If you’ve worked through these articles in order, you’ve seen how a CV builds section by section. We’ve thought about the content that should go in every section so that you’re doing the best job possible at selling yourself to potential employers. We’ve also talked a little about layout options for each section.

As soon as you start your job hunt you’ll need to consider who you can use as references. You’ll typically need 2 people, at least one should be a previous employer (and usually you’ll need to include your last employer). Former employers are legally obligated to give basic reference details for their employees but if you’re using someone who wasn’t a former employer, you should check ahead of time that they are willing to be a reference for you. Then you have to decide if/how you’re presenting this information on your CV.. If you choose to include it, the references section should be a brief section on your CV.

The purpose of this Section: To give an employer an insight into how you spend your personal time and the type of person you are. You might historically have viewed this section as a tick-box exercise that you only include because you “should”. But this section can actually be really useful in convincing someone you’ve got relevant skills for the role. This can be particularly helpful if you can demonstrate a skill listed on the job advert that you’ve not been able to demonstrate within another section of your CV

Purpose of this section: To give an employer a full but concise overview of your employment history, highlighting relevant experience and skills. The “Employment History” section of your CV should be far more than dates and a list of the duties of your job. By adding in specific achievements, tangible details and transferable skills, your previous employment section can be a highly persuasive section of your CV, even if you’re making a mid-career change.

By: Claire Wilson. Last Updated: April 2022 Purpose of this Section: To give an employer a useful overview of your academic history The Basics of this Section This should be a quick and easy section for an employer to read and [...]

By: Claire Wilson. Last Updated: April 2022 The Purpose of this Section: To give a succinct overview of yourself that grabs the attention of the reader by highlighting the key things about you that make you suitable for this role. Personal Profile… Personal [...]

By: Claire Wilson. Last Updated: April 2022 The Purpose of this Section: To ensure that an employer can reach you by their preferred method of communication if they want to follow up on your application. The personal details should be the easiest [...]

By: Claire Wilson. Last Updated: April 2022 If you’ve been viewing job adverts as a basic description of a role’s duties and responsibilities, and the education and employment background they want from a candidate - you’ve been reading them wrong. A simple change in mindset will revolutionise [...]

By: Claire Wilson. Last Updated: April 2022 Everybody thinks they know how to write a CV. The problem is, what they typically mean is… “I wrote a CV a while back and it did me fine then, I can update that and send it out for any [...]

By: Claire Wilson. Last Updated: April 2022 The “Employment History” section of your CV should be far more than dates and a list of the duties of your job. By adding in specific achievements, tangible details and transferable skills, your previous employment section can be a highly [...]

By: Claire Wilson. Last Updated: April 2022 How Do I Get a Job in Pharma With No Industry Experience?  Contents You need to aim for the right jobs Know what the job advert is REALLY telling you When to pick up the phone Tips [...]

By: Claire Wilson. Last Updated: April 2022 Ireland’s BioPharma/MedTech manufacturing industry is extremely strong right now. Arguably, the strongest it has ever been. All the signs of continued growth are extremely positive, just check out the graph above showing steadily rising job vacancy numbers since 2015. With the [...]

By: Claire Wilson. Last Updated: April 2022 Image: cnbc 10 Reasons Why Your Job Hunt Might Not Be Working Jump to section Big companies take their time There were lots of candidates / someone better qualified You aren’t applying [...]

By: Claire Wilson. Last Updated: April 2022 One Of The Biggest Challenges With Career Change Job Hunting... ... is that everyone thinks they already know what they're doing. Because who doesn't know how to write a CV, right? Firstly, everyone thinks they know how to write [...]