With a diverse population working in IT/software/telecom jobs in Ireland, a whole variety of CV formats are floating around out there. It’s a cliche, but even with great experience a confusing or inadequate CV can get you screened out early in the process, or worse, it can give the (mistaken) impression that yo have something to hide. Sometimes it’s just crummy CV writing you can see the world over, sometimes it’s adhering to a format that isn’t really common in Ireland/ Europe. To have a CV that gets positive attention:

1. Thou shalt put clear and accurate contact info at the top- The first thing on your CV should be a block with your full name (first name first, family name last), complete address, mobile number, home number, and personal email address. Don’t include your work phone number or email address. Check your email several times of day, and for the love of Pete set up the voicemail on your phone.
2. Thou shalt make thy work status clear at the top- It’s not as though obfuscating your work status changes it. If you aren’t obviously an Irish permanent resident, add a “nationality:” line to your contact info block. If you are eligible for a special permit (such as a spousal permit), say that too. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you need to go read up on Irish employment rules before sending out your CV- check the Entemp website. You should make your relocation plans clear in the email cover letter.
3. Thy CV shall be 2-3 pages long, no more, no less- there are very few exceptions to this rule. The CV is just an introduction, and if you’re saying a lot more than this you’re adding text that potential employers have to wade through to answer the “Do I call this person or not?” question. Sure, there are some people who will get a call no matter how awful their CV because of a past employer or particular certification, but if you’re not one of those people, having a glut of detail will just fatigue your reader and they may just toss in the towel.
4. Thou shalt only put things in thine skills profile that thou actually doest for work- having a skills profile under your contact info and before your work history is a good idea in skills driven roles, but for each skill or keyword you use, ask yourself: If the hiring manager is a complete (insert skill here) junkie who uses it and blogs about it and recently met the guy that invented it and is writing a book about it…when he starts asking me about this am I going to look like an exaggerating jerk and destroy my credibility? If yes, leave it off. Much, much better to have 10 skills that you really “get” than 25 things you’ve heard of. For each skill, say how long you’ve been using it, and what your level of expertise is.
5. List thine jobs in reverse chronological order! For each job, thou shalt include- The name of the employer, your dates of employment (you absolutely must include month in the date), and your job title. Then, 4-8 bullet points about the role. Cover any concrete accomplishments first, then any regular duties. Each bullet point should be 1-2 normal length sentences. You should end up with with a long-ish paragraph about each job. If you’ve had multiple jobs for the same employer, give them separate paragraphs of bullets with separate job titles/ dates.
6. Thou shalt usually put thine education after thine work history- because most of the time your experience is most important. If you are most employable because of a specific qualification, your education should go before work history. For each degree or qualification, include the name of the school/ training body, the degree/qualification received, the date with months/ year (beginning and end dates if you were doing it full time or if it’s a multi-year program). Add one explanatory bullet point if appropriate. Don’t list every class you took while at university.
7. Thou shalt send along samples or a portfolio- If you’re sending a portfolio, build a nice website for it or put it together as a PDF. If you’re a developer, send along links to finished work as well as a piece of written code for someone to look at. All of your work confidential or on an intranet? Either get permission from past employers to share it, or park yourself at the computer this weekend and build a non-work-based sample of your work. Having to say, “No, I don’t have any examples of my work I can show you” sounds pretty lame.
8. Thou shalt not go format or font crazy- Use 10-12 point type in a normal font, using bold, italics and underlining to distinguish section and job headings. There is absolutely no reason to bend or break this rule, no matter how many cool fonts you have.
9. Thou shalt not fudge- Don’t imply you worked directly for a client and bury your employer name (even if you’re coming from a county where it’s common to divide your work history into client projects). Don’t obfuscate dates of employment or school to hide gaps- any gaps of more than two months in your work history should be explained as a line in your work history section (”Traveled across South America by llama”, “Full time student”, etc.) Don’t suggest you did things at work you didn’t do or barely did- if you do get called for an interview and it becomes apparent you exaggerated, you will likely be blacklisted by the employer (and by the agency if you were referred through one). The rule of thumb is that employers should never be surprised- if your CV suggests one thing when another is the case, or conceals something they will later find out, the very act of hiding something (even if it’s innocuous) will make them wonder what else you’re not making clear.
10. Thou shalt proofread- Several times. Then have someone else do it. Then (if you’re not a native English speaker) have it read by someone who doesn’t speak your native language to catch syntax errors.