This section deals with getting all of the key information down - we'll make it impactful and beautiful later - what you are going to do here is to start filling in the 'form' you created in the last section.

The idea is to get the key content down in draft format. This stage is about making sure you don't forget stuff - you will phrase it nicely and present it well (making sure it fits on those two pages) in the two subsequent sections, so for now, don't worry about that!

Most of the CV structure is plain factual information. The two sections that you can have real influence over are the key skills and the employment history. The process of writing these sections is going to be iterative. This means you're going to do it once and it won't be quite right. You'll then do it again, and maybe again. Each repetition will enable you to get your CV closer and closer to what you want, and each time you will most likely be changing less and less, keeping what you like and changing what you don't.

This is just the way this part of the process works, so it can be time-consuming. It will take the time it needs to, don't rush this bit or worry that you are taking too long - it needs the work for you to feel proud enough of it to send it off for the job you really want

Key skills:

What are my key skills?

These need to be verbs: actions that you could perform for your new employer. For example: 'motivating a team', or 'creating great solutions'. You're looking for five groups of key skills in all, one of which will be 'personal', i.e. the skills that are about you and who you are (I love learning, so one of mine is a skill of learning). A tip is to create 6 or 7 and then use different ones depending on the requirements in a job advert or in a company website. If anything strikes you immediately put it down as a potential category, otherwise don't worry about the categories yet

First we're going to create a long-list, then group them, then trim down.

So the aim initially is to stick everything down, like a brainstorm. No criticism allowed, any idea is a good idea, no practical considerations or worries count. Just go for it.

Some prompters to get you thinking:

• How would you describe what you do to someone who understands nothing of your organisation?
• Why is what you do any good for the organisation - why is it important that you do your job well?
• What do you think you do well?
• What do you think is important to do well in any job? (this gets at your values)
• How would someone else describe what you are best at?
• What is distinctive about the way in which you do your task or run your department?
• How would other people describe how you go about your tasks? What would they say sets you apart from others?
• What might be your USP (your Unique Selling Point)? What is good about you that sets you apart from everyone else?

As you generate this list, you will most likely have thought of some ways to group, or categorise the list items. If you're struggling with some (or indeed all of them!), start by just pairing similar skills - ask yourself 'what is similar?' Make that similarity the group title and see what else in your list matches or fits in that group. Don't worry at this stage about getting the wording right, that bit will come later.

If you repeat this process of pairing, setting a title for that pair and then adding other relevant items you'll soon find that you get to a shorter list of possible categories as pairs start to fit with other pairs, etc, etc. Don't be afraid to recategorise, the process will throw up sudden ideas or insights, they will be good ones!

Remember also that one of your categories is going to be called 'personal', and that you are aiming to create a long-list of 6-7 overall so that you can choose 5 for your CV.

Armed with you first draft of skills and groups, see how you feel about them, are you happy? Do they represent you? Just had enough for now? Whatever you feel, it can be very useful to take a break from them and re-approach them with a new perspective. Just sleep on it and re-read in the morning, come to them afresh and see what you reckon. The bits you don't like, or feel uneasy about need to be changed - however don't fall into the trap of worrying about the wording yet - as long as you have the skills you want in there (even if not worded how you would want them yet) - then you are good to get on with the next bit.

Of course, that's all very well for me to say but sometimes we feel like we know it's not right, but are unsure how it's not right. That's OK, the solution will come to you, just trust that it will and note your feeling of unease for now. There are further stages to the process (such as seeking feedback form someone else) later on that will help you with this.

This might look something like:

Next we will get on with getting the basic content into the next main section before we start perfecting any of the content or worrying about the size of the CV.

Employment:

Company name Location Dates (to month level)
Your role
What does the company do, what role did your role report to and what were your responsibilities?

Now for each job you are going to have a list of achievements - these are things that you did in that job that will show-off your skills. The reason we are listing achievements is that we want to demonstrate to our potential employer how our skills could be of use to them.

Phrasing all the key points you want to get across for maximum impact is tricky. If you try and do it at the same time as thinking of the key points, then it's well-nigh impossible, so again we're going to get the key points down in this iteration and then go through them and phrase them for maximum impact afterwards.

So, how to get your key points for each employment down? Again, some prompters to get you thinking:

• What is different about your company / dept / team / job from the beginning to the end of your employment? In what way could you have contributed to that change?
• Was there growth or development in some way (say in sales, the number of people or customer satisfaction?)
• What would not happen without you?
• How has the company / dept / team developed and improved - how were you involved?
• Were there any big projects or changes?
• Did staffing change, maybe you had to change roles or responsibilities - maybe you took on extra work?
• Did new people start after you - how did you contribute to their development?
• Were you involved in supporting key changes, decisions or people?
• What did you start or create? What did you stop, eliminate or reduce?
• What can that organisation now do that they could not before you were there?
• what is it really important for a potential employer to hear about you - what would you be upset or worried about if it was left out?

The aim here is to get all the key points in, so don't worry if you generate far too much, the key is not to miss out a crucial point, so if in doubt, stick it in. Again, we're going to phrase it all nicely later, so don't worry at this stage...

So what you'll have now is a list of rough notes for achievements under one of your jobs, and a list of rough notes under your key skills section...

This might look something like:

Now, go through and repeat the process for listing achievements for each of the jobs you have listed. Remember that the reader will place most weight on the most recent or on the most relevant job, so spend more time there and least time on the oldest or least relevant job...

If you feel that you have *relevant* achievements from some of your education (e.g. you did a major project on exactly the same area as this job would be focussed on), then set-out that item of education in your education and qualifications section as if it were a job (i.e. the same title format) and list the achievements under that item, using the same prompters and suggested formats as for employment achievements. Remember to keep it focused and relevant.

Now this will all have taken some time, if you have done all this in one go, take a break now. If you are reading ahead before you start the actual work, now you know what's involved - it's time to get stuck in.

Next: Step 3: give the content impact

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