CV

Spending time perfecting your CV is the best investment of time you can make during the process of applying for an internship. In every single application you make at some stage you will need to submit your CV and it is important to make one (or possibly more tailored to different companies and sectors and roles) with which you are confident and can refer back to when filling in application forms.

The key is to not make any mistakes and keep the CV as presentable and readable as possible. But how do you manage that? Find below the internshipHelp guide to producing a top quality CV.

  1. Only write 1 – 2 sides. Recruiters do not have time to read more than this.

  2. Make your CV easy and clear to read – less is more: use font size 10 or above; use only 1 font type; do not use more than 2/3 different font styles (bold/all caps/italic); use lots of spacing between different sections.

  3. Be clever with your formatting; make sure the best things e.g. grades/prizes/jobs/positions stand out. A recruiter usually only spends 3-5 seconds skimming over your CV so you have to immediately draw their eye to the best parts.

  4. Prioritise the order of your sections. The first section should always be ‘Education’ and the second should always be ‘Work Experience’. Next should come the most impressive experiences you have to talk about e.g. ‘Prizes & Awards’ or ‘Publications’ or ‘IT Skills’ or ‘Languages’.

  5. Spelling and grammar should be perfect. Also your formatting should be meticulously consistent. A single error in either of these aspects and your entire application will immediately be rejected.

  6. Customise your CV to the job role/company. For example you will highlight different work experiences/extra-curricular activities depending on whether you are applying for an investment banking internship or a politics internship.

  7. Never lie. Recruiters and Interviewers will (and have in the past) investigated items written on CVs or asked about them at the interview stage and can easily tell when events are made up. There is no way back if you are found to be lying.

  8. Include dates and exact numbers/costs/prices/timescales for events/fundraising/business ventures. This makes your CV more real and personal and interesting to the reader.

  9. Always write events in reverse order of date, so starting with the most recent experience first. Hence make sure you are actively doing extra-curricular events at the time of application so that there are not big gaps in your timelines.

  10. Check and recheck your CV to make sure it has no mistakes, reads properly, and includes all the best things about you. Try and get a friend to look over it, or take your CV to your Careers Service to get it checked for free.