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Home 14 High Street Term Address: 34 College Road

Address: Cosham (if this is different) St Leonards
Portsmouth Exeter
Hants Devon
PO6 2JF EX2 7GH
Tel: 02392 321456 Tel: 01392 456321
Mob: 07799 354612
E-mail: Fred.Bloggs@exeter.ac.uk
Nationality: British (optional - include if you are not a UK citizen or if your name might lead an
employer to think you were from overseas)
Note: It is not necessary to include age, marital status or dependants. There is no need to write "Curriculum
Vitae" across the top of your document - it will be recognised by recruiters without this label!
Personal This is an optional item, but it can be useful to state your careers intentions in a succinct
Statement: way at the beginning of your CV, especially if this is a "stand alone" document not
accompanied by a covering letter.
Some students may prefer to state their career aims in a covering letter but where the
CV is e mailed to an employer or agency the personal statement can be useful.

It can be written either in the first or third person.

It is generally placed immediately beneath the personal details.

Examples:
An ambitious law graduate keen to apply their academic knowledge in a
commercial law practice. Willing to work hard to achieve early responsibility and to
work with colleagues and clients to the highest possible standards.
or
I am an enthusiastic and versatile undergraduate keen to use my languages in the
communications field. My ability to work hard and relate well to a wide variety of
people has influenced my decision to seek work in Public Relations.

Education: Note: This is always set out in reverse chronological order, i.e. your degree (or
postgraduate qualifications) at the top of the list.
Higher Education If you are planning to use the knowledge gained during their degree
and/or postgraduate studies, it is important to make a feature of this and point out any
courses, scientific techniques or projects that would be relevant to the job you are
applying for. If you are in your final year and expecting to achieve a good degree grade,
then state it - don't be modest!

If you studied for an Access Course prior to you degree, mention dates, subjects etc.

For many mature students GCSEs, CSEs, O Levels and A Levels may be rather a long
way back to be relevant for your current applications. It is a matter of choice whether
you mention them or not and whether you include grades or not. Consider whether they
are a selling point and whether they add to the image you want to convey. If you think
they deserve a mention then a short statement will be sufficient, eg 6 O Level passes
 including English and Mathematics.

Suggested Layout:
2003-2006 University of Exeter
BSc Hons Biological Sciences - expected grade 2.1
Options studied include cell physiology, genetics, biochemistry and molecular
organisation and control. Final year project on the purification and crystallisation of
overexpressed human glucokinase enzyme (an enzyme believed to be the glucose
sensor in the pancreas triggering the release of insulin and when malfunctioning to
be causal in types of diabetes). Techniques employed include affinity
chromatography, SDS-PAGE analysis, detailed kinetic studies and crystallisation
trials.
2002-2003 Exeter College
Access course covering topics such as mathematics, study techniques,
research and writing.

Work This is always laid out in reverse chronological order ie. the most recent first. This is done
Experience: because it is more likely that your recent work will be more relevant to the career you are
seeking than perhaps the Saturday job or the paper round you carried out while at school.
The current trend is for the job description to include skills rather than actual activities.
For example, a bar job would not usually be described as "pulling pints and chatting to
customers" but more likely as " working in a team under pressure in a busy bar,
learning the importance of customer care and taking responsibility for maintaining stock
levels and handling cash". This descriptive approach is particularly important when CVs
are sent on line and scanned by a computer programmed to pick up certain skills such
as customer care or team working.

If you have done a very large number of jobs, for example when working through a
temping agency, these can be grouped together in a statement such as "worked in a
variety of jobs such as receptionist in a busy office, data inputting and call centre work.
These required a great amount of adaptability to new environments and the ability to
pick up new skills very quickly".

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Work Experience

July-Sep 2005 W.G.Butler & Co - STEP summer placement

This was an eight week placement with a small firm of building merchants.
My project was to look into new markets for the firm's products and devise
new marketing materials and an advertising campaign. I had to research
my findings and present the results to the company owner. My findings
were accepted and I was employed beyond the end of my project to
implement the plan.

Aug-Sep 2004 The Fiery Horse Public House, New Malden - Bar Work
Working in a team under pressure in a busy bar, learning the importance of
customer care and taking responsibility for maintaining stock levels and
handling cash.

Other jobs have included Christmas Post delivery, factory production line and
Saturday work on a supermarket till while studying in the sixth form.

Or
 Employment

July 2005
Editorial assistant working on the revision of a leading GCSE science text
book. Responsible for checking copy and liaising with printers.

August 2004
Au pair to two French children in Paris.

2001-2004: Bredon Lodge Residential Care Home.

I worked as a Care Assistant during university vacations. During my time at
the home I was responsible for the welfare of elderly residents, many of
whom have Alzheimer's disease and all of whom are unable to care for
themselves. I was often in charge of the home during night shifts, and in
this capacity was responsible for the safety of the residents and for the
work of other staff.

Or

Recent Work Experience:

2004: Sports Promotion Co

Worked as a volunteer at the Cycle Club of Great Britain. This provided a
great insight into sports marketing, especially event management and
athlete representation.

2004: The Cheshire Mencap Centre

Organised a placement in a centre, which offers sheltered employment and
training for people with learning difficulties. The work involved supervising
clients and attending a training session on personality disorders.

1999-2004: Sales Assistant, Next

Part time work at weekends and during holidays for the past four years,
recently becoming responsible for Branch Stock Accounts. Through this
work I have learnt the importance of customer care and have also gained an
insight into the retail sector.

Skills: A section on skills is a useful way of highlighting your strong points for the job(s) you are
applying for. You can include both "hard" skills such as languages and IT as well as "soft"
skills such as leadership or organisational skills. It is useful to be able to change the
emphasis in this section in relation to the jobs you are applying for and an examination of
the brochure, advertisement or web site of an employer will often give you clues about the
particular skills they are looking for.
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Languages: Fluent French, good working knowledge of German, basic Spanish.

IT sk ills: Frequent user of Windows XP, Internet and e-mail. Working knowledge
of Frontpage 2000 and Powerpoint.

Communication: Strong verbal and written skills developed during my studies and
by taking part in public speaking events.
 Teamwork : Have both worked in and lead successful teams while being part of
the Hall Committee at University and running a Young Enterprise company at
School.

Full Clean Driving Licence.

Achievements: If your life to date has been dotted with achievements which have not been mentioned
under other headings then it can be a good idea to highlight these under a separate
section to make them immediately obvious to someone reading your CV. This is not,
however, a section that will be useful to all students and a heading of "achievements" with
a solitary entry that you were once elected blackboard monitor at Primary School should
best be avoided.
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Achievements
Head Boy: elected by staff in my final year at school.
Music: achieved grade 6 trombone.
Duke of Edinburgh Award: achieved bronze, silver and gold awards.
Young Enterprise: part of a team running a successful company - reached the
regional finals in a competition for best run company.
Prizes: Awarded the sixth form prize for English and best contribution to school
life.
Dean's Commendation: achieved this award in second year of my degree for
outstanding overall results.
Rag Committee: part of a team which raised £15,000 for local charities during
Rag Week in 2005.

Interests: Most CVs will include a short piece about your interests. These can often be a useful
talking point at interview so make sure that your "trip down the Amazon" really happened
because, if not, you can be sure that your interviewer has made the journey! Just
mentioning things such as "reading" or "cinema" is rather bland - add a few details eg
reading, especially authors such as...
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Interests

Sport: I regularly play both football and hockey for an inter mural side. I
represented my school in the first XI Football team. During the summer I
keep fit by jogging and working out in my local gym.
Travel:During my gap year I travelled to Australia and the Far East. I
enjoyed the challenge of planning travel in foreign countries and meeting new
people and observing very different cultures. Last summer I went to the USA
where I both worked and travelled across the country.
Cooking: I have been an enthusiastic cook for many years and specialise in
Indian cuisine. I like to entertain friends when my budget allows.
Music: I play the guitar for pleasure. At school I was part of a rock band.
OR

Interests; Travelling (have visited USA, Australia and Far East), sport
(play both hockey and football in inter mural sides), cooking and music (I
play the guitar and listen to rock).
 References: It is not essential to add the names and addresses of referees to the end of your CV but it
can be useful for a potential employer to be able to contact someone quickly if they are
interested in calling you for an interview.
If you choose not to then a statement such as the following is sufficient:
References: Available on request.

If you decide to include them then choose your referees with care! You want to make
sure that they will say nice things about you! It is normal to choose one academic
referee and one from an employer or someone who knows you well from another sphere
such as a friend of the family. It is very important to ask their permission first and a
good idea to give them a copy of your CV so they know what you are saying about
yourself. Your academic referee can be a personal tutor but if you have had little
contact with your tutor you could choose someone else in your department who knows
your work.

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Referees

Dr D.S. Scudder Mrs J Budley

Department of Russian Personnel Officer
Queens Building Ceeway Construction Ltd
University of Exeter North Business Park
EX4 4QJ Southampton
E mail: D.Scudder@exeter.ac.uk SO6 4WW
01467 324324

Appendixes
If you are applying for a job where your research record is important, e.g. an academic
post or a research post with a scientific organisation, you should include a list of your
publications etc as an extra sheet at the end of your CV.

You should include:

Papers in which you have been a joint or sole author - use a standard layout for
this using bold, italics etc where appropriate. Use the journal title, volume and title
of the paper because it is likely that this will be checked on!
Posters and/or papers given at conferences.
Conferences attended.
Thesis title if you have completed your PhD.
Books you have contributed to or written.

You now have guidelines to produce a CV suitable for your own personal needs. You can use the style given in
these guidelines or view the other templates to create your own document. Alternatively you could use these
guidelines and develop your own style of CV.

Most CVs will require a covering letter and you can use the guidelines below to create your own.
 The Covering Letter
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This is a very important part of the application and is often overlooked when writing to
COVERING employers. When you include a letter with your CV they should complement each other
LETTER
TEMPLATE to make the strongest possible application. There are a few important guidelines to
follow:

The letter should NOT be more than one side of A4.

Use normal business layout for a formal letter (see template for example).
Try and address the letter to a named person - you may be able to get a name from
a job advertisement or alternatively you could telephone the company and ask to
whom you should send graduate job applications.
Word process unless the advertisement specifically asks for a hand written letter.
It should complement rather than repeat the information included in the CV.
Check your spelling and grammar - some recruiters are very picky!
Use good quality paper - preferably the same used for the CV.

The structure consists of 4 main sections:

A brief introduction.
Explaining why you want to work for this organisation.
Explaining why you would make an excellent candidate for the job.
A brief conclusion.

The Introduction
Introduce yourself, say what you are applying for and where you saw the information.
Eg: I am a final year undergraduate at Exeter University applying for a training
contract with your organisation which was advertised on the Careers Service web site.

The Company Plug

You should include why you have selected this particular firm and what sets it apart from
others. You can glean much of this information from the company brochure and/or web
site. It is a crucial part of the letter and one which many applicants overlook.
Eg: I am particularly k een to work for Joe King & Co because of its reputation in the
field of electronics as an innovative company and one which tak es pride in the
development of its staff. The international outlook of the company is vital in this field
and I am k een to join an expanding company and be a part of the growth in the global
mark et.

Your Personal Plug

In this paragraph you should take the opportunity to explain why you would make an
excellent choice as an employee - outline your main selling points and try and make
yourself difficult to resist!
Eg: As you can see from my CV, my studies in the field of ecology and plant
development are very relevant to the post of researcher and these together with my
project work and my summer placement with Devon Wildlife have given me an
excellent back ground for the job. In addition to this I have developed good
communication sk ills whilst at university and in my vacation jobs and have the ability
to work hard both on my own and in a team.

In Conclusion
This should be brief and to the point and also include any plans you may have to follow
up this application - especially if you are making a speculative approach to an
 organisation.
Eg: I enlcose my CV for your consideration and look forward to hearing from you.
Or I enclose my CV for your consideration and I will contact you later this month to
discuss my application further.

Signing Off
If you have addressed the letter "Dear Sir/Madam" then you should finish with "Yours
faithfully".
Alternatively if you have written to a named person, eg "Dear Mrs Brown" then you
should finish with "Yours sincerely".

© 2000-2010 Careers and Employment Service, University of Exeter Last modified: 22nd September 2006