HOW TO
CREATE A
SUCCESSFUL
CV
LIVE EVENT

Hays Live – How to successfully create a CV:
• What to think about before you begin
• Planning the CV structure
• Writing a personal statement
• Employment history
• Bringing achievements to life
• Replacing any clichés
• Showcasing skills
• Ensuring your CV is error-free
Please share your questions/comments:
• Comment on Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube
• We will answer as many questions as we can!
INTRODUCTION
Hosted by Karen Young:
Director at Hays UK and Ireland.
Specialising in the recruitment of senior
accountancy and financial appointments.
24 years’ experience in the industry

You want to create a tailored document which is going to deliver the results you’re looking
for, so firstly, take some time to think about what you really want in your next move.
Ask yourself these questions:
1. Why are you looking for a new role?
2. What salary and benefits package are you lookingfor?
3. Which role would be a sensible step towardsyour long-term career goals?
4. Which technical and soft skills are youlooking to develop?
5. What kind of culture and work environment would you like to join?
6. What are your deal-breakers?
7. What are you prepared to be more flexible about?
SEVEN THINGS TO THINK
ABOUT BEFORE YOU BEGIN

To start creating your CV that reflects you as a professional, plot out the structure in a Word
document:
1. Name, address and contact details
• List your professional phone number and email address
2. Personalstatement
• Summarise your career story in a few sentences
3. Employment history
• Provide details of your work history including any paid work, placements or volunteering
4. Achievements
• Give a list of your relevant achievements which clearly highlight your suitability for the
roles you are applying for
PLANNING THE STRUCTURE
OF YOUR CV
01

5. Skills and qualifications summary
• Add a brief list of your skills and qualifications, focusing on those which
are most relevant to the roles you are interested in
6. Education and training
• Include information on any training courses which relate to the job you
are applying for
7. Hobbies and interests
• Keep this brief, to show how your personality is suited to the role you are
interested in
8. References
• Write ‘References are available on request’
01PLANNING THE STRUCTURE
OF YOUR CV

Your personal statement is the first thing a recruiter or hiring
manager will read on your CV, so you need to impress:
1. Introduce yourself
• Tell the reader who you are and what experience you have
2. List your skills and experience
• Outline your key skills
• Evidence the achievements which set you apart
from the competition
3. Explain your ambitions for thefuture
• Outline what you are looking to achieve next in your career
• Make sure it links to the role in question
WRITING YOUR PERSONAL
STATEMENT
02
Dosand don’ts to remember
• DO include relevant action verbs to evidence achievements
• DO use keywords from the job description
• DO keep your personal statement to around 150-200 words
• DO tailor your personal statement to each role you apply for
• DON’T switch between the first and third person
Personal statement

To plot out your employment history, start with your most recent role and remember to::
Format each job in the followingorder:
• Job title
• Company
• Dates of employment
• Key responsibilities and achievements
Avoid leaving career gaps:
• Explain how you made use of any career gaps and be as transparent as possible.
• Recognise that there really is no stigma related to redundancy, so if you have been
made redundant, acknowledge this as you search for a new role.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
03

Use keywords:
• Identify the keywords for the job vacancy you are applying for, and use these
where relevant in your role descriptions
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
03
For example:
Finance Manager [insert company name]July 2018 to January 2021
• Executed long and short-term financial strategies enabling the organisation
to reach its commercial growth objectives of XXX
• Employed advanced analysis in comprehensively reviewing market trends
and making informed recommendations for future revenue streams,
contributing to an increase in gross profit of XXX
• Guided, motivated and supported the P&L team in the optimisation of X
monthly management accounts and producing X accurate analytical reports
for internal stakeholders

04
As you write your employment history, make sure you use action verbs tocommunicate
your successes and evidence your achievements. For example:
• Creativity: Built, crafted, devised, implemented
• Leadership skills: Headed, coordinated, executed
Action verbs in action:
As opposed to writing that you have good organisation skills,try:
• ‘facilitated’, ‘programmed’, or‘arranged’
And rather than writing that you always achieve your targetgoals, try:
• ‘reached’, ‘surpassed’ or ‘accomplished’
When bringing your achievements to life on your CV, it’s also important to incorporate
as many quantifiable results as possible.
BRINGING YOUR
ACHIEVEMENTS TO LIFE
Built, crafted,
devised,
implemented,
pioneered, initiated,
established

05
“Works well independently”
• Give an example of a time you showcased this strength and the results
• For instance, try “I independently developed a new strategy that increased
customer engagement by X per cent”
“Agreat team player”
• Evidence that you can work well with colleagues to reach a common goal
• For instance, “I worked with our international and local marketing teams to
implement a global rebrand across12 countries”
“Results driven”
• Instead of simply stating you are results driven, support this claim with facts
• Ensure that you give quantifiable evidence of your results, such as “I
increased sales by 25 per cent”
Action verbs may emphasise your skills, but clichés will dilute them. So, make sure you give quantifiable results to all of your claims.
Avoid using the below:
REPLACING ANY CLICHÉS

“Ahard worker”
• Prove your productivity and time management skills by giving examples
• For instance, creating a successful product launch in a short time frame or never missing a
deadline in two years in your last role
“Good communication skills”
• Be more specific by giving examples of situations in which your communication skills have really
shone through, such as a presentation or sales pitch you gave which won a new client for your
business
“Afast learner”
• If you really want to demonstrate your aptitude, you need to put your money where your
mouth is. Describe a time you grasped a new concept quickly
05 REPLACING ANY CLICHÉS
“ A hard worker”
“Good
communication
skills”
“A fast learner”

06
Next, draft your skills and qualifications summary - a bulleted list of your skills and
qualifications which relate to the role you are applying for.
Remember to include:
Technical skills
These are the skills which you have gained throughout your professional career, which
may be either required or desirable for the role you’re applying for, for instance:
• Coding
• Proficiency in a foreign language
• Tender writing
• Data analysis
• Budget planning
• HTML
SHOWCASING YOUR SKILLS
& QUALIFICATIONS

Soft skills
These are your personal attributes that allow you to work well with others and
achieve your goals. For example:
• Communication
• Decision making
• Time management
• Conflict resolution
• Problem solving
• Stakeholder engagement
• Business acumen
Qualifications
Make sure to also include any qualifications or training courses that are relevant
to the job that you are applying for.
06 SHOWCASING YOUR SKILLS
& QUALIFICATIONS

Don’t undersell yourself by forgetting to proofread properly.
Make sure you look out for the most common CV errors:
1.Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
• Use spell-checking and grammar software on your computer
• Ask a friend or relative to proofread the document for you
2. A lack of consistency
• Ensure you are consistent in your use of abbreviations and capitalisations
• Use the same simple font and font size throughout your application
3. Formatting issues
• Keep it simple – avoid using backgrounds, borders or clipart
• Check your CV reads well on desktop, mobile and tablet devices
07 ENSURING YOUR CV IS
ERROR-FREE

Once you think your CV is job application ready, find your
local Hays website and register it with us.
Online registration takes under a minute and allows you to
set up job alerts and manage your applications.
Once you have registered your CV,one of our expert
recruiters will be in contact with the latest opportunities
within your area of expertise and preferred locations.
REGISTER YOUR
CV WITH HAYS
Visit content.hays.com/cv-guide to view the full guide for
updating your CV.