Top Ten Tips: How to write the perfect CV for PR jobs

CVs have been around so long they’ve got a Latin name, but they still play a central role in the recruitment process.  Curriculum vitae literally means ‘the course of life’, but you shouldn’t try to crowbar your entire life story into two pages.  Unless you’re about 12, in which case crack on. Here are our top tips for writing a CV that won’t end up as hamster bedding.

1. Start with a short personal profile

In four lines or less summarise the type of person you are, what you’ve done and your key skills.  Don’t refer to yourself in the third person – everyone who is normal thinks this is weird.

2. Put your experience first – not your education.

What you’ve done, for whom and where carries more weight than your 2:ii. While it’s true that most people in PR have a degree and that some companies place importance on where you studied, your recent experience is what will entice them.

3. List your clients and highlights

List the clients you’ve worked for and share highlights of each campaign or project. This is where you demonstrate your experience so make this bit shine.

4. Showcase your transferable skills

It’s what you are doing now that will get you your next role so tell us loud and clear: what are you doing now that will make you irresistible to your next employer?

5. Use a nice, standard font

Don’t use a font that is curly or difficult to read.  Times New Roman is for old people and newspapers, try Tahoma or Verdana for something clean and clear. If you use an unusual font and the reader doesn’t have it installed on their computer it will revert to a standard font and you could lose all your formatting, so stick to the normal ones. Or save it as a pdf so it remains unchanged.

6. Make it stand out

Try and make your CV look different so it stands out from the crowd.  Bring it to life with logos or images (not of your cat – something relevant to the client or brand).

7. Take time to get the layout and formatting right

Use bullet points for lists and make sure everything is aligned correctly.  The idea is to make it a pleasure to read, easy to scan and find the important bits.  Avoid boxes; they just make it bitty and hard to read.

8. No more than two sides of A4

Yes, you can fit it on and if you can’t then you need some ruthless editing. You’re not as interesting as you think.  Choose your highlights – we don’t need a blow by blow account, just the really interesting bits.  Like Match of the Day – just give us the goals.  Or the Oscars highlights – tell us who won and who cried, we don’t need the whole acceptance speech.

9. No photo.

Never include a photo of yourself on your CV, it’s old fashioned and if anyone is really concerned about what you look like they’ll check out your LinkedIn profile (you have got one of those, haven’t you….?).  Leave the pictures to the supermodels.

10. No speling misteaks

Seriously.  None.  You won’t be forgiven.

Once you’ve made your CV beautiful, clear and focused, send it on over to Workfish. You can also check out our PR Jobs board to see what positions we currently have available.

 

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