Template details:
Here’s a full preview of the first page of this 2 column CV template:
And here’s page 2:
As you can see, we’ve included a space for awards but it’s so easy to tailor this 2 column CV template to your exact needs. ‘Awards’ could be used instead for ‘Achievements’, ‘Professional Memberships’ or an expanded Skills section if the one on the previous page doesn’t give you enough room. Or, add a photo above your name and bring the Skill section onto the second page, giving you plenty of room to set out both hard skills and soft skills alike.
What sections should I include in my CV?
As a bare minimum, we would expect to see the following sections on your curriculum vitae:
- Contact info
- Work experience
- Qualifications
However, the above leaves a lot of questions for your would-be employers and doesn’t sell you to your full potential. The following sections add a lot of value to your curriculum vitae and increase your prospects of getting the job substantially, if you get them right:
- Objective statement
- Skills
- Interests and hobbies (read Does the Interests and Hobbies Section of my CV matter? if you’re not sure why)
There are a number of other sections that you can optionally include – we would suggest these are used as appropriate. These include for example Awards, Professional Memberships and Achievements.
If you’d like a step by step guide to a typical CV format, read our article: What is the best CV format?
What should I never include in my CV?
When it comes to writing your curriculum vitae, you need to avoid these common faux pas:
- Spelling, punctuation and grammar errors – they DO matter, even if spelling isn’t a part of the job you’re going for. Poor spelling tells an employer you didn’t put any care into the application – so why should they believe you’d put any more care into the job?
- Suggestions that you’re a party animal – it’s incredible that these still appear in a lot of CVs as they are an instant turnoff for prospective employers. ‘Drinking’, ‘Socialising’, ‘Nights out’, ‘Partying’, ‘Clubbing’ and so on might make you sound like a fun person but to your would-be boss, they suggest you’ll be too hungover Monday morning to do a great job.
- Snipes at former employers – it might seem perfectly reasonable to you to slag off a former employer who made your life a misery but to prospective employers, this just reads ‘problem employee’. No matter how justified you were, keep it to yourself and ensure any comments about past employers are constructive and professional.
- Anything that could result in discrimination – employers aren’t legally allowed to discriminate against you on the basis of a protected characteristic. Protected characteristics include age, disability, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion/belief, gender and sexual orientation. However, just because they aren’t meant to do this, doesn’t mean it never happens. Think carefully about what you put on your curriculum vitae – sometimes, it’s useful to mention a protected characteristic (for example, a newly qualified teacher might mention he or she has children, to show more experience than the placements he/she has completed). If however the characteristic has no relevance at all to the job, leave it off – don’t give people chance to judge you before you’ve walked through the door.
“An Australian study of 40,000 CVs submitted as part of real job applications, has revealed that two thirds of jobseekers cut their chances of impressing potential employers due to sloppy spelling. The research, conducted by job search website Adzuna and featured on news.com.au, showed that 67 per cent of the CVs submitted contained at least one spelling error and 50 per cent had four or more. A simple typo might be enough to blow your chances.”
Not sure about our 2 two column CV template? Choose another Word CV template from our collection – they are free for personal use.
