edition November 2018

Unrealsville Technical College
- City & Guilds 2382-15 17th Edition March 2017
Unrealsville Technical College
- City & Guilds 8030-23
Adv. Diploma in Electrical & Electronic Eng Level 5 April 2016
Unrealsville Technical College
- City & Guilds 2365-03 Electrical Installations Level 3 June 2015
Unrealsville Technical College
- 9 GCSEs including; Sept 2011 - July 2013
Maths, Double Award Science, English, etc
Grades A - C
Unrealsville’s Park Sixth Form

HOBBIES & INTERESTS

I am keen sportsman and avid mountaineer. I collect comic books and in my spare time I like to
salvage old electrical equipment.

References available on request

Here’s a one-page version…

Page 10 of 11
Page 11 of 11