The Marketing Hub

The inside tips on how to write an excellent marketing CV

15th November 2011

What is a good CV?

Accurate, personal, succinct, easy to read, relevant to the position for which you are applying.... It is your CV which will land you an interview so take the time to get it right. Keep working on it. A CV is never finished. Take the time with each application to adapt your CV to meet the criteria of the position you are applying for. Ensure that key skills and words featured in the job description feature in your CV.
Be succinct. Two pages is best and if you can’t restrict yourself to that then three pages at a maximum. Otherwise you are in serious danger of giving the reader the impression that you cannot summarise or prioritise, which won’t help you secure an interview.

Suggested CV Structure

1. Personal Details

Name, address, contact details. No obligation to put in details such as marital status, but you can if you wish. You may feel it’ll help to be single, married etc. 

2. Summary personal profile

Start with a personal profile of 3-4 lines which reflects you and what you have to offer. It showcases your relevant experience & competencies. It should be told in your voice (use engaging, not stilted language.  ) Makes sense on its own merit. Be real.

3. Key skills

It is useful to highlight skills, when moving sectors or changing jobs significantly. Examples:

• Strategy Development/Implementation
• Product Development/Road Maps/Launches
• International Marketing/Global Sales  
• Team Management/Development
• High Level Communication Skills

4. Career to date

Feature your company, your role title, the exact period of time you worked there.
We recommend you highlight your top three to four areas of responsibility in your past positions and then highlight beneath them your key achievements in each position. Give more weight to your recent experience & achievements.

• Highlight the key areas of responsibility in each of your roles
• Separating out your achievements will help them stand out to the reader, who may have to read lots of CVs to determine a short list. Your achievements should be very commercial, very results oriented. How did you make a difference? Achievements should be factual, measurable, quantifiable. Demonstrate how you drove market share, sales volume or value, profit. 
• Bring out what you owned in your role
• It can be useful to provide topline information on your company, without divulging confidential information. 
• Your CV should demonstrate career progression

5.  Education

Education: do not be tempted to lie!
Keep it relevant. There is no need to include results of the leaving cert!
Add in relevant additional skills gained / company courses etc.

6. Special interests

Keep it real and ideally relevant

7. References/Testimonials

The inclusion of short testimonials can be interesting.
Don’t include details on referees-offer them the most relevant referees upon request-but do check that your referees will give you a good reference. Ask them what they would say and use the opportunity to address any concerns they might have. Ensure your referees are as recent as possible.

If you have any other questions regarding your CV or would like some advice on specific areas of your CV then don't hesitate to get in contact with one of our business managers on +353 (1) 661 8889 or hello@alternatives.ie.