CV tips

General

  • Walker Dendle’s experienced consultants will review your current CV to ensure that it highlights your key competencies and accomplishments before forwarding your details to our clients. In a competitive job market, this ensures that you are pitching yourself perfectly and increases the opportunity to make the shortlist.
  • Walker Dendle’s experienced consultants will review your current CV to ensure that it highlights your key competencies and accomplishments before forwarding your details to our clients. In a competitive job market, this ensures that you are pitching yourself perfectly and increases the opportunity to make the shortlist.
  • Statistics show that employers may only glance at a CV for a few seconds, so it is imperative to make your resume stand out with the facts and information directly relevant to the prospective hirer’s requirements. You should consider your CV to be your personal “brochure”, marketing features and benefits.
  • In our experience there are four main ingredients of a concise, but informative, CV: personal details, qualifications, computer skills and a chronological history of employment and achievements.
  • Start with your personal details in a format that can be scanned quickly.

Qualifications

Start with the most recent and relevant; include when you qualified and where you are up to in the process:

  • ACA/CIMA/ACCA/ICT/AAT

  • Qualified or Part-Qualified

  • First Time Passes

  • What academic qualifications do you have?

  • What grades were you awarded?

  • Where did you study?

Computer skills

  • Record experience of financial software packages and relevant computer skills, e.g. SAP, Hyperion, Excel.

  • Indicate your level of competency, modelling skills and the version of software used.

Chronological employment history

  • List your career history to date, starting with your current/last position.

  • Include, where possible, information such as company turnover, group structure, industry sector and reporting line.

  • Look at your current job specification and compare with the role for which you are applying. Highlight key achievements to demonstrate eligibility.

  • Be prepared to answer any questions about gap years and give credible reasons for leaving previous positions.

Other points

  • Only use relevant jargon or “buzz” words and avoid acronyms.

  • Maintain interest with short sentences and bullet points.

  • Keep your CV to 2 pages if possible.

When building your CV, bear in mind that employers will use it in two ways:

  • To ascertain what makes you stand out from the crowd - and therefore select you for interview. In a competitive market use the opportunity to draw down on evidence of relevant experience and demonstrate “value add” activities.

  • As a basis to ask you questions in the interview itself.