Does Your CV Have A Headline?

Some people call it the personal statement, for others its just a statement.

I prefer to call it a Headline.

Why? 

Two reasons.

Firstly it sounds a lot more exciting than the term “personal statement” which means it opens your imagination up a bit and makes you realise how important  a feature of your CV it actually is.  Hopefully then you’ll refrain from using cliched terms when writing it. 

Secondly it describes more accurately what it is supposed to do – make your CV stand out, scream your talents out loud and catch a readers eye -think along the lines of the tabloid front pages – they are masters of these sorts of headlines.

For those of you who are slightly confused I’m talking about the box of text that usually appears on your CV underneath your personal details and before your work experience. Most people put something like: 

”I am trustworthy and reliable and have held various positions of responsibility during my career. I have proven people management and organisational skills and aim to add value in any position I occupy”. 

Because most people write something like this it doesn’t stand out. 

How does this one sound?

“A proven academic who also has clear commercial ability, I have highly developed people management skills and am comfortable working at all levels of an organisation. It is my aim to make a massive impact and add huge amounts of value to any organisation I work for.” 

Which one would capture your interest?

The big difference between your headline and that of the tabloids is that rest of the story must justify it. Make yourself sound fantastic in your headline!  Then prove it by showing off your key achievements in the rest of your CV.

For more information on CV Writing see What Does Your CV Do? For more articles on ideas development, Cv writing and enterprise in general click here.