- Personal Details
- Name
- Address
- Telephone (private)
- Telephone (business)
- Email
- Fax Number
Your contact information must be correct. If you do not want to be contacted at work, do not include your work telephone number or e-mail (particularly if it is not confidential). When providing only after hours details, be sure to specify this so that a prospective employer doesn’t get frustrated ringing all day with no reply! Similarly do not include your private e-mail address if you do not check your e-mail daily.
- Citizenship/Resident Status
- Date of Birth *
- Marital Status *
- Number of children *
- IWI Affiliation *
- Health
- Other languages (if bilingual/multilingual)
This personal information is not critical, but can provide a better picture of you. The information marked with * is protected under the Human Rights Act and is solely at your discretion to provide or withhold. In addition to any information you voluntarily provide regarding your health, many employers will ask you to complete a more detailed health questionnaire upon appointment to a role.
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- Work History
List employers and jobs in reverse chronological order.
Include . . .
- Employer;
- Length of time employed;
- Type of business;
- Title or positions held;
- Nature of duties carried out;
- Number of staff;
- Creditable achievements (written in past tense);
- Skills gained.
Provide more information for the most recent and most relevant position(s). If you have had a lengthy career, the earlier positions may be summarised briefly or grouped together.
Emphasise work performed at the top level of responsibility. Describe the benefits of the work you carried out. Examples of work that you were responsible for that had positive results. In writing your key achievements, the SBO model is a good one to double-check that you have covered all of the bases:
S - Situation , problem or opportunity you have faced
B - Behaviour, the actions that you took to address the situation
O - Outcome that you achieved
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- Education and Training
Tertiary Education
Name of institution(s), qualification(s) attained. If you are still studying, the qualification sought. This shows that you want to be up to date professionally.
Secondary Education
The longer the time since you left school, the less you need record about it. Years attended, name of school, highest qualification attained would be sufficient.
Copies of Qualifications
Copies of degrees, qualifications and certificates add bulk to the CV, it is not necessary to include them. Keep them somewhere safe so you can produce them on request.
Also gather information on any relevant short courses you have attended. Often these provide very targeted, specific skill development absolutely relevant to the job you are applying for. Conferences and seminars attended may also be included. If you have presented at a conference or seminar be sure to include information on that too!
It can also be important to detail your computer literacy, which should include your level of expertise with specific software and programmes.
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- Skills
You may wish to include a section that highlights some of your specific skills and abilities relevant to the position applied for. Skills can be broadly divided into three key categories:
- Personal Skills
- Functional Skills
- Technical Skills
If you would like some ideas on how to describe our skills, refer to the lists at ‘Finding the Words’.
Do not just write a list of words but state how you have applied the skills and attributes in previous roles.
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- Interests & Hobbies
Sports Clubs, Voluntary Roles, Community activity
While not necessarily pertinent to a particular position, a section with this type of information can provide a fuller picture of you as a person.
These roles don’t need to be explained in detail unless they have some impact on the work you do.
Team sports and activities are a good sign of being able to work well others, while community service is a good indicator of a person’s public spirit
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- Referees
Relevant, Current, Consulted
It is appropriate to provide names of between 2 and 4 referees who can supply references.
A referee is asked for their opinion about you by the prospective employer and will cover areas such as character, ability and potential. Sometimes they will be sent written questionnaires; sometimes they will be telephoned.
It is a good idea to send referees a copy of your CV to remind them of your skills and abilities. Let them know about your application so they are not taken by surprise.
It might even be useful to send them a copy of the position description for the position so they can prepare to comment of your performance in regard to the competencies.
It is acceptable to say that names of referees are available on request.
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