How to Write Your CV for a Job in Further Education

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Writing a CV is always a daunting task. It is your first opportunity to make the best impression on a prospective employer, so you want to get it right. One small mistake such as a spelling error, and your CV will just be thrown away. We are going to run through how to create a killer CV to help you land your next further education job role.

Key Tips

Before we go into what you should include on your CV, here are a few things to bear in mind:

  1. Keep your CV to two pages maximum. Make it as concise as possible, as you can always go into further detail in your covering letter.
  2. Type up your CV, and send it using software that everyone can open. If you have an Apple computer, remember not everyone can open Pages documents. You may need to export it as a Word Document instead.
  3. Make sure your CV has clear headings to break up each section, and is easy to read. Avoid fonts which look like handwriting and are ambiguous.
  4. Clearly outline the important things an employer needs to know about your employment history, education and skills (in that particular order).
  5. Ensure your CV is relevant to the job you are applying for. Don’t just send out one CV for various job roles, adapt it as necessary.

Personal Information

Your CV should always have your name and contact details at the top. This should include your address, telephone number and email address. Don’t include your date of birth as it is illegal for employers to discriminate against age. At the end of the day, your age doesn’t affect your ability to do the job you are applying for.

After this, you should include an opening statement to explain why you are the best person for the role. This is a really important part of your CV so take your time to get it right. In essence, it is a summary of key skills and experience, and how they will help you succeed in this job that you are applying for. For example, if you have shadowed an experienced assessor, now is the time to mention that.

Sections To Include

Once you have included the introduction sections on your CV, you need to start listing your qualifications, employment history, CPD, interests and references. Let’s have a look at each of these sections in further detail.

Qualifications:

You should always list your qualifications starting with the one you have most recently achieved. Post-graduate qualifications should be first, followed by your degree (if you have one), and then any Diplomas, A-Levels and GCSEs. It is always a good idea to include the date that you became qualified too. If you gained the Level 3 Certificate In Assessing Vocational Achievement 5 years ago, by adding the date it is clear that you are an experienced assessor.

Include the name of the company that you trained with as this will help to show you have gained a qualification from a reputable company. Outline any key study areas or projects which you feel are relevant to the job you are applying for.

If you are in the middle of studying, the best thing to do is to leave the date as ‘ongoing’. You don’t want to put yourself in an awkward position where you lie and say you have finished a qualification. That is not the right first impression you want to make on your prospective employer, as they will find out one way or another!

When adding information about your degree, include what you studied, where you studied, and the grade you achieved. It is also a good idea to include a summary about the main assignments and exams that you took, to give the employer an insight into the degree.

Don’t forget to add any other qualifications that you have achieved, such as A-Levels and GCSEs. Although you may have received them some time ago, they are still valid.

Employment History:

If you have worked in the FE sector previously, be sure to include this within your employment history (even if it was only voluntary work). For each role, include information about the teaching responsibilities you were given, and the achievements you gained. Use bullet points in order to break this section down, and try to be concise where possible.

It is always a good idea to include the age range of the pupils you have taught, as well as listing the specific subject areas. If you have been part of any extra-curricular activities note these down too. They are a great way to show your prospective employer that you are willing to go the extra mile to help others.

If you are entering the teaching/assessing industry from another career, you still need to include your full employment history even if it is not directly related. When you are adding details about the responsibilities you had, try to tailor these towards the job you are applying for.

Continuing Professional Development:

If you are applying for a job in the further education sector, it is important that you have an up-to-date CPD record. This helps to highlight that you are constantly looking for new ways to improve upon your skills. Assessors should always be aware of the latest practices and your CPD will help to show this. Whether you have completed an online course, or have researched the latest software to help one of your dyslexic learners, these should be added to your CPD.

The Last Sections

The hardest part is now done. The last part of your CV is more about your personality and what you can bring to this new role. You should include a section detailing your interests and hobbies (what you like to do in your spare time); and if you have any that are relevant to the role even better!

References should always be listed on your CV, and where possible this should be your previous employer. They are the best people to give an insight into both your personality and positive traits. If you are currently completing a relevant training course, you can always add the course provider as a reference. You will need to clearly state that you are not employed by the training provider though.

Finishing Touches

Your CV should now be complete and ready to send off. One last tip before you do though – proofread it out loud. It is easy to scan over a document and miss spelling or grammar mistakes, but if you read it out loud you will pick these up easily. The last thing you want is to miss out on a great further education job because of a silly error.

Once you are happy with the final document, press the send button! Remember, once it is sent that is it. There is no point worrying about whether you missed something, as it is too late to do anything now. We wish you all the best of luck, but if you followed our guide you won’t have gone far wrong.

If you would like any more assistance, please feel free to contact the team at Brooks & Kirk on 01205 805 155, or email training@brooksandkirk.co.uk.