CV Writing Basics, the Cristiano Ronaldo Edition

by Josh Hutchison, Principal Consultant MadlinHanna Consulting

There isn’t a big secret to writing a CV that will guarantee you get an interview every time you apply for a role but there are certainly things that you can do to maximise your chances of coming across well on paper. Here are some basic hints and tips on writing a CV and an example courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Achievements vs Skills

One element that is important and will make you stand out is to focus on your achievements in each role as opposed to simply skills. Nobody wants a CV that is just a job description regurgitated. If you need to show you have specific skills or technical expertise, think about having a specific section at the top of the CV.

Get the basics right

You would be surprised how many CVs have spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and inconsistent tenses. These are basics you really do need to get right.

When writing your CV remember…

Hiring managers, HR and recruiters will generally skim-read CVs and sometimes only look over the first page. Statistics show your CV will be read in less than 30 seconds. Ask somebody to read your CV and give them this time limit to see which bits they picked up on. That is the amount of time you have to make an impact. In that vein, a block of text is much harder to absorb quickly than something in bullet-points that is spaced out.

Take a look at what Ronaldo put together:

Some quick advice:

• Don’t go over 2 pages.

• Include contact information but take off nationality and marital status.

• Pop your titles and company names in bold. You can also highlight key phrases in bold to make them stand-out.

• Limit yourself to 5 bullet points per role.

• Format it so that the s p a c e s are the same.

• Education can go at the bottom once you have a couple of employments under your belt.

• Only put a hobbies and interests section if it’s unique to you and it’s genuinely a passion of yours.

• Please don’t include a photo!

For advice on your job search please contact us here.

MadlinHanna Consulting is a recruitment consultancy specialising in corporate affairs, covering public affairs, corporate communications and financial PR. Contact us on 020 8088 4102 for more information or a confidential conversation.