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A Contractor’s Guide on How to Write a Perfect CV

The importance and purpose of your CV
Contractors and freelancers are skilled experts having niche skills and extensive experience in a certain field, so it’s no wonder they are well paid and considered to be providing great value to clients. Although they generally receive more money, compared to their permanent colleagues, one of the disadvantages is the fact that they have to think of finding their next contract before or soon after their last one completes.

Without a doubt, it is a CV - your personal sales brochure - that, whether you are a permanent employee, commission worker or any other professional, communicates your ability to deliver to a potential employer.

It is especially vital for contractors to prove that their delivery is consistent, and they are socially capable of doing the job. Having said that since the beginning of their careers, contractors have had to learn how to effectively manage themselves and that includes mastering interview techniques.

It is crucial therefore, for contractors and freelancers to successfully market themselves, by preparing an effective CV and impressing interviewers to secure their next contract. Even though preparing a curriculum vitae in itself is not a complicated task, as you can get an advice from books and the Internet, it is an eye-catching, well presented CV that will determine whether you get invited to an interview or not.

Your CV is the first item from which a potential client obtains information about you and quality of your work and for this reason you have to make sure that it highlights the things that you want them to see.

The fact is, that often a decision to engage is taken not at the interview stage but after reading a well constructed CV which convinces the potential client that the contractor has the skills and experience required to do the job.

In order to increase the chance of a potential client devoting a few moments longer on your CV you must think of what the client wants to read about.

Typically, your potential client wants to see whether:

You have the required skills sets
You have work experience in using skills sets that are required
You understand the client’s requirements
You have achievements in the required skills sets

Before you start writing your CV make sure you tailor it for the position that you are actually applying for. First of all, find out from the job ad what skills and experience are required for the job, these are what you should target in your CV, do not include things which are not relevant to the job advertised.

CV layout
Another thing to consider is the fact that your potential client will probably have a pile of CVs to go through and a limited time to evaluate them. He will normally scan through the stack and throw out anything that is not interesting enough leaving short list CVs only for a detailed read through. This process will be based on the content, format and layout which should always be easy to read.

Try and keep your CV original. The key sections of your CV and its front page will typically include:

Name, address and contract details

This part is pretty straightforward. It used to be normal to include more personal details, such as gender, date of birth, marital status, nationality in this section but times have changed and it is no longer necessary. Instead, if you want to, list them at the end of your CV.

Profile

It should be a brief summary showing what your job title is, what your experience is and what you are looking for at the moment. Remember, it is supposed to convince the reader that your CV is worth spending more time on therefore it should be captivating and tailored to the specific position you are applying for.

Skills and Experience

In this section it is advisable to use bullet points and underline or bold the words that would match the job ad. Instead of writing too many sentences about one area of your expertise, prove to the reader you have a broad skills set.

Examples:

ASP.NET (7 years), .NET Framework
SQL Server 2005
T-SQL and SSIS
NET 3.5
WCF, AJAX, Agile, Scrum
Extreme Programming and test driven development

Achievements

These state the measurable benefits your client gained by employing you. The fact is that this particular section is often neglected by contractors or it does not appear on their CVs at all. Writing a good achievements section in your CV will guarantee that instead of landing in a client’s bin, it is looked closer into. The best method to demonstrate your achievements is by using the STAR principles (Situation, Task, Action and Result).

Example: “I was responsible for implementing a research project for a new product development group. I developed a team, conducted research and wrote survey reports. As a result all goals and requirements established by the customer were met and product was abandoned saving the company £3.7 million pounds.”

Work experience & Previous contracts

These should be mentioned in reverse chronological order listing details of the most recent role first. This section should clarify your position and the role you undertook, along with the skills and technology you used in each project. Also, do not forget to mention your team work achievements as apart from technical expertise your social skills may influence the client to pick you.

Less important information that should not necessarily be mentioned on the first page includes:

Education and qualifications

List them in reverse chronological order too and keep it brief summarising your exam and degree results only. Any additional technical, management etc qualifications you may have are worth mentioning, especially if they are relevant to the role you are applying for.

Hobbies

This section is entirely optional. The advantage of it makes your strengths and potential to shine through in the activities you list and it provides a personality type picture to the client. This section may prove useful if you’re at the start of your career. However, keep this section short too and think about how your interests might be perceived by other people.

Tips that will lead you to success

The general advice is to keep all the sections short and to use bold headings to separate the sections as well as bullet points where necessary. Keep in mind that with a pile of CVs to look through from a client’s point of view it is time that matters. Therefore, to summarise we have prepared the following list of what to include in your CV and what to leave out of it.

Include:

Information in bullet points - it creates readable content for a client and can be scanned through more easily

Action words - they are a great way to describe your experience and achievements for example trained, managed, developed, improved etc.

Show your strengths - you may be competing with hundreds of other applicants therefore you should help a client to see your strongest skills and competences

Achievements - your potential client wants to see if you are driven and willing to contribute to the growth of the organisation you will be working for

Profile - if it is not on your CV a client will not brother to go through 4 pages to find relevant information, to make his screening process easier do not forget to include it at the first page

Expertise - as above, if you do not list your exact skills you will decrease a chance of your CV being picked up by a client

Leave out:

Salary information - only include your daily rate indication if job ad specifically requests this information

List of all your schools - include only most recent education

Graphics and patterns - they make your CV look extravagant

References - it is only advisable to add them if employer specifically requested them

Reasons for leaving previous contract - it’s too negative and will give a client a bad impression of you, there is a chance you will be asked about it at the interview stage though

The “I” word - an extensive use of it does not look professional

Photos-you should let yourself be judged on your work experiences and key skills not on your looks; it may mislead a potential client and who may ignore your true qualifications

Anything indicating a failure e.g. exams, marriage

Very personal information like sex or marital status

Abbreviations and jargon - people from outside your experience do not have to know them Irrelevant information

Exaggerations - always stick to the truth, instead of lying, tailor your achievements and skills to match the client’s requirements

Do not refer to your personal websites - do it only if you want to show the client some examples of your e.g. graphic design work and your website contains only work related material

Once you decided what information to include in your CV and what to leave out, you have to think of the structure of it and make it personal in order to present yourself in the best light to your potential client.

When creating a winning resume you should keep in mind that “the coat makes the man”.

We have prepared a list of CV-killer mistakes you should avoid:

Spelling, typographical and punctuation errors - it doesn’t matter if your CV has enviable content and a great layout, misspelling and grammatical errors will ruin it and what is more, they will make a client think you do not care

Do not abbreviate names of employers, schools etc. - you should be formal and therefore write the names completely, even if abbreviations are widely known, otherwise people may think you are lazy and careless

Use appropriate font size - the smallest size you should use is 10 points in Arial or New Times Roman, nothing too fancy

Poor quality and cheap paper - again, stick to the professional look, colourful paper will not impress a client

Dog ears

Sentences that are too long - client wants to scan your CV easily and pick out the most important bits only

Writing CV is all about trying to imagine yourself as a potential client, whom you will want to convince that you are the best person for the job. Take your time to make it shine. With today’s highly competitive contractor market, the slightest mistake can cost you the assignment.

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