Your CV (or Curriculum Vitae – Latin for “course of one’s life”) should of course be an account of your career and qualifications to date.
It is very easy to go online and search for advice on CV preparation, and many ‘experts’ do offer help, but this guidance will likely be very generic and will not be Geo-Sector specific.
To provide more tailored advice, we went straight to the people that count – Hiring Managers within the Geo-Sector – and asked them exactly what they wanted to see on an applicant’s CV.
First impressions count, especially when 63% of our hiring managers confirmed they spend no more than 3 minutes reading your CV. It is imperative for hiring managers to be able to quickly find the information they want to see. It needs to be where they expect it to be!
Recommended CV Structure
Name and Contact Details
As a minimum: Full name, Mobile number, Email address, Link to LinkedIn profile, Contact address/location (minimum city/town and postcode).
Also include your Driving Licence status and Right to Work in the UK status.
- You must use a formal email address format. No nicknames, just your name with a number works fine (eg JohnDoe2024@gmail.com). We often recommend Gmail, but the service provider is not important.
Summary/Personal Statement
Although qualifications are important, an equally important asset is you as a person. What makes you tick? How have you made it to where you are?
80% of our hiring managers see the personal statement as an important part of the decision-making process, with another 15% considering it important, but not as important as academic results.
In other words, a whopping 95% read this part closely so ignore it at your peril!
Avoid cliché and don’t make it read like you have swallowed a dictionary. Put time and effort in to writing a quality paragraph that genuinely represents you and that you are proud to read. Test it on friends and family if that helps.
Academic achievements (starting with highest level first)
Tertiary Study
University, Date of study, Course, Relevant modules (highlighting those most relevant to the role you are applying for), relevant fieldwork – Geology, Contaminated Land, etc
If applying for a Ground Investigation role, these could include any modules relating to Geotechnical, Geo-Environmental, Geology, Land Science, Contaminated land and of course any field work.
Also include other skills you have studied, including report writing, data analysis and so on.
100% of our hiring managers need you to pass your degree to be classified as a Graduate, with 87% looking closely at your final result (or predicted grade).
A Levels.
List school/college, Date of study and of course Subjects and Grades achieved. Your A level choices can help tell the story of your learning path.
65% of our hiring managers use A level results as an important part of the decision-making process
GCSEs
42% of our hiring managers thought that GCSE grades were important alongside other academic results. It is recommended that you list the courses and grades achieved as a minimum as this is part of who you are and indicates prior choices.
Work History
Always use reverse chronological order – put your most recent experience first.
Company, Role, Dates of employment plus hours worked, responsibilities, awards/ recognition etc.
Ideally, you will be able to fill this section with industry relevant experience with similar organisations. If you have this, then well done, you are ahead of the curve, but in all honesty, we very rarely see this, although we do have plans to help boost industry participation in the future.
A whopping 96% or our hiring managers believed that an internship or relevant experience would enhance your application.
But all is not lost if you have no relevant employment to include. Make sure you demonstrate wherever you can that you have been employed in some capacity. It can help prove work ethic, commitment, teamwork and so on. Although industry experience is an advantage, 95% of our hiring managers thought that work experience of any kind was still advantageous, albeit to a lesser degree.
Hobbies & Interests
This section presents another chance for you to sell who you are as a person. Your hobbies could help show a passion for team work, leadership, outdoor activities and volunteering. Take into account that your first year of employment will include plenty of team work on site and anything that could demonstrate you are an independent thinker may also prove useful.
59% of hiring managers consider the hobbies and interest section an important part of the decision process in terms of whether to interview. Of course it would be positive if your hobbies align in some way with the role requirements.
Referees
We recommend that you should have 2 or 3 referees identified before you start applying for roles. People that can vouch for work experience and/or academic studies. You do not need to provide their full details on your CV, but perhaps a standard clause stating “Available on Request” to indicate that you have thought about this already.
Covering Letter
A separate cover letter to accompany your CV is considered important. 85% of our hiring managers prefer to see a cover letter, although only 25% though it a very important element. Don’t risk missing out on that 25% by not putting a cover letter together that quickly and politely introduces yourself and specifically identifies the role you are applying for.
Further Generic Guidance
Spelling and Grammar! 100% (yes, every single one) of our hiring managers thought this was really important. In a follow up question, 12.5% were happy to let a couple of minor errors pass.
Grammar isn’t easy for everyone, but please try to have your cv proof read by as many people as you can
Leave no unexplained gaps in your CV – employers would question this
A CV of 2 or 3 pages is absolutely fine and preferred to a crammed-full or too brief one pager. Keep everything succinct and to the point.
