Skills-based CVs
This can be a powerful format if you have a varied life and work experience, or you are targeting an industry in which you have no related experience at all.
In this CV format, you expand your skills section significantly, to highlight more prominently the skills you have gained over the positions you have held.
What do I need to do?
Place the Skills section prominently at the beginning of the CV. Choose skills that are most relevant to the job and industry you are applying for. For each, draw evidence of when you have used this skill in any area of your work, education or life experience.
In your employment/work experience sections minimise the detail under each position you have held, as this information has been covered in the skills section.
Example from a Costume Designer's CV:
Team Work:
- Participated in staged performance of the play ‘Furious Alchemy’ for degree show
- Designed and made costumes for the ‘Adam or Eve’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
- Worked as an effective team member of W H Smith’s sales team
Time Management:
- Designed and made four costumes to very tight deadlines for ‘Adam or Eve’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
- Worked under pressure to manage heavy course work whilst working part time to support degree studies
Interpersonal:
- Tact and diplomacy needed when working with nervous actors at my degree show and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
- Developed good communication skills dealing with a variety of customers at WH Smiths
