The skill-set required to be a successful Non-Executive Director is different from an Executive Director’s skill-set so it makes sense that your Non-Executive Director CV should be different from one you would use to obtain an Executive position. Your NED CV will need to demonstrate that you have the required skills by drawing examples from your current and previous executive and non-executive roles. Because of this need to provide more evidence about how you match up to the NED skills criteria there is some acceptance that the usual requirement for a strict 2 page CV can be relaxed and that a NED CV can be between 2 and 4 pages long. This is not universally accepted though and some recruiters will still demand a full chronological executive type CV with a 2-page limit. Follow these tips to optimise your CV for Non-Executive Director roles - once you have completed your CV, get a free review when you join NEDworks at www.NEDworks.net

1. How to write a Non-Executive
Director CV

2. A Non-Executive
Director CV is
different from an
Executive CV
The skill-set required to be a successful Non-
Executive Director is different from an
Executive Director’s skill-set so it makes sense
that your Non-Executive Director CV should be
different from one you would use to obtain an
Executive position.

3. Your NED CV will need to
demonstrate that you have the
required skills by drawing
examples from your current and
previous executive and non-
executive roles.

4. Because of this need to provide
more evidence about how you
match up to the NED skills
criteria there is some
acceptance that the usual
requirement for a strict 2 page
CV can be relaxed and that a
NED CV can be between 2 and 4
pages long. This is not
universally accepted though and
some recruiters will still demand
a full chronological executive
type CV with a 2-page limit.

5. Your NED CV should contain the following sections:

6. Contact Details
Your contact details on the 1st page
with your address, email and phone
numbers. It is a good idea to have
your e-mail and telephone number
in the header or footer of the CV
continuation pages.
You should have a LinkedIn profile
and provide the address with your
other contact details. It is important
to make sure that your LinkedIn
profile and your CV are consistent
with each other – there should be
nothing in your CV that is not in your
profile and visa versa. The level of
detail does not have to be the same
though and your CV should be the
more concise of the two.

7. Candidate Profile
A candidate profile, summarising the key skills, or
useful experience you have to offer to a Board as
a Non-Executive Director or Chair. This should be
less than 6 points and not more than 8 and
should highlight areas of your experience which
demonstrate that you have the required skills.
Recruiters will be looking for a mixture of NED
boardroom skills such as ‘Strategic Evaluation’ or
‘Risk Management’ and some personal areas of
expertise that a particular organisation may
require for its Board such as ‘expertise in digital
marketing’, ‘strong IT product development track-
record’, ’10 years’ experience of luxury goods
sector’, ‘Finance Director experienced in VC/EIS
fundraising’, ‘NED with IPO and AIM-listed
company experience’, ‘Experience of Chairing PE
backed companies’.
The candidate profile is probably the most likely
part of your CV that you will want to tailor when
applying for a particular role.

8. Current & previous Board-level
experience
Your current and previous Board-level
experience as an actual Chair, or Executive or
Non-Executive Director. You can also include here
any experience you may have had acting as a
board-level consultant, Company Secretary,
Trustee or Governor.
In particular, you should mention any formal
Board subcommittees, such as Audit, Finance,
Remuneration, Nominations or Governance that
you have either Chaired or were a member of.
If your role was not as a Companies House
registered director you will need to explain the
nature of the Board and how the experience you
gained in the role is relevant to being a Non-
Executive Director.
You should also mention here any qualifications
you may have such as Chartered Director from
the Institute of Directors or the Financial Times
NED diploma. If you have attended a course or
workshop such as the Excellencia How to become
a Non-Executive Director course. to prepare
yourself for the role that is also worth
mentioning.

9. Career Record
A complete and accurate career
record with dates and a
description of your major
achievements and responsibilities
in your more important roles.
Minor/brief/early roles can
simply be mentioned without
descriptions. Career breaks are
not a problem so do not try to
hide them. The career record
should not only say what you
have done but also back up the
skills and expertise you claimed in
the first section. Again make sure
everything is truthful and
accurate.

10. Qualifications
A summary of your relevant
professional, educational
and technical qualifications,
especially any that would be
relevant for a particular
Board appointment or Board
subcommittee – such as an
accounting qualification for
an Audit Committee.

11. Format
You will often be asked to
provide a CV in word
format, if you are given
the opportunity to provide
one as a pdf, then take it
as it ensures that your CV
will be formatted and
print out exactly as you
intend it to be

12. Join NEDworks Today
Join NEDworks today as a Tier 1
Member for only £30.00 per annum (ex
VAT) to get:
• a free CV review to optimise your CV
for NED vacancy applications
• discounts off all Executive
Transitions’ events and courses
from Excellencia
• notification of Non-Executive Director
and Trustee positions as soon as they
become available
• searchable directory listing – enabling
recruiters and head-hunters to find you
• access to exclusive Tier1 member’s only
area
www.nedworks.net/membership