Owen is a Recruitment Apprentice at GetMyFirstJob. After leaving school last year, he's not only got the experience of looking for an apprenticeship but also of recruiting apprentices. Let's see what he has to say.

As a recruiter, we see hundreds of CVs on a weekly basis. They all differ in length and content, to font and text size, but there are certain things that recruiters and our employers are looking for. In this blog we are going to discuss what makes a good CV and how to stand out. 

When you are applying for an apprenticeship, we can appreciate that you may not have the best understanding of how to best format your CV and what sort of information you should include, but that's ok, that's what we are here for! Below are our top tips for a strong CV and how you can make yours more appealing. 

Personal Details

Make sure that you include your personal details; state your name, address, contact phone number and email address. How else can we contact you if we don't have these? 

Personal Profile

Use this opportunity to tell us about yourself, sell yourself before we even begin speaking to you, so make this section all about you. Try and add the following points:

Who are you? Give us a bit of background information to work from. 
Why you want to apply for this role/ sector? Giving a detailed paragraph or two about why you want this apprenticeship will work in your favour. Making reference to wanting to start a career is a big thumbs up! 
What you want to get from this apprenticeship opportunity -  future ambitions and expectations. 

Skills

Identify all your key skills and strengths here. Again, we don't know you, so you have to show off your abilities and let us know what you think will enable you to excel in the role you have applied for.  

Education

Here we need your educational background - tell us about your grades, experiences and achievements while at school/ college. 

Work Experience

Let us know what you have done in a working environment and the experience you have gained. Don't panic if this section isn't particularly lengthy, we don't expect you will have a lot of experience in the workplace - just give us an insight as to what you have done and that you are reliable and can hold down a role within the workplace. Have you undertaken any volunteering work or work experience placements? Add it in - we want to know! 

Hobbies and Interests

In this section we are looking for you to again just give us a brief bit of information as to what you like to get up to in your free time. Do you have a sport you participate in? Or spend time with your family doing certain activities? 

These are the main items we are looking for you to feature in your CV. It gives us a great insight as to who you are and how we can best represent you to the employer to give you the greatest chance of success to be selected for interview. 

Written by Owen Spencer, Recruitment Apprentice at GetMyFirstJob. 

Apprenticeships