CV format, layout and the secrets of using white space in your curriculum vitae
No Curriculum Vitae should be written on a CV template as they are all different, but it helps to have a good idea of how a CV should be set out in order to lay yours out correctly. Any number of example CVs can be found on the internet, and you can use these to show you what you should include in your own Curriculum Vitae.
Remember though, there is no such thing as a free CV other than the one you write for yourself. Copying content from other CVs is misleading at best, and fraudulent at worst. Using someone else’s CV to secure a job may land you in hot water and is always a bad idea so CV templates should be used as a guide to layout and content only.
White Space
I am a big fan of including White Space in the layout of a CV. I don’t mean just taking out content and leaving nothing to read, but using it like a well placed silent pause in a speech to focus interest on a point you want to highlight. Using White Space to direct the eyes of the reader can get them to notice things that they would miss in a ‘busy’ CV, like the record you hold or the award you won in your last job.
I use White Space to create questions you would like to answer in your interview. Draw the reader’s eyes to an incomplete fact, or point of interest that leads to an easy question that you are prepared for – interviewers always look out for easy questions to ask at the beginning of an interview, which then lead to more probing questions. Lazy interviewers stick with the easy questions.
So you can see how a well laid out CV can create a good opening to an interview, with the interviewer asking questions you can answer easily. This in turn makes you appear relaxed and confident, and gives a fantastic first impression in an interview.
It is common knowledge that interviewers make their minds up on a candidate’s suitability within 30 seconds of meeting them and I would say, as an interviewer, that there is truth in that statement. I would perhaps say a little longer than 30 seconds, maybe up to two minutes, but certainly you know by then whether you are taking that candidate forward or putting their CV in the bin when you walk out of the room.
So, there is a good chance that well placed layout of your Curriculum Vitae could actually win you the job without very much effort at all!
Look out for next week’s Top CV Writing Tip for more information on how to write a good CV.