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CVBUFFEDAcademy

PATH 02 · BUILD YOUR CV

Build a CV that shows what you’ve really done

One lesson per part of the CV, in plain English, with weaker and stronger examples side by side. Read them in order or jump to the bit you’re stuck on.

  1. 01Write your first CV when you’ve never had a jobYou have more to put on a CV than you think. By the end of this lesson you'll have a page plan and your first three pieces of evidence written down.7 min
  2. 02Write a personal statement that sounds like youThe short paragraph under your name does a lot of work. By the end you'll have a three-line statement written for one real job.5 min
  3. 03Describe your experience so someone can picture you doing itThe experience section isn't a list of job titles. By the end you'll have rewritten two of your own lines using a simple pattern: action, detail, result.6 min
  4. 04Put skills on your CV that someone can believeA list of single words says very little. By the end you'll have three skills chosen from a real advert, each with one line of evidence.5 min
  5. 05Education, extras, gaps and references: getting the details rightThe smaller sections still raise questions. By the end you'll have your education section written and know what to do about gaps and references.5 min
  6. 06Tailor your CV to the job in twenty minutesSending the same CV everywhere is easy, but it's rarely your best shot. By the end you'll have a repeatable routine for adapting your CV to any advert, honestly.6 min
  7. 07Designed CV or plain CV? Why it helps to have bothA good-looking CV and a machine-readable CV aren't enemies. They're two files with two jobs. By the end you'll know which to send where.5 min
  8. 08Write a CV when you’re changing career or coming backYour old job titles don't match the new job. Your experience still counts. By the end you'll have translated your old work into the new field's language.5 min

Not sure where to begin?

If you have never written a CV, start with your first CV. If you already have one, run it through the CV Checklist and go straight to the lesson for whichever part feels weakest. To see a whole CV built and explained, look at the CV examples.