If you’ve recently completed your Erasmus+ or Turing Scheme work placement abroad, it’s likely that you’re turning your efforts to finding your dream job and with such a fantastic international experience behind you, you stand in good stead to land that role. However, first things first, you need a superb looking CV to showcase your international experience, as well as your skills, education and qualifications. Curious as to what makes an outstanding CV? Let TravelEdventures give you some excellent advice below.
Tips to Writing an Exceptional CV
- Your CV shouldn’t be more than 2 pages long – anything longer than that and it’s fairly likely that a future employer won’t read it. Keep it brief but don’t miss out important detail. Remember, your CV is a summary of all your achievements.
- Keep it visually attractive. Choose an easy-to-read font, remember to justify your margins so everything looks neat and tidy. Retain the same layout throughout, use headers and bullet points where you can and don’t emblazon it with colour!
- Remember to put your name, date of birth, address and telephone number right at the top of your CV.
- Always check through your CV and get someone else to read it through as well. Inaccuracies put employers off, as do spelling mistakes, punctuation errors and poor grammar. Your CV should be perfect. Take time to make sure it is 100%.
- Use order. Don’t jump around. So, if you’re writing about your education, start with your secondary education and then move onto further education and anything beyond. List dates, courses and qualifications (as well as where you studied). Primary education is not necessary.
- Regarding work experience, usually, it’s best to begin with your latest job first, and list others in date order going backwards. Even if you don’t have any formal experience apart from your Erasmus+ work placement, jot down anything else you’ve done, such as babysitting, dog walking, car washing – it still shows you’re responsible and that you take initiative.
- If you have very little experience, then the important thing is to focus on what your potential is. So, list your strengths such as travel, language ability, knowledge and anything additional to education that stands out. You may be a budding chef; you might help out at a clinic or look after the elderly – all of these show soft skills which employers look for. Just make sure it’s in good order and doesn’t jump around. A CV should, as mentioned, stay in date order.
- If you’ve done anything extraordinary, or achieved something momentous, don’t forget to list it under Other Notable Achievements, before you list your hobbies (which we’ll mention below).
- Do talk about hobbies, but don’t go into ridiculous amounts of detail. If you say you like theatre, talk about the type of theatre (e.g., musical theatre or Shakespearian plays). If you like to travel, talk about where you’ve been (briefly!).
- At the bottom of your CV, list a couple of referees (usually employers, schools or adults who know you well, but not family members or your best friend!).
- Finally, don’t forget an impactful cover letter to accompany your CV, which should serve as an introduction to who you are, why you’re interested in their role, what you can bring to the company and any other relevant information. Again, this should be less than one page – we will talk more about cover notes in our next blog post.
Final Words
Not been on an adventure with Erasmus+ yet? Perhaps your school, college or university doesn’t yet offer these types of experiences – yet they’re open to everyone in Europe. Do get in touch with our team to find out what we can do to facilitate a trip for you and your peers.
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