Developing your CV

Many athletes need to find work to support their playing career alongside any funding they may receive, and at the moment when competition for jobs is fierce the CV must stand out!

There is no right or wrong way to write a CV, it is a very personal document for each individual and it does take time to get it right.

Athletes need to start to think about developing their CV early so that it’s ready for when they need it, and start to think about the transferrable skills that they have throughout their athletic career.

Transferrable skills are general skills you can use in any job. You can gain these skills from previous work experience, voluntary work, sport, your home life, hobbies and interests. They enable you to be adaptable and flexible.

As well as numeracy, literacy and IT Skills, employers like staff to be experienced in the following skills:

· Problem Solving
· Organising
· Communicating effectively
· Meeting deadlines
· Management and Leadership
· Negotiating
· Motivating people
· Making decisions

If you feel that you need to develop these skills further ideas are:

Volunteering
Work Experience
Employment
Education
Short Courses
Develop new interests
Networking
Placements
Public Speaking
Coaching
Organising events
Group work/ Team Building

So what is the purpose of a CV?

It acts as a 20 second interview and every word counts! Athletes need to be able to prioritise their experience and skills to provide a good first impression and to be put forward for interviews.

CV’s should demonstrate where a player meets the criteria, what they can add to the organisation, highlight achievements and leave the reader wanting to find out more.

Use achievement verbs to start sentences such as:
Develop, Managed, Established, Accomplished, Exceeded, Promoted
Created, Investigated, Budgeted, Delegated, Reviewed, Analysed, Transformed and Encouraged.
Structure:

Personal Profile:

2/3 sentences at the start of a CV to describe who and what you are, what experience you have, what unique skills or strengths you possess and a short career goal and or statement about what you can contribute to the company or sector you are applying to work in.

Reverse chronological order
Potential Employers want to know about a players experience and skills above anything else.
Make use of bullet points to break up the text (Prioritise bullet points)
Length should be 2-3 pages
Use Bold, Italics and underlined sparingly to divide sections
Ensure dates, company names and job roles line up
Keep font simple (10 or larger)
Use the justify function
If sending electronically save as a PDF
Try to avoid any gaps in work or education
Set up a sensible email address


Do…….

Avoid Jargon
Prioritise
Use the past tense
Stick to 2-3 pages
Check spelling, punctuation & grammar
Be positive
Focus on achievement and skills
Check, Check, Check

Don’t…………

Use I on a CV
Lie or exaggerate
List everything
Mention mistakes
Include D.O.B or martial status
Include a photo
Fire off a CV without any thought… it takes time