Advice on creating a CV for Fire and Security Jobs

Always remember that the employer may have another 20 CVs in the in-tray. Lots of CVs don’t even get read because they are too long, too boring and badly laid out. You need to make your CV stand out from that pile. Do this by making it easy to read and easy to find out what you are.

Start with a Summary

Always include a short factual summary at the very beginning. This grabs the reader's attention within the first 10 seconds of reading your CV. Don't be tempted to mention subjective points such as "good team player" or "enthusiastic". .

Keep it factual

Don't tell us you are hard-working, enthusiastic, a team-player, ambitious, etc. Let the facts, achievements (and references) speak for themselves. By all means refer briefly to statements made in employment appraisals.

The Golden Rules for your CV:

Start with a SUMMARY

Keep it SHORT (and don’t use tables or boxes)
Keep it FACTUAL
Keep it LOGICAL and include clear headings for the following sections:-

Employment History
Education History or Qualifications
Professional memberships held
System knowledge

Make NO spelling mistakes or grammatical errors

Keep it short

Your CV should be no more than 3 pages in length - 2 if possible. You may be desperate to include every detail, but this will take attention away from important information.

Just lay out your text nicely and neatly. Don’t use formatted boxes or tables – many employers have HR software that stores CV in plain text format. If you use tables, the text is stored in the wrong order!

After the factual summary, list your personal details Include your address, telephone number and contact details. If your e-mail can be read by colleagues at work, then do not include it. If you are a student, state your permanent address.

Your employment history should be in reverse chronological order, i.e. the most recent job first. Use a clear bold heading.

Don't forget that when applying for a job in Fire & Security, an employer will know what various Fire & Security jobs entail.

By all means describe what the company does, but don’t overdo it and don’t forget to describe (a) what you do and (b) whether you were any good at it!

State the title of the position you held, relevant information such as Service/Installation experience, categories of work carried out, responsibilities, and any additional experience or projects that are not usual for the job.

Do not give detailed descriptions of jobs held 20-30 years ago.

Do not repeat yourself if several jobs held have included similar responsibilities.

Your education history should also be in reverse chronological order. The younger you are or the more recently you attained your qualifications, the more important it is to list the grades you achieved.