Writing a CV for an apprenticeship

A CV (short for curriculum vitae) is a quick summary of your education, experience and skills. For lots of apprenticeships it’s the first thing an employer sees, so it needs to be clear, accurate and relevant.

Don’t panic if you haven’t got much experience. Employers know you’re just starting out. The BBC, for example, says it isn’t looking for loads of experience. What matters is showing what you can do and why you’d be good at this.

The advice below follows the National Careers Service, England’s official careers service. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own (My World of Work, Careers Wales and the Northern Ireland Careers Service), and they say much the same thing.

What to include, in order

1. Contact details

Your name, phone number and email address, plus a professional profile like LinkedIn if you have one. Use an email address that sounds grown-up (save the funny one for your mates).

The National Careers Service says to leave out your age, date of birth, marital status and nationality. Employers don’t need them to judge your application.

2. A short intro

A few lines under your contact details about who you are and what you want to do. Make it about this apprenticeship: the kind of work that interests you, and one or two strengths that fit the role.

3. Education

If you’re just starting out, put education before work history. List your qualifications (including predicted grades if you’re still studying), with the name of your school or college and the dates you were there. Make subjects that match the apprenticeship easy to spot, like maths and physics for engineering.

4. Work history and experience

List work placements, volunteering and paid jobs, most recent first. For each one, give the employer, your role, the dates and two or three lines about what you did. The National Careers Service suggests the STAR method: the Situation, the Task, the Action you took and the Result.

5. Skills and interests (optional)

Not much work history? The National Careers Service suggests showing skills from projects, work experience or volunteering instead. Hobbies count too: captaining a sports team shows leadership, and building a website or a model shows technical skill and patience.

6. References (optional)

Only mention references if someone, like a teacher or a manager, has agreed to give you one. You don’t need to list their details; “references available on request” is fine.

Make it easy to read

• Use a clear font like Arial or Calibri, at size 11 or bigger, and keep the style the same all the way through.
• Use headings and bullet points so it’s quick to skim.
• Keep your wording short and to the point.
• Get someone you trust to check your spelling and grammar.

Change it for every application

Read the advert or programme description and note the skills and qualities they ask for. Then make sure your CV shows those, using their words where they genuinely describe you. A CV for a software apprenticeship should look different from one for a construction apprenticeship, even if your experience is exactly the same.

Mistakes to avoid

• Spelling mistakes, or the wrong company name.
• Listing what you did without saying what you achieved or learned.
• Personal details the employer doesn’t need.
• Exaggerating. Anything on your CV can come up at interview, so make sure it’s true.
• Sending the same CV to everyone.

Keep it up to date

Add new achievements, experience and qualifications as you get them, take out anything old, and check your contact details still work.