By Jinaka Ugochukwu

What is a CV?

A CV is a self-promotional tool.  It is a summary of your education, the jobs you have done and the skills that you have acquired. An employer will read it to decide whether you are suitable for the job they have on offer. 

What does a CV look like?

There are many templates for CVs.  But most CVs will include the sections in the image below. 

This article is a step by step guide to creating a basic 1-page CV.  

Remember you should update your CV as you get more experience and you will need to adapt parts of your CV to the job that you are applying for.  Consider every CV a foundation that you build upon and improve. 

Writing a CV can feel like an overwhelming task especially if you are looking for your first job or you are an adult with autism and you are not sure that the workplace will be a welcoming world.  Enna specialises in offering jobs that are suitable for everyone but especially neurodivergent job-seekers.  This is because we work with employers who are welcoming to people with autism and the jobs require candidates who pay attention to detail, who can apply a framework to a process and who strive to get a job done well.  

Let’s get writing 

Step 1 

Personal Details

This section is quick and straightforward to complete.  Completing this section will get you up and running and feeling confident. 

Example

Firstname Lastname Hackney, London 01234 555 666 firstname@emailprovider.com

WATCHOUT!

• Your email address should be something sensible. Ideally firstname.lastname@emailprovider.com
• Be safe online: A potential employer will call you or send you an email.  You do not need to include your full address. 

Step 2 

Personal Statement

This section is an opportunity to introduce yourself and explain why you are suitable for the role.  The paragraph should be short; limit it to about 3 or 4 lines. 

You should outline the skills and experience you can offer the company in relation to the role that they have advertised.  

This is an archived advert from the jobs section here at Enna.

About You To be successful in this role, you would ideally have experience of working in a similar environment and be able to demonstrate knowledge of processing purchase ledger transactions using a computerised system. You will be comfortable working in a customer focused environment and have a willingness to learn and adapt new skills.

 

This is an ideal job for an autistic adult who has skills in financial administration, who is computer literate and who is comfortable learning and adapting to the business’ needs.  

To write your personal statement

Firstly, highlight the key requirements for the role.

About You To be successful in this role, you would ideally have experience of working in a similar environment and be able to demonstrate knowledge of processing purchase ledger transactions using a computerised system. You will be comfortable working in a customer focused environment and have a willingness to learn and adapt new skills.

Secondly, address these areas in your personal statement.  

Example  I am an experienced administrator who has used Sage extensively to process invoices and reconcile accounts.  I’m very good at learning new systems and teaching others how to use them too.  I think being efficient and helpful to customers is key and I want to work for a business who thinks the same.

The recruiting manager will then be able to read in an instance whether you are a suitable candidate for the role.   

There are many strategies that you can use for writing a personal statement:

The CV library suggests answering these 3 questions: 

Here is a bullet point approach by Glassdoor:

Bullet 1: Industry credentials

Bullet 2: What skills you bring

Bullet 3: How you can help the business achieve their objectives, 

Bullet 4: A relevant and recent deliverable

And you can find 16 examples of personal statements at Totaljobs.

WATCHOUT!

• Not all CVs include this section. If you include a cover letter with your application you may not consider it necessary.
• Avoid writing a list of adjectives.
• This section should be tailored to each job that you apply for.

Step 3 

Job History 

Your experiences can include paid work, volunteer work, or skills acquired in other ways.  List your most recent role first!

Below is an example of a format you could use and a guide to what you could include for each position.

Job Title, Company, Location                                 mmm yyyy – ongoing Write a summary of your duties and responsibilities. Think about the job you are applying for and highlight the duties and responsibilities that will be most relevant for the job and the employer.   Achievement: Summarise the impact you had on the business, especially if it is quantifiable.  Eg I increase sales of Y by X%

WATCHOUT!

• Remember to list your jobs in date order with the most recent at the top. 
• Think about the skills and achievements that you want to highlight.  Choose skills that can illustrate your suitability for the role that you are applying for.

Step 4

Education

Most people will list their formal qualifications in this section for example GCSEs, A-Levels, degrees and so on but you can also list other educational achievements.  For example, a short course that you have completed such as computer skills, or a coding course or a first aid course.

Relevance and recency are key.  What skills and experience does the job require?  If you have many options and limited space, choose the qualifications that best represent your ability to do the job.  

Example

Education  Qualification, (awarding body)                                   Date BA Business Administration, (University of London)        June 2019 Certificate in First Aid (St John’s ambulance)                        December 2019

WATCHOUT!

• List your most recent and highest qualifications first.
• If you are a school leaver then you may wish to list all of your GCSEs (or equivalents) and/or your A-levels but if you gain higher qualifications listing each individual GCSE becomes less and less relevant. And you might wish to summarise them (9 GCSEs A-C, including Maths and English) or omit them completely.
• If you don’t have any formal qualifications simply list the dates that you attended any school or college.

Step 5

Skills

List skills that are always relevant and/or that are specifically relevant to the job you are applying for.  For example, if you speak another language that is always relevant.  If you can juggle that is not so relevant unless the job is for an entertainer. 

WATCHOUT!

• This section could be considered optional especially if you are short on space and you have covered your skills elsewhere in the document.

That’s it.  That all you need for the first draft of your CV.

• Remember to check for spelling errors.
• Remember to choose a professional font and be consistent throughout the document.
• Remember to choose the correct font size.  Size 12 and size 11are typical for a CV.  Headings may be a slightly larger size and bolded. 

Now you are ready to find a job to apply for. Enna has a great selection of jobs or get in touch if you want help with your CV. 

Remember don’t get discouraged if at first you don’t succeed. Sometimes people apply for more than 10 jobs before they receive an invitation to interview.   

Come back soon for more information on interview techniques and working in a professional environment with autism.