Like most things in life, CV styles change, the style in which they are written, or way in which they are presented go in and out of fashion…. A bit like shell suits, crocs and fluffy brows. In the time that I’ve worked in recruitment I have seen a big shift in the way CV’s are being written.

Your CV is usually your first introduction to your prospective new employer and we all know first impressions really do count. So it’s really important that you not only make a great first impression with your CV, it also needs to be one authentic to you and your personality.

Here are some of the ways CV’s have changed…

How CVs Have Changed

There are five critical changes that separate a modern CV from an outdated one, ensure you’ve made the necessary changes to meet the latest standards.

Contact Details

Then: a title with Curriculum Vitae, followed by full names, including middle names and honorifics, along with a full home address and business, home, and cell number.

Now: there’s no need to include the CV title because this section is much cleaner. Many of the previous segments have become redundant in line with anti-discrimination laws. Now, you only need to include the first name you are known by and surname, your city and postcode, and your contact number.

Professional Profile and Objective

Then: A professional profile, beneath your contact details often described your skill set and expertise in a paragraph littered with buzzwords.

An objective beneath that described the kind of job you wanted.

Now: Your profile is a purposeful and brief summary of your career, highlighting your proficiencies. You should also edit it for every job you apply to so that recruiters can search their systems for keywords and find your CV.

The objective is no longer applicable.

Career Summary or Work History

Then: A career summary was a detailed list of every job you held and the duties of the job.

Now: The summary is limited to the job/s you held in the last ten years, with a brief description of what the job entailed.

If necessary, jobs beyond ten years can include the start and end date and the role held during those years.

Education

Then: Listed before the career summary, the education section included the year you received your O/A Levels, the subjects and the grades.

After the O/A level grades would be other qualifications.

Now: Qualifications are listed in reverse, with the most recent and relevant qualification at the top and secondary or sixth form qualifications excluded from this list.

Hobbies and Interests

Then: A list of hobbies and interests was common practice, often listed toward the end of the CV.

Now: CV’s now highlight achievements, which could come from Hobbies or from any extra circular or charity work you have done

Fonts have also simplified, with Sans Serif fonts more commonly used.

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