When applying for a new Construction Job, there are several major things to bear in mind. Here are top 10 tips from theCONSTRUCTIONjob.com.

Simplicity

Do not over complicate the CV. It is your one and only chance to impress the reader, so keep it simple and pull out your strongest points to sell yourself. Keep it short, to the point and punchy.

Achievements

Achievements are important to highlight and shows the reader the level of your ability. Use active verbs, such as, managed, led, responsible for, achieved as this just highlights all of your skills in an effective way.

Work chronologically

The CV should start with your current or last employment and work backwards. If this is your first job, then list any work experience you have got in the construction industry. If you have many years experience, include about 5 previous employers. Include the employer’s name, job title, start and end dates and include a short description of your job along with your major achievements.

Honesty

Avoid lies and exaggerating. If you are lucky enough to be invited to an interview, you will be asked to elaborate on what you have put in your CV. Interviewers can identify liars via body language. If you get caught out, you will not even be considered for the role – so it is not worth it.

Education

Make sure you include your education but perhaps highlight those achievements made at this stage of your life (outside of work) e.g. captain of the football team, chess champion etc so it shows that you are enthusiastic and motivated outside of the daily grind.

Qualifications

If you have specific construction qualifications, make sure these are clearly highlighted in the CV and make sure those most relevant are listed first.

Overcrowded CV

Do not squash everything together on one page. It will not be easy to read and probably won’t flow very well. Make sure it is pleasing to the eye because if is not, the reader will quickly lose interest.

Spelling

Use a spell check on your document as well as making sure you read through it several times in case certain words and grammatical errors are missed. If you make mistakes, it makes them think you can’t even be bothered.

Ask a friend

By asking someone else to check over it, they may pick up things you have missed, such as, spelling mistakes, grammatical errors or presentation mishaps. You can look over it 20 times and still miss the same thing. Another pair of fresh eyes may pick it up straight away.

References

You do not need to provide references on the CV – you can just put ‘References available on request’. Whatever you decide, before you use someone’s name, make sure you have checked with him or her first.

These top 10 tips will give you a quick idea of what you should do when writing your CV and what it should include to help you to secure your next construction job!