Research has shown that an employer is able to make an impression about your application simply by glancing at your CV for five seconds. Yes, this small amount of time could be the key to whether your application will succeed or fail. In this article, we thought we’d document a list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to writing your CV for various dental jobs.
CV dos and don’ts:
- Like this article, it is essential to use bullet points. This makes the CV more readable, and helps you stick to the point. Giving paragraph after paragraph will result in the in the employer simply skipping over your application. It is vitally important you keep the CV concise, and entertaining to read.
- Make sure you insert the most pertinent information first. This can include a brief history of your work and education. Ensure it is listed in chronological order. You want the employer to view your path from young student to budding dentist very clear by laying out the CV in the order you’d like it read.
- Remove unrelated jobs from when you were younger, such as summer work experience, unless it directly relates to the job that you are applying for.
- It is important to make use of white space to break up blocks of text to make the CV easy to read.
- Use standard fonts – don’t use difficult to read fonts. Calibri is a font I would personally recommend.
- Use numbers to support your success. For example, if you were part of a fundraising venture, document in the CV how much you raised.
- I would recommend leaving out details of your hobbies. Only include information such as this if it will directly improve the quality of your CV.
- Ensure excellent punctuation and spelling
- Focus on limiting the size of your CV to two or three pages
- Oh, and possibly the most important thing to consider – never lie! It will be found out.
Don’t forget to include …
- Completed any shadowing experience when you were younger? Make sure you tell the employer about this. This shows initiative and will bolster your application.
- Include details of publications that you have appeared in.
- Maybe include details of professional associations that you are a member of. This shows you have a direct interest in the dental space.
- It is important to include details of any awards and recognition, whether from your time at University, or an employment based success.
Voluntary work is also popular to include. It doesn’t necessarily need to relate to the dental industry. It could be that you volunteer at a local kids charity. This is excellent information to include.
