One Liner For Your Resume/CV

Writing about yourself can be one of the hardest things to write about, especially when you’ve got to ‘sell yourself’ to someone, it doesn’t tend to come naturally.

So, when it comes to writing a CV, how do we attract the attention of someone in the first few lines when we don’t know how to write about ourselves?

Not to worry, here are some tips on how to write the perfect one liner…

On average, hiring managers and recruiters spend between 6-8 seconds looking at a CV, so the opening lines of your CV are going to be the number one thing that determines whether someone wants to continue reading..

Our absolute top tip would be to always personalise your CV to the job/sector you are applying for! This is how you’re going to stand out.

Hiring managers and recruiters will shortlist applications in the shortest time possible, so if your CV is tailored to the role/industry they are hiring for, and they can see that clearly in the first few lines, you’re already catching their attention.

Keep your personal statement short and to the point, no longer than 6 lines.

The first lines will be your opening statement about yourself, to make yourself noticeable to the employer. In this statement you need to set the right tone, so talk about yourself in a way that is positive but not arrogant. This is where you can include:

Your field of experience
Your years of experience
Your goals and aspirations
Your achievements
Your skills / qualifications
What you plan to achieve / gain from this role

Examples:

‘Recruitment Consultant with 6 years experience of temporary and permanent recruitment across the Industrial, Engineering and Commercial sectors. During my 6 years within recruitment I have built strong relationships with large organisations within Derbyshire and the surrounding areas, assisting with the recruitment of 100+ ongoing temporary workers out to one client and running some of the largest accounts within my office.’

‘Graduate Marketing Student with experience of social media, email and content marketing through my internship placement, looking to join a growing organisation where I can expand my skillset and develop a career. My career aspirations include progressing within your organisation to leadership and management responsibilities, eventually running my own team within your marketing department. My proudest achievement during my internship was helping the team to achieve an increase in their email click through rate from 4% to 8% .’

‘Qualified Welder, skilled in MIG and TIG welding, with Level 3 NVQ qualifications through City & Guilds and 3 years experience within the steel industry. I have worked some large scale projects, assisting in the manufacture of products for the construction industry. I am now looking to take that next step within my career, and I believe my skills would be valuable in assisting in your recent expansion into infrastructure for the Energy Industry.’

1. Use words that sound personal to the company

Using words like ‘you’ and ‘your’, shows you’re interested in developing a career with the company itself and it feels like you’re talking directly to them.

2. Add number stats into your first lines for any achievements as it has a greater impact

For example:

‘through this role I increased our client base by 40%’, sounds better than ‘through this role I increased our client base’.

This factual information makes it seem more legitimate and impressive.

So, you’re writing your first CV to find your first job and you don’t have any work history to talk about.

Not to worry, here’s what you can include:

Any relevant qualifications through your education
The skills you’re looking to gain
Any skills and/or experience you’ve had through volunteering, school clubs etc.
Why you want to join that particular sector
How you’d like to progress in the role
How you would add value to their business / the job

Examples:

‘I am looking to gain experience within the retail industry and within a customer facing role, as it will help me to grow my confidence and gain many transferable skills such as how to work with different types of people, how to sell products, working as part of a team and to my own initiative. I am looking forward to gaining skills in customer service, to provide a great customer experience and build good relationships with customers, to help to attract more repeat business and uphold the reputation of the store and company.’

‘Warehouse and Logistics is a continually growing industry, as consumer demand grows in the online world. I believe this industry would be a great opportunity to start my career within, with lots of opportunity to progress up to a leadership/managerial role. I am also eager to expand my skillset within warehousing, and would be interested any in-house training to gain a forklift licence. This would also enable me to be able to support the company within different areas of the business. I own my own transport so I would be able to work any shift patterns or times if required, depending on business requirements, and I am also happy to work overtime to provide extra support if needed.’