What Information Do We Need From You?

This section will help you sort out what information you need to provide us with. If you already have a CV then we can use this as a basis to produce your CV. You only need to list things in note form. You can omit any information that might be negative - but the details you include must be accurate and true. If you are not sure whether to include something or not, list it, and let us consider whether it should be included. Please note that all the information you provide us with is treated as strictly confidential.

You may print out this section for your own personal use, but please note that all information on our website is the copyright of Bradley CVs and cannot be copied or used elsewhere.

Personal Details

Your title (Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss, Dr, etc), first name, surname, home address, email address, plus home, office and mobile telephone numbers.

Please tell us that you found out about our service through the Internet. We would also like to know how you reached our home page, was it via a Search Engine (which one?) or was it from someone else's page (whose?).

Please let us know why you need a CV. Are you: unemployed, redundant, looking for a career move (upwards?), changing to a totally new career, returning to work after a period away, looking for an internal promotion, retiring early, a recent graduate, studying at college/university, relocating to a different part of the UK (or overseas).

We don't normally include date of birth, marital status or nationality on a CV - if you specifically want to include this information on your CV please let us know.

If you have a driving licence please say so. Is it clean?

Target Jobs

Please list all your target jobs (e.g. accountant, teacher) and industry sectors. We will target your CV at these positions using our knowledge of what today's employers are looking for.

Career Aims And Ambitions

Set out your career aims and ambitions as you see them at the moment. If you are currently employed please indicate why you are looking for a job, e.g. new challenges, greater responsibility.

Any gaps in your career should be explained. You should describe changes in career direction positively. Add other information that you feel may be relevant, for example willingness to work elsewhere in the UK or abroad.

Problem Areas

It will help us when we are writing your CV if you identify any concerns that you may have: might people consider you too old or young for the position you are applying for, do you lack experience for a career move, are you under/over qualified for the positions you are applying for, have you changed jobs frequently, are you returning to work after a period away from the workplace, have you retired early from your previous position, are you embarking on a change of career, have you been made redundant or are you unemployed? Any of the above may make it difficult for you to get a job if they are not handled correctly - please don't worry too much as we are experienced in handling such problems.

Education / Qualifications

Please list your qualifications and education history, e.g.

BSc (Hons) 2.2 in Biochemistry at the University of Warwick, 1980 - 1983.

GCE A Levels: Maths [C], Biology [B], Chemistry [C] at Farnham School, 1978 - 1980.

GCE O Levels (or GCSEs if you did them): Maths [B], English Language [C], History [C], Geography [C], French [C], Chemistry [C], Biology [C] at Farnham School, 1973 - 1978.

Professional Qualifications

Please list any other professional qualifications, membership of professional associations and professional ID numbers.

Major Subjects Studied (at University/College)

If you recently graduated and you haven't secured a graduate job yet or you are currently a student seeking your first job then please list the major subjects you studied at college/university. If you are in permanent employment it is unlikely that you need to list the subjects you studied a number of years ago. However, if you recently completed a college or university degree or HND or Diploma, etc, then you may want to list the courses you studied.

If the subject you studied is relevant to your target jobs you should say in detail what your course involved, projects you have completed and any relevant work experience you have obtained. If it is not relevant to your target jobs only give brief details of major subjects/projects.

Training Courses

Please list any work related training courses that you attended, including company courses and any you attended on your own initiative. If you obtained a qualification on this course please list it. You only need to list the important courses you attended; no one really cares if you went on a time management course as everyone gets sent on these courses!

Work Experience

Recent graduates and students should include any full-time jobs before college, part-time jobs, holiday jobs, voluntary work, unpaid work experience, self-employed work, charity work, etc.

If you have been working for a number of years you probably do not need to include any part-time jobs, vacation jobs, voluntary work or unpaid work experience. Charity work could be included in your interests. You might want to include these jobs however if they covered a period of unemployment or a time when you weren't working for any other reason. You should normally concentrate on your two most recent jobs (unless you were only there for a short time) as employers are usually most interested in these.

Start with your most recent or last job and work backwards. For each position (treat internal promotion as a new job and record the dates separately) list your job title (e.g. Manager, Supervisor, etc), the job title of the person you reported to (e.g. Manager, Supervisor, etc), when you started and finished in each job, the name of the company and include a brief description of the service any company or department you have worked for provides (using the terms they would use to describe themselves), your main responsibilities, achievements, duties, and skills that could be transferred to another employer. Be specific and positive about your skills, e.g. 'good written skills' may be a better description of your abilities rather than 'good communication skills'.

Include your level of responsibility if any, e.g. departmental budget of £100K and managed 10 staff. In particular list any achievements you had in each position, including increases in sales/productivity and cost savings made.

Please include any information that may be relevant to your next job.

Please try to include some achievements such as meeting deadlines, budgets, etc.

Major Achievements

Recent graduates and students probably won't have anything to put down here. Though if you do have any achievements that are relevant to the job you are aiming for please put them down, e.g. if you are aiming for a management position you could list the responsible positions you held at school and university. If you aren't a recent graduate or student then you should try and think about what you have achieved at work - only leave this section blank if there really is nothing to put down.

When you are listing your achievements in this section, only list 3 to 7 of your most important work achievements; your other achievements can be described under the work experience section. You should only list achievements that are relevant to your next job. Please state how you achieved each of these achievements.

This section is very important as an employer will only invite you for an interview if they can see a benefit in doing so. Your achievements must sell you to an employer and make them choose you for an interview rather than someone else. For this reason it is vital that you think carefully about your achievements. Our Telephone Consultation Service may be able to help you with this section as we will ask you a series of questions and can help you fill in the blanks. Many people have been surprised by how many achievements they have had after they have seen the CV we wrote for them after the telephone consultation service.

Other Experience

List any computer skills you have, including type of equipment - if a PC, is it an IBM compatible PC, software used, operating system, e.g. MS-DOS, languages.

If you have foreign language skills which may be relevant for any jobs that you are applying for please list them and indicate whether your skills are spoken, written, business or technical. Please also indicate your level of fluency: fluent, good working knowledge, etc. You should only list these skills if they are relevant to the jobs you are applying for as no one really wants to hear about that French language course you did at school a long time ago.

If relevant to your next job please include your typing or shorthand speeds.

Interests / Hobbies

List your interests, hobbies and any sports you play. List any positions of responsibility you hold or have held in any club or organisation, and say what your responsibilities and achievements were.

If you are a recent graduate or a current student you should include any positions you had/have in any club or society or the Student Union or the college radio station or the college magazine. This is especially important if you are looking for a trainee management position or want to work in the media. You should include as much detail as possible.

References

Recent graduates and students should include two references, one of which should be an academic reference, e.g. your personal tutor, while the second reference could be from an employer you have worked for. The postcode should normally be included in the address. You can find out a postcode in the UK by calling (08457) 111222 - your call is charged at the local rate.

Unless you are a recent graduate or a current student it is not normally a good idea to include references on a CV. Most people would normally give their current employer as a referee, but, do you want anyone to contact your employer before they know that you have found another job? It is far better to let people know your referees at an interview. For some professions however it is normal to list referees, these include the teaching and health service (NHS) professions - your referees in these professions are often asked to provide you with a reference before you are even asked to an interview.

Summary

List your major skills, strengths, personal qualities and achievements. Be specific, e.g. good team player, excellent written skills, versatile, able to motivate others, etc. Look at your staff appraisals or at your references. But if you can't think of too many, don't worry as we will be able to write you an excellent summary after we have read your career history. If you do not want a summary please indicate this when you send us your information.

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