British Forces Resettlement Services Careers Fair

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I’m honoured to have been giving CV & Careers advice at the BFRS National Careers Events held around the UK for the last 5 years or so.

Yesterday, we were in Catterick Garrison and what an amazing day it was! There was a real buzz about the place and I overheard lots of attendees – service leavers and veterans – say how much they valued the advice and information given by exhibitors, whether it was from training companies like NUCO or employers such as BAE Systems.

It was great to meet so many skilled and talented service leavers and veterans, from Transport Managers and Supply Chain specialists to HR Managers and Quantity Surveyors. However, I was struck by the fact that I see the same issues cropping up when it comes to their CVs. So I’ve listed a few of the main stumbling blocks below:

  • CVs which are not targeted to a specific type of job – the CV is your marketing document! Do you meet the role criteria?
  • Skills sections at the end of a CV on page 2 – show-case your skills on page 1!
  • Career History too task-oriented – breath some life into it with strong examples of how you used your core skills in past roles
  • Nothing to differentiate your CV from others – why should they interview you? What have you done to add value and  how well have you performed? 
  • Too much text – make it easy for people to see key information. Don;t hide it with too much content in the wrong places

There are many more points but these are key areas I focus on when writing interview-winning CVs.

The next BFRS careers event is in Stafford in May. I hope to see you there, but if you can’t make it and would still like an expert opinion on the quality of your CV, you can request a CV Health Check via our online service at www.forces-cvs.co.uk.