• Chronological CVs

    This is the most common type of CV that you will probably be familiar with. Your employment and work experience is usually on the front page, listed in reverse chronological order (most recent experience first).

    When should you use a Chronological CV?

    If you have some relevant work experience in the area of employment, or sector, you wish to enter.

    Variations of this:

    You can include a short skills section, but the skills must be relevant to the role and be evidenced. For example, if applying for a science post you might have a 'lab skills' section, and for an IT post, a 'software skills' section.

    Chronological CV template

    Your name

    Your address,

    Your email address, phone number and LinkedIn Profile (Optional)

    Nothing else! No marital status, NI number, age, or gender.

    Top Tips

    • Always start with your name. Never 'CV' or 'Curriculum Vitae'. Use slightly bigger font.
    • Don't include two addresses, for example 'semester' and 'home'. This is confusing.
    • Think: do you have a professional-sounding email address?

    Profile

    Not essential. Some employers like them and some don’t. It must be short - no more than two/three sentences, including relevant experience, qualifications, skills (but not a long list of them) and your career aim.

    • Write your profile last, once you are fully aware of key strengths for the role. Take your time to write it well.

    Education

    Your Oxford Brookes University course comes first including relevant modules and/or dissertation. Then your other qualifications such as A Levels and GCSEs, just a summary for GCSEs is all you need e.g. 10 A-Cs.

    • Your expected degree class can be added in the education section - especially if you expect to do well!

    Relevant work experience

    By splitting your work experience into two sections you can really tailor your CV to the job and importantly locate your relevant work experience on the front page. For example if you are applying for retail jobs put all your ‘Retail Experience’ in one section on the front page with ‘Other Experience’ on the second page.

    • All experience should be in reverse chronological order - most recent first. You can include voluntary work experience too!

    Other work experience

    You don’t need to include every bar job and supermarket you’ve ever worked in, but on the other hand you don’t want large gaps. If you have had lots of jobs you could try grouping or summarising your experience.

    • For experience that may not be as relevant to the role, pull out the tasks, skills and achievements that are the most relevant.

    Interests

    Yes, employers are interested, but just a paragraph will do. Try to show a variety of interests to catch an employer’s attention, but think about the impression your hobbies may give if you are a train-spotter or stamp collector!

    • If you don't have many interests don't lie, you could be asked about it at interview

    References

    'Available upon request' or two full references including name, job title, address, phone number and email.

    • Always ask your referees first.