How to get started quickly with your CV
Is it time to look for a new job and start writing a CV? On this page, you will give tips on what you should include in your CV and how it should be structured to give a professional and eye-catching impression. It is important that your application is both logical and easy to read so that the reader can easily follow it and quickly get a good feel for you as an employee. When writing your CV, you should also keep in mind that the person reading it primarily wants to get a picture of your skills, experiences and successes more than you as a person, even if it is of course not unimportant. The latter will focus more on a possible interview later. Each CV contains several parts that should always be included and some that should be included if it is suitable for the position you are going to apply for. The CV you create may need to be changed for the different services you are applying for. The biggest adjustment by service is made in your cover letter but also the CV will probably need to be changed a little.
You should preferably include these parts and be described in detail further down:
- Contact
- CV image (not the most important but still good)
- Summary
- Arbetslivserfarenheter
- Education
- Other experiences
- Specific competencies
- Language
This should be included when you are writing a CV
Contact
It goes without saying, but it’s actually forgotten sometimes. Type your first name and last name, your street address, phone number, and email address. You want the person who reads your job application to be able to easily get hold of you.
CV image
It is becoming more and more common to include a picture of yourself on your CV. We think that’s a very good idea because it adds a personal and more honest touch to your application, but remember to include a professional image and certainly not a selfie you brought with your phone.
Summary
Start your CV with a summary when writing a CV. Write on a few lines, max ten sentences, about why you are suitable for the position you are looking for. This part should be first in your CV and is thus your first chance to sell yourself. Be sure to get the reader’s attention with a short and selling text that’s tailored to your ad’s content. Here are some more tips on how to write a good summary.
Work Experience
Write your experiences in reverse chronological order and thus always start with the latest first. Do not mix because you think another experience is more relevant, it gives an unstructured and messy impression.
Include your most important and relevant tasks and responsibilities you have had and what successes you have achieved. If you have long experience, it is often good to weed out the unimportant such as your first summer job or something else unimportant for the role. However, if you have short experience, these can also be useful. Keep your descriptive texts short and develop it more in the personal letter instead. Your CV should be a maximum of two pages long and you should get many different parts.
Education
This part should of course also be included, and it should remind a little of it of work experiences in the way that you can omit the most important thing. For example, if you have a university education, you do not need to write about your primary education as it is therefore obvious. Be sure to include short ones with clear descriptions of your education and don’t be too general. For example, if you are looking for a job as a lawyer and have attended the law program, it is quite uninteresting to give a general description of that education. Why? Well, the person who submitted the advertisement is sure to have full control of what that training contains. Instead, tell us which essays you have written, the specialisations you have chosen and what you have been particularly successful in. Brag with humility :). Also enter the name of the education, the place where you studied, when you did it and how many credits the training or course covered.
Other
Often we have experience from different assignments that we have learned a lot from and that can be of great benefit to the role and company you are looking for. Then you should write them up because they can actually play a crucial role. Don’t write “other” but what it’s about. For example, if you have been chairman of the housing association, write “Board assignments” and if you have been a sports leader write “Association assignment” or “Leadership experience”. If you have something under this heading that you feel doesn’t matter at all to the job you’re looking for, then it’s better not to have it included. The most important thing about your application is that it is adapted to the job you are looking for.
Skills
Include the competencies listed in the ad that match your own skills. For example, if they want you to be able to image management, include Adobe CS if you master it. Try to stick to five (5) skills if possible.
Language
Write down all the languages you master and be sure to grade your knowledge in them. Examples of grading are basic, good, very good, fluent and mother tongue. List what you know best at the top and then in descending order. If you are looking for a job in Sweden and your mother tongue is Swedish, you do not need to include it.
References
Don’t include them on your CV. Instead, write “references submitted on request”.
Do you have no work experience and no manager or colleague who can provide a reference? Instead, ask a teacher at your school to be a reference. However, never leave a family member for reference, even if you have worked in a family business.
Our free CV templates in Word format are built according to these suggestions. Download them for free with us.