Landing Your Perfect Role (Part 2) - Crafting a Winning CV

Your CV is your first impression. It’s the document that introduces you to a potential employer and, more importantly, gets you through the door for an interview. 

In today’s competitive job market, having a clear, concise, and compelling CV is crucial. But where do you start? Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing a CV that will stand out from the crowd.

1. Formatting & Design

Your CV should be clean, well-structured, and easy to read. Stick to a professional font (like Arial or Calibri), use bullet points to break up text, and ensure there’s plenty of white space on the page.

Avoid using images, tables, or any other design elements that may cause disruption to any systems that your CV may enter. People often choose to edit the design of the CV to stand out; however, it can often put you at a disadvantage—particularly if your CV is going to enter an ATS/CRM system.

Checklist:

• Stick to 1-3 pages

• Use consistent formatting for headings and bullet points

• Keep spacing consistent

• Avoid images, columns, tables, margins, pictures, and/or graphics

• Use bold text for section titles and job roles to make them stand out

Tip: Don’t overdo the design. Simple and professional is the goal. Unless you're in a creative field, avoid excessive colours, graphics, and/or images.

Text is best!

2. Contact Information

This is simple but essential. Your name, phone number, email address, and LinkedIn profile (if you have one) should be clearly displayed at the top of your CV. Make sure your contact details are up to date and professional.

You would be amazed at the number of job applications that are made, only for the recruiter/hiring manager to then not be able to contact the candidate to discuss the application!

Tip: Ensure your email address is professional. An address like "firstname.lastname@email.com" works best. Avoid anything too personal or quirky.

These days, you can create a brand-new email address in less than 60 seconds on platforms like Gmail. You could even create an email address specifically and exclusively for your job search.

3. Personal Statement / Profile

Your personal statement is a short paragraph at the top of your CV that summarises who you are, what you bring to the table, and what you're looking for. Think of it as your elevator pitch. This section needs to grab attention, so keep it concise, direct, and tailored to the role you're applying for.

Example: “An experienced Health and Safety Manager with 7+ years of experience in the Construction industry, I’ve successfully increased accident reporting by 50% while decreasing accidents by 32% in my current role. Now seeking a new challenge where I can join a safety-conscious and values-driven organisation to help shape the safety culture of the business.”

Tip: Tailor your personal statement for each application. Highlight key skills and achievements that align with the job description.

 4. Qualifications / Memberships

 Provide a bullet-pointed list of your relevant qualifications. In HSE and associated industries, qualifications are a key indication to a prospective employer of your suitability for the role. Therefore, we recommend listing these early in your CV to highlight your relevance to the job role that you are applying for.

Example (Qualifications):

• NEBOSH Diploma

• NEBOSH Fire Certificate

• ISO9001 Lead Auditor

• MSc in Occupational Health and Safety

Tip: Refine your list and edit this list accordingly for the role that you are applying for. For this section at the top of your CV, only list the qualifications that are relevant to the specific opportunity. If you have other qualifications outside of this niche, include these in ‘Education’ or add a ‘Further Qualifications’ heading later in the CV.

The key is for the initial list to be instantly recognisable and readable; try not to have an exhaustive list that spans across 2 pages, for example.

5. Key Skills

Next, showcase the skills that make you the ideal candidate for the job. Focus on relevant, job-specific skills and keywords.

These serve as a snapshot of your relevance to the job that you are applying for.

This will help recruiters, internal recruitment teams (perhaps unfamiliar with the specialisms and jargon in your field), hiring managers, and ATS systems instantly recognise your suitability for the role. 

Example of key skills/keywords:

• Risk Assessments and Method Statements (RAMS)

• COSHH Assessments

• RIDDOR

• ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO45001 Lead Auditor

• Fire Risk Assessments

Tip: If the job description mentions specific skills, make sure to highlight them here if you have experience with those skills. It shows you’ve paid attention and have the required competencies.

6. Key Achievements

Next, list your Key Achievements. Think about your career and the roles that you have worked in. What are the tangible outcomes and successes that you have had?

These should be as quantifiable as possible.

Example of Key Achievements:

• Increased accident reporting by 50% through safety culture improvement initiatives

• Subsequently reduced accidents by 33% despite increased accident reporting

• Implemented an ISO9001 management system from scratch and achieved accreditation for the business

• Achieved 4 progressive job promotions across 10 years

• Helped reduce company spending on external consultants by £40,000 p/a by implementing new safety initiatives and ways of working

Tip: Try to focus these achievements around what you have personally achieved. While team achievements are okay to include, if they are all ‘we’ and not ‘I,’ prospective employers may question your individual impact on the outcomes.

7. Employment History

When listing your work experience, think quality over quantity. Focus on roles that are relevant to the job you’re applying for and, within those roles, highlight key achievements and responsibilities that demonstrate your impact.

 Format:

• Job Title | Company | Location | Dates of Employment

• Bullet points outlining your main responsibilities

Example:

Health and Safety Manager | XYZ Corporation | London - hybrid | June 2018 – Present

• Led a team of 4 Health and Safety Advisors

• Managed the Health and Safety of a property portfolio of 500 properties across the UK

• Implemented a behavioural safety initiative group-wide, receiving recognition from the company’s group CEO

Tip: Include 5-10 responsibilities per role and try to include some keywords associated with your industry/niche/skill set. You can reduce the number of responsibilities/bullet points that you include for each role depending on the relevance of that job role to the role you are applying for or how long ago the role was.

8. Education

Your education section should be straightforward. List your most recent and relevant qualifications first, especially if they relate directly to the role you’re applying for.

Remember, you have already included a Qualifications heading at the start of your CV. So ‘Education’ might be for you to refer to school, college, and/or university studies and dates, plus any qualifications that you haven’t already listed above.

Format:

• Degree or Qualification | Institution | Dates Attended

• Any notable achievements or modules (if applicable)

 Example: BSc (Hons) Occupational Safety and Health Management | Middlesex University | 2014 – 2017

• Achieved a 1st Class Honours

Tip: If your work experience is extensive and more relevant than your education, keep this section brief. For recent graduates, you may want to expand this section and include more details about relevant coursework or projects.

9. Include a Hobbies/Interests Section (Optional)

If relevant, a short section on your hobbies and interests can add personality to your CV, especially if they relate to the job or demonstrate soft skills. For example, if you’re applying for a leadership role, mentioning your involvement in a local sports team or charity can highlight your teamwork and leadership skills.

Tip: “Reading” or “watching movies” may be something you enjoy and there is nothing wrong with mentioning these activities, however, they won’t make much impact unless you are specific about a particular interest. If you run a personal blog, are part of an industry-relevant association, or volunteer, those are worth mentioning. Exercise, team sports are also things that can catch the eye of a hiring manager. 

This section is optional as it will play little part in determine your suitability for a role, but we are all humans! Therefore, you can choose to disclose what you wish and add a bit of colour to the personality behind the CV. 

10. References (Available on Request)

Simply add a line at the end stating: "References available on request." This saves space and keeps the focus on your experience and skills. Alternatively, if you have the permission of referees to include their details on your CV this is fine too (and can save a bit of time later down the line). 

Final Check: Proofread and Review

Before you send your CV, give it a thorough check for spelling, grammar, and formatting errors. A single mistake can make a bad impression, so take the time to review it carefully or ask someone you trust to look it over.

A common mistake to avoid is using American English spelling of words and (fine in the US of course) i.e optimize, maximize instead of optimise, maximise. 

Tip: If possible, print your CV and review it in hard copy form. This can help spot any issues you might miss on screen.

Conclusion: Your Next Steps

Your CV is your personal marketing document. It should be clear, concise, and showcase your value to potential employers. With a tailored, well-structured CV, you’ll make a strong first impression and increase your chances of landing the interview.

Now that your CV is polished, it’s time to move to the next step in your job search. This will be available in our 'Landing Your Perfect Role' series which we will be releasing weekly. 

About this series 

This 10-part series in how to land your perfect role is a published form of the advice that we are offering safety, sustainability & quality professionals day-in-day-out. 

Our team can only have so many conversations in a day / week / month / year. By publishing this series, we are hoping to reach and add value to professionals across the industry and beyond that we haven’t yet had the pleasure of working with. 

If you would like to get in touch with us to find out how we can provide tailored career advice and opportunities - please visit www.search-recruitment.co.uk and get in touch. 

To keep up-to-date with each instalment of this series - follow us on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/search2

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