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Returning to STEM
Returning to STEM

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2.1 Improving your CV

In this section you will look at what makes a good CV. You will then amend your CV so that it does the job of selling you to a particular employer or retraining opportunity. You should consider the following when preparing your CV.

Priority

A skills-based CV prioritises the attributes, skills and experience you have that are relevant to the role. Make sure you put the most important things first, so list your employment history in reverse chronological order. You don’t need to include everything about yourself – be selective with what you put in and only add things that will strengthen your application.

If you are struggling to be concise, thin the information out using the STAR technique:

Situation: what was the situation and when did it take place?

Task: what task was it, and what was the objective?

Action: what action did you take to achieve this?

Results: what happened as a result of your action?

Providing facts and figures can communicate powerfully to an employer the value that you will add to their organisation.