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How to write a killer CV
And what not to include…

By Cathy Holley

Published: Thursday 17 January 2008

Thinking of changing jobs? A sharp CV really does count, says Cathy Holley of headhunters Boyden UK Global Executive Search - and certain facts matter more than your skills at tortoise husbandry...

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♦  Is the office getting you down?

If you're lifting your head from day-to-day operations to put together a CV, it is highly likely you've got itchy feet. Are you thinking about your future? Hold that thought.

Start with a pen portrait of the role you wish you had, not the one you've got. Now cross off the bit about scoring goals for England and get real.

Your next role will probably be an evolution from your current one; revolution requires employers to take significant risks. Every scrap of experience I have from my 10-year headhunting career tells me finding employers who take significant risks are as likely as me winning the lottery.

Whichever role you've chosen, bear in mind hundreds of others will have the same goal. You need to write a CV to differentiate you from the pack. But having thought about your future, you now need to think about your past.

What were the turning points in your career? What have you really contributed? What will each organisation remember you for? What new experience did you gain in each role? It needs to be a good list.

Another issue is how many CVs do you need? If you are considering very diverse roles, for example, CIO versus partner in a consulting firm, you may need two CVs.

Both will, of course, present the facts but each will have a different slant and will emphasise different aspects of your career. You can't include everything you ever did, so any CV can only ever be edited highlights.

What you leave in or out will determine the whole flavour of the CV and ultimately the perception the reader will have of you. So what image are you trying to put across?

Strategic thinker and visionary leader? Trusted lieutenant? Dependable deliverer? Decide what elements of your broad experience to highlight to position you correctly.

Start with the easy bits: clearly laid-out personal and contact details. If your education is a highlight - a degree at 2:1 or above from a good university - put it here. Anything less, at the back please.

Then if you wish, a short, punchy profile and this should include no subjective schmaltz. If in doubt, remove all references to interpersonal skills or subjective views on your own abilities. This is equivalent to saying, 'Robert is a lovely boy and always keeps his desk tidy'.

A good profile contains only objective facts that clearly differentiate you. Suggestions include:

• International experience

• Mergers and acquisitions

• Board or executive committee experience

• Outsourcing and offshoring

• Leadership of very large teams

• Management of very large budgets

• Delivery of business transformation

At this point, if you have worked for a sensible number of well-known companies a summary of company, date and role is a good idea. However, if you have hopped from one role to another - don't emphasise it by including such a summary.

Now the hard bit. Describe the companies you have worked for in terms of scale, market position and major challenges.

As a member of the IT leadership team, you are one of the few leading the strategy and shaping the company; think 'we' not 'they'. Then add one line on the scope and scale of your role or perhaps what problem you were brought in to solve.

And now the really hard bit. Distilling your five-year career into no more than six punchy bullets. Too much detail and you're long-winded, too little and it's impossible to make an impact.

In short, define the business opportunity or problem, how you and your team delivered an outstanding solution, measured the benefit and how it affected the business or better still, your customers - the real ones, not the internal ones.

Focus on how you - and your team - generated shareholder value and you won't go far wrong.

Reread your bullet points - have you mentioned specific technologies? Take them out. Have you used jargon that only your colleagues would understand? Take it out.

Above all, does every bullet pass the 'so-what test'. Do they prove beyond all doubt that you are outstanding or do you think anyone in your role would have done the same?

I could write a whole book entitled The Ridiculous Things I Have Seen in CVs but the section responsible for the most hilarity in our CIO practice is undoubtedly 'hobbies'.

Some clients are keen to know that you are an outstanding individual not only in the office but outside too. I'm not sure that including tortoise husbandry, collecting beer mats or, as one male CIO admitted, girl guides, hits the spot but, hey, each to their own.

Now the acid test. Reread the document and ask yourself whether it is an honest and beautifully written document that will grab attention and immediately compel the reader to call you.

If not, you'd better start again.