Careers
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We want to be able to clearly – and quickly – understand what makes you stand out from the crowd, and to see where you could fit within the Virgin Group. And the easiest way for us to see whether you could be Virgin, is through your CV. So here are some helpful guidelines on how to write a really good one.
Some general pointers…
- We just don’t have time to read CVs that resemble War & Peace. Keep yours concise – ideally no more than two pages
- Clarity is important too – use headings so we can see what’s what at a glance
- It doesn’t take long to do a spell check, so make sure you do
- Use an easy-to-read font, in a reasonable size, and steer clear of wacky colours
- Don’t leave gaps – if you spent six months trekking through the jungle of Borneo, we want to know about it.
The personal bit…
- We don’t need to know everything about you, so don’t include things like your gender, date of birth, age, and family status…
- But we do need to know how to contact you, so always include your name, address, phone number and email address
- And if you’d prefer us to contact you one way rather than another, let us know.
The bit where you tell us about your work experience…
- If you’re coming straight from school or college, we’ll be interested in hearing about all the work experience you’ve had so far
- If you’ve already got plenty of experience under your belt, just stick to the roles that are most relevant
- List your most recent experience first
- Try and cover your experience in short sentences or bullet points (your CV might end up looking a bit like this guide)
- Highlight your responsibilities, the skills you developed, and the impact you made.
The bit where you tell us about your education…
- We’ll want to know about all the qualifications you’ve gained, including your grades
- You might have achieved qualifications outside of school or college, list these too (if they’re relevant – Brownie/Scouts badges probably aren’t).
The bit where you cover everything else…
We want to know what makes you tick, so if you’ve got anything interesting to say that doesn’t fall into any of the above, this is the place to make sure we know about it. Things like…
- Do you speak another language (or two)?
- Have you ever volunteered?
- Got hobbies that you’re passionate about?
So that’s about it. But you should also give us the names and contact details of at least two references. And the end of your CV is as good a place as any.
