A CV is an overview of your career. It’ll be read by a recruiter and they’re impatient people with little time. What’s worse, they’ll be looking at hundreds of CVs each week.
Don’t try to make your CV stand out. Just lay out your skills and experience clearly and let that do the talking. You’re not in design, advertising or PR. A social worker’s CV only needs to concentrate on the facts.
Follow the advice below and you’ll have a CV that’s shockingly easy to read, beautifully laid out, and with all the important information, and nothing else. You don’t want to fool anyone here. You want them to employ you because you’re right for the job.
As you’ll have gathered, there’s actually nothing complicated about CV writing. Just remember these important four rules:-
1. contact details
2. key skills
3. employment history
4. good English
Contact Details
Always add full contact details.
Never miss out your phone number (after all, you do want to find a job don’t you?)
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So, first things first, at the very top of your CV, enter all of your contact details: phone, address AND email).
Let’s imagine how your CV will look
CHELSEA HAUXWELL
Address: 97 Bishopton Road, London, SW11 1MN
Mobile: 07123456789
Email: [email protected]
Key Skills
Think keywords -
“social worker”… “residential support worker”… “drug and alcohol”…
Most job boards like SocialCare.co.uk have a CV search. By thinking carefully about your choice of keywords your CV will appear frequently when employers are searching for candidates. In short, you’ll be headhunted.
Consider the words that most accurately describe you in terms of what you do in your job. For instance “referral and assessment”, “family support”, “fostering”, “adoption”, “mental health services”, “brain rehabilitation”, “learning difficulties”, “IV therapies”, “oncology”, you get the idea.
You then make sure you get these words into your CV. Easy.
Returning to our example nurse, Chelsea Hauxwell, again… Let’s imagine that Chelsea is a social worker in a job working for her local authority specialising in fostering. Chris should ensure she puts these kinds of words throughout her CV: “social worker”, “social services”, “local authority”, “fostering care”, “children”, “family”, “GSCC”, “CRB”. A recruiter searching for registered social workers in the field of fostering for their county council will find Chelsea because her CV closely matches their search criteria.
It’s worth entering your most important keywords high up in your CV. So…
CHELSEA HAUXWELL
Address: 97 Bishopton Road, London, SW11 1MN
Mobile: 07123456789
Email: [email protected]
Current Job: Social Worker – Fostering and Adoption
Current: Jobshire County Council
Experience: 7 years
Desired Job: Senior Social Worker – Families
We like to see a personal statement too. We’re old fashioned like that. And it saves us time. Our eyes get drawn through a personal statement, picking up the key points. Sometimes, it’s all you need to know before you want to speak to the candidate.
And while you’re at it, why not make your qualifications and any registrations with regulating authorities clear as day, right at the top, in capitals.
This is what Chelsea’s CV could look like:
CHELSEA HAUXWELL – GSCC REGISTERED, QSW
Address: 97 Bishopton Road, London, SW11 1MN
Mobile: 07123456789
Email: [email protected]
Current Job: Social Worker – Fostering and Adoption
Current: Jobshire County Council
Experience: 7 years
Desired Job: Senior Social Worker – Families
Personal Statement
I’m a fully trained, qualified, registered and experience social worker. I have experience working for local authorities, specialising in adoption and foster services. Currently employed as a team leader. My duties include referrals and assessments. I have experience of liasing with other social care personnel including support workers, reviewing officers and nursing staff. I have in-depth knowledge of the needs of families and children in my field and the requirements of children who are “looked after” or in care.
Employment History
In CVs, we think, there’s only one way to describe your employment history and that’s in reverse chronology with your current job first, and your first ever job (or voluntary work at the end).
This is where you can also include your duties and responsibilities.
Remember, be brief. Use bullet points to force you to be brief if you need to.
Let’s look at our growing CV example.
CHELSEA HAUXWELL – GSCC REGISTERED, QSW
Address: 97 Bishopton Road, London, SW11 1MN
Mobile: 07123456789
Email: [email protected]
Current Job: Social Worker – Fostering and Adoption
Current: Jobshire County Council
Experience: 7 years
Desired Job: Senior Social Worker – Families
Personal Statement
I’m a fully trained, qualified, registered and experience social worker. I have experience working for local authorities, specialising in adoption and foster services. Currently employed as a team leader. My duties include referrals and assessments. I have experience of liasing with other social care personnel including support workers, reviewing officers and nursing staff. I have in-depth knowledge of the needs of families and children in my field and the requirements of children who are “looked after” or in care.
Career History
Oct 2005-now
Jobshire County Council
Qualified Social Worker – Fostering and Adoption
Ensuring that work with foster carers responds to the needs of the children placed and considers the role of the foster family. Make provisions so that practice with foster carers develops towards an equitable working partnership. Identifying both good practice and weaknesses in service delivery.
Jun 2003-Oct 2005, Brooks Nursing Home
Residential Support Worker
Provide primary basic care
Working with children who present challenging behaviour
Help clients develop meaningful relationships
Provide stimulation and a sense of self-worth
Prepare reviews and attend meetings
Good English
This one’s easy. Easy to get right. Laziness gets it wrong.
Your CV should be how you would like a stranger to see you. If you want to be seen as illiterate and only capable of spelling English in txt language, that’s fine. It’s your choice. But it may win you few jobs. In social care it’s important to be able to write legible reports and records. So it’s an industry where standard literacy rules will apply.
Tips on Good English
Use a spell checker.
Use short sentences.
Use a common font type (Verdana, Lucida Grande, Arial).
Space out your CV.
Don’t write lengthy paragraphs.
Use any software that can save as a .doc file (Microsoft Word). Everyone can open a .doc file. You could also save your file to a .pdf format as a lot of jobsites accept this type as it looks more professional when an employer opens it up on screen.
2 sides of A4 is ample. If shorter, fine. But don’t blindly follow the “must be on one page rule”
Explain any gaps in your employment history
Interests are only worth noting if they’re interesting (everyone likes reading, socialising and going to the cinema)
References – just say ‘on request’
Keep your CV up to date. If you upload your CV to a job board, make sure you login to the jobs board and keep your CV and Profile up to date.
