Outlining your qualifications and any vocational courses you’ve completed on your CV can be very beneficial for your job search. These not only give the recruiter a better idea of your knowledge and skill set but show that you're willing to keep learning new things.
But what is the best way to effectively showcase these on your CV? The truth is, there is no one right answer as this depends on what stage you're at in your career and how much previous experience you have.
So, to help you get a better understanding of how you can present your qualifications, we’ve pulled together a list of our top five tips for showcasing your qualifications for maximum impact:
1. Choose the right format for your CV
The first step to effectively showcasing your qualifications is to pick the right CV format.
What this means is that if the job description has placed greater importance on qualifications, or if you don’t have much previous experience to shout about, you might want to step away from the traditional format of contact details, personal profile, skills/achievements, employment history and education.
Instead, place your education/qualifications section higher up on your CV (above employment history) or add some of your key qualifications to your achievements section so they appear nearer the top.
2. Make the most of your education section
As well as outlining the usual educational background including GCSEs, A-Levels and degrees, you can also use your education section to add any additional qualifications or vocational courses you may have completed.
These need to be in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent qualification at the top of the list. Adding extra certifications, qualifications and training is a great way to show potential employers that you’re serious about the sector and are driven to learn.
3. Showcase these in your professional profile
Your personal profile is one of the most important aspects of your CV. It is the first section the recruiter will read and is your chance to introduce yourself and grab their attention.
As such, you can use this section to outline your most important qualification. But you should only do this if this is particularly impressive and relevant to the role. Otherwise, you're taking up space that could be used to sell yourself in other ways.
4. Use facts and figures to maximise the impact
The more details you can give, the more you can show how these qualifications can add real value to the business. For example, you might want to give the exact names of the programmes or software you learnt to use during a course or training, bullet point the skills you picked up, or perhaps outline the relevant modules/assignments that you completed.
And though it can be trickier to do, if you can include any facts or figures surrounding your qualifications that can help to impress the recruiter too — for example, ‘graduated top of my class of over 50 other students’ or ‘achieved a grade of 96% for my final exam’.
6. Add these to your hobbies and interests section
Finally, you may have taken on vocational courses or qualifications in your spare time as a hobby. If you’ve then decided to turn this hobby into a career or you think these qualifications can help you land a job, add them to your hobbies and interests section.
That said, you should only include a hobbies and interests section on your CV if you have the space to do so and the qualification you include could benefit the company.
For example, perhaps you’re applying for an client management role in a creative marketing agency and have previously taken a graphic design course. Although it’s not necessarily relevant to the specific role you’re going for, having more recruits with design skills is still likely to be a huge asset to them — and could be something they develop with you in the future.
Add quality with your qualifications
Adding your qualifications to your CV is important and can make a real impact. Just be sure to follow the five tips above to choose the most effective format for your application and ensure you present your qualifications as effectively as possible!
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Andrew Fennell is the founder of CV writing advice website StandOut CV – he is a former recruitment consultant and contributes careers advice to websites like Business Insider, The Guardian and FastCompany.