C.V
Your CV is your first entry to a potential employer and you have seconds to make it stand out. Whilst it is hard to deviate from the norm whilst maintaining a professional approach, it is essential that you do the best job possible, as all the clichés are true.
You may well have under a minute to attract the recruiter's attention, which makes it essential to understand exactly what is expected of you in the position you are applying for. You must demonstrate very early in the CV that you have the experience, qualifications, training and achievements required to meet the expectations of the recruiter.
Imagine the recruiter is sitting with a job description and comparing this to your CV. Without reading past the first 30% of your CV they should be able to tick off what you can offer against their specific needs.
The guidelines below should help you to think about what information you will need to include in your CV to make it stand out from the crowd.
About you
Gather all the information that you need relating to your education and career development. This will include:
- Schools, colleges of higher education, university (with dates)
- Qualifications (with dates)
- Training
- Educational/professional achievements
- Membership of professional bodies
- Positions held (with date of commencement and departure)
- Promotions
- Hobbies
- Personal information
In addition to your skills and experience, it would be beneficial to demonstrate that you can get on with other staff members as a team member - this is essential at all levels. Rome was not built in a day and certainly not by one person.
With an above average churn rate within the health and leisure industry, it is imperative you convey to potential employers that you intend to stay with the company long enough for them to re-coupe the money that will have to be spent on recruiting and/or training within the role.
There is no ceiling on the cost of what it takes to find and train the right staff, which makes it vital to convince the recruiter to consider investing in you.
About the job
You will also need to research the position you are applying to. The biggest faux pas in interviewing is being stumped when asked about the role you are applying for and basic company information. If you have not received a job specification from the employer you are applying you could try the following options:
- Look for similar roles advertised with other companies
- Read the company's website
- Read the annual report
- Try and visit some sites managed by the potential employer
CV Format
We can't tell you how to write your CV, as you need to feel happy and confident with how you are presenting yourself. However, there are a number of accepted formats for CVs - our guidelines below will help you to demonstrate your synergies with the role at the earliest possible opportunity.
Work Experience Based CV
A work experience CV is the most common type of CV and is most effective when the role you are applying for is similar to your most recent position, or is a natural progression in your career. e.g. senior fitness instructor applying for a fitness manager position. It is particularly effective if your current position is with a recognised company, as their name will be listed near the top of your CV. The idea is that your work history is presented first - by using bullet points you can highlight clearly aspects of your current position that comply with the job specification.
Once you have shown that you have the desired work experience, the recruiter is more likely to pay attention to the rest of your CV. They may now spend as much as ten minutes or so finding out more about you as a serious candidate.
In a Work Experience Based CV your employment history is shown in reverse chronological order, with your most recent job first. Job titles and company names are strongly emphasised and duties and achievements are described under each job title in a bullet point format. You will find below a template that you can copy from our site and paste onto a word processing document. From here you can simply enter the information that you have gathered into the pre-set format.
Achievement Based CV
This CV is best suited to those who want a change in career direction or are returning to the fitness industry after a break. Again the main exercise is to demonstrate as quickly as possible that you have the required skills and experience to meet the employer's expectations.
If your most recent jobs have not been directly related to the positions available, this format will allow you to put your work history further back in the CV and lead with your achievements and attributes. Go through your entire work and education history, highlighting those duties, training and achievements that best demonstrate best your ability to do the job at hand. These can be listed under an Achievements heading.
This is an effective way to summarise your relevant experience without the recruiter having to search through your CV to find it. Once again we have a download that will suit this style.
Graduate CV
Unless you are a mature student the chances are you will not be able to demonstrate a wealth of work experience. What you can demonstrate is the relevance of your course and a summary of any experiences you have gained from work, membership of groups and hobbies.
Try and keep all relevant information as near to the top of the CV as possible, avoiding the recruiter having to search to find suitable qualities. Again you will need to find out exactly what experience is expected and demonstrate your ability in these areas.
For example, shop floor experience can demonstrate a number of abilities, including working with cash, security, customer care, first aid, recognition of seasonal variations, mails shot and data base control, team work, awareness of targets and accepting responsibility for the opening and closing of the premises. Bar work can demonstrate similar qualities and experience, as well as demonstrate the willingness to work antisocial hours. Any groups that you belong to can show valuable teamwork and social skills.
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