CV Support

Most employers will ask you to submit a CV when you apply for a job with them.

Putting together your perfect CV can seem like a daunting task, so we’ve pulled together some tips on what to include to make your CV stand out from the crowd.
Top Tips
  • Be prepared – jot down any jobs that you have done in the past, any notable achievements Include additional courses you have undertaken at college, sports you’ve taken part in, if you have your driving licence, First Aid, Health and Safety, church activities and volunteering.
  • Your CV should not be longer than two pages, so you’ll need to make it well structured and different enough to grab the recruiters attention.
  • A CV will need to have a short, personal summary about yourself, any prior work experience, where you have gone to college, your skills, interests and, most importantly, two referees. These are two people, either who you have worked for previously, or a Teacher who knows you really well. Employers usually don’t want this to be a family member.
Use the internet to search for a website that can help you with a good CV. Some helpful websites are:
What to Include
  • Contact details
  • Brief personal statement, one or two sentences max
  • Colleges that you have attended and any courses you have completed
  • Any employment, even voluntary
  • Skills that you have learnt. Rather than saying that you developed a skill, explain how you learnt the skills and where. A good example of this is, “I managed the social media pages for our college business class and by developing more interesting and engaging content, our followers increased by _%”. This sounds better than “I learnt skills in managing social media pages”.
  • Any personal interests that can show your personality.
An employer will usually include a job description in the advert. This will have key words or skills that they require for the specific job. Try to mention/link your skills to these important requirements.
Our Education to Employment Coordinator, Amanda Walters, can help you with preparing a CV. You could also ask the Careers staff in your college for help.
Contact Amanda Walters on 04 939 9821 or email amanda@hvchamber.org.nz.