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CV Writing Tips

1—Personality

Your CV is often the first time an employer will gain a sense of the person it represents so make sure it reflects you. This doesn’t mean you have to come up with weird and wonderful colour schemes or images, in fact avoid doing this at all costs! Instead, think about subtle details you include that give a hint about who you are and will make the person reading it want to meet you. A personal profile at the beginning of your CV is probably the easiest way to do this, just keep it to one paragraph though. You might also want to include interests but try to make sure that they are things other people can identify with – sports, cooking, travel, architecture, music etc are all good things to include but if you’ve got something that is a bit more of an acquired taste then it might be best to save this for when you get to know them a bit better!

2—Projects

The people who will be reading your CV will almost certainly have a pretty good idea of what your job description would be based on the title of your role and the organisation you are working for so you don’t need to give a blow by blow description of it. A short paragraph to state the key and most interesting/relevant aspects will suffice. It is vital though that you include details of the projects/schemes you have worked on and the part that you specifically played. Unless the projects are confidential, try to include as much information as possible including the client, the location, any particularly complex issues and what stage the project is at now. This enables a potential employer to see exactly what you’ve been doing and will also help them to envisage you working on similar projects for their company.

3—Content not length

Don’t worry if your CV is 3 or even 4 pages long, it’s a total fallacy that a CV should only be two sides. You may find though that if you’re in the early stages of your career it will naturally be closer to 2/3 pages, whereas if you are an experienced Director you may even go onto 4/5 pages.

4—Structure

Your employment history should be set out in chronological order (most recent first). You should write your education/qualifications below your employment history. Other sections can also be included, such as a personal profile, interests and client/project lists – but don’t forget the two most basic elements: employment history and education/qualifications in that order.

5—Reading

It sounds so obvious but ask your friends and family to read your CV, they will almost certainly pick up on typos that you might have missed and will also be able to tell you whether it reflects you well.

“We wish we had known about KDH before we did. Since meeting the team that Kirsty has assembled and working with them to determine who are optimum candidates are it has also helped us focus our minds on our company structure and business model. To that end, we are continually amazed at who they are able to match us with. We hope to keep growing as long as they can help us to grow.”

“Kirsty provides an unparalleled level of service and candidates to us, her knowledge of the market and ability to get to know our business, and each candidate is a rare find in recruitment. Kirsty delivers only the most suitable candidates and secures them in her professional and friendly manner. She truly is our trusted recruitment partner.”

“Kirsty has revolutionised my view of recruitment consultants. She is professional and committed to finding the right people. Importantly, she understands Quod and the type of people that we want to be part of our business. Kirsty takes the strain out of the interview process, so that we are only seeing good people with the potential to meet what we are looking for, and has been successful in finding a number of valued people in Quod. She is also personable, fun and easy to get along with – something that is important to us in all the people we work with.”

“KDH have a highly professional approach and are thorough in all of their work. The integrity and personable nature of all their consultants make them both trustworthy and reliable. I have used them for a number of headhunting / executive searches for senior staff within Barton Willmore and due to their approach and securing us excellent results, I have recommended them across the Practice where they are now working on other senior roles. I therefore would have no hesitation in recommending them to others.”

“The KDH team have been a breath of fresh air for us. As a busy management team, we depend entirely on their judgement and intuition to send us only candidates who they feel will truly work in our business. They pride themselves on being different and we certainly feel that their service is without parallel. It is just a great sadness to us that they don’t operate in all of the fields in which we work, so that we could dispense with all of our other consultants. Fantastic job, ladies. Keep up the great work!”

“I worked with KDH trying to source a new assistant Landscape Architect and they were very professional and found someone for me with a short space of time. Sam is still with us and proving to be a great asset. Thank you. Would not hesitate to recommend KDH to others.”

“I have worked with KDH Associates since joining HTA Design LLP 2 years ago. They have assisted us with Planning, Architecture and Landscape roles. KDH are friendly, professional and extremely helpful and most of all they listen to our requirements carefully in order to introduce us to relevant, high calibre candidates who fit our needs well. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend KDH Associates to fellow HR professionals, as well as to those seeking employment.”

“KDH are our go to guys for recruitment. Their business has grown up with ours and as a consequence, KDH have a thorough understating of our culture, they think deeply about what we need to grow our business and this ensure the candidates they send are of the highest quality”

I had the pleasure of working with KDH. I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone who needs an energetic and motivated talent searcher. We had specific requirements for our growing team and they not only went out of their way to understand our bespoke needs but also showed a phenomenal tenacity to find the appropriate individuals. Now I know if I need an experienced individual to join our team, KDH is my first port of call!

“I work as a consultant in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and was looking for a new career challenge. I got the job I wanted through KDH. From the outset, the support I received from my recruitment consultant, Chris, was invaluable. He really went the extra mile to ensure that I was fully prepared for my interviews, was always responsive and chased up some job related queries on my behalf. I’m very grateful for all this support and would definitely recommend the KDH to anyone looking for a new career challenge or to fill a vacancy with the best candidates.”

“I have been so impressed with KDH! They were brilliant to work with, very personable, and provided results very quickly. I am so grateful for everything they have done, and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone”

“KDH helped me through every step of the process, offering advice and support from the initial enquiry stage right through to the first few months of my new job. They were able to answer the difficult questions that you may not feel comfortable asking a new employer and gave me essential tips, advice and insight into the new role that was ultimately fundamental to me securing the job.”

“KDH approached me when I wasn’t actively looking for a new position. They provided a very clear overview of the opportunity and I was really impressed with all of the communication from them regarding the process and so appreciative of their advice ahead of the interviews. They facilitated a really natural first meeting with the company and made me feel really comfortable every step of the way.”

“I found KDH great to deal with. They are very committed, enthusiastic, and quick to respond to my emails (at whatever time of day they were sent). I really felt they had my best interests at heart throughout the whole process and even now I get the occasional email from them asking how things are going in the new job. I couldn’t recommend KDH enough.”

“I cannot thank the team at KDH enough for helping me find my new role in London. I was nervous about relocating from Australia to the UK, but working with KDH made the whole process much smoother. I was impressed initially when I first spoke with them via telephone while still in Australia and even more so when I met the team upon arriving in London. KDH are very personable, informed and their knowledge of the industry and various firms throughout London and further afield made me feel confident that they were identifying roles that would be a good fit for me.

They were hands on throughout the whole process, keeping me well briefed and informed before and after interviews. I am very grateful for their assistance and I would recommend KDH to anyone looking for a recruitment consultant in the town planning sector.”

“I contacted KDH Associates in December 2014 when I was looking for a change in role. As a town planning professional KDH Associates with their specific expertise in property and planning were an obvious choice for me, as I knew they had key contacts within the industry. My main point of contact was Lucie Cox who set up a face to face meeting from which we worked out what my key career goals were and to outline what I was looking for in an employer. The personal touch from Lucie ensured that any potential opportunity that was offered to me for consideration had been tailor-fitted to my needs. Lucie soon put me forward for a great role for which I was successful and as a result I would highly recommend KDH Associates.”

“ Thank you to KDH for all their efforts in securing me a fantastic job at Berkeley Homes. Lucie was by far the most conscientious, professional and foremost for me personally, caring of any recruitment consultant that I have dealt with. This made changing jobs an enjoyable experience as opposed to a chore.”

“I have found that very often recruitment consultants make the process of moving jobs feel transactional and impersonal. I have found that KDH have been totally different to this, they really looked after me, took time to get to know me as a person and as a professional and gave me all of the information to help me make a career defining decision. This is an approach many claim to have but fail to deliver. I will certainly recommend KDH to people I know.”

“KDH was a pleasure to work with. The professional attitude in which they work is truly excellent. They were always there to help out, whatever time of day and they always go above and beyond their job duties. The information and everything that they provided was just what I wanted and the transition to my new position was very smooth. Thank you KDH for everything, unfortunately I don’t think you’ll be finding me another job in a very long time.”

“ I wasn’t looking for a job when I was approached by KDH Associates. I found they made an effort to get to know me and with no pressure at any point, they managed to seize my attention for a job that they thought I would be a perfect fit for. I have now been at LDA for six months and I am absolutely confident that I made the right decision.

They were friendly, professional, reliable and very responsive. Their knowledge of the market is very good and their listening and communication skills are impeccable. I was impressed by their level of professionalism. All in all, a very positive experience dealing with KDH, a recruitment consultant who actually works with both the client and the candidate to achieve the best result.”