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Hints and Tips for Producing a Medical CV

The basic purpose of a CV is to present relevant facts to a prospective employer, which will enable them to make a judgement regarding your suitability for a particular post. Although not currently used at the first stage of application to Specialty Training, it is expected that a CV will be included within your portfolio and so forms an important part of the recruitment process.

Many publications refer to different ‘styles’ of CV: chronological, targeted or skills based for example and will stress the importance of keeping your CV to a maximum length of two pages. However, it is widely accepted that a medical CV is likely to be considerably longer than this in order to provide all the required information.

The Basics…

Presentation is important. Ensure your CV is easy to read, well laid out and organised. Your CV gives an impression of your working style- well organised and methodical is a positive message to convey.

Do your homework! Check the Person Specification and/or Job Description carefully to ensure your CV demonstrates how you meet the requirements. Person Specifications for training posts can be found on the MMC website. 

There is no right or wrong way to structure a CV. However it should be:

  • concise and succinct
  • tailored to the position you are applying for: a ‘one size fits all’ approach does not work and invariably looks unfocused, which does not suggest commitment to the role or specialty
  • checked- and checked again- dates, spelling (trails instead of trials is a common error) and change the tense if your experience was in the past
  • consistent with font style throughout. Use only one style and font size: 12 is the norm.

You may also wish to consider having two versions of your CV: a ‘reference’ and an ‘application’ CV:

  1. ‘Reference’ CV. This is your own full and complete record, including all your skills and experience (both medical and non-medical) and should include transferable skills. If you update it regularly, this will ensure you have a written record of all your experience and highly relevant information. You may want to structure this in the same format as a chronological CV, which will include the information outlined in section 3 below.
  2. ‘Application’ CV.  As its name suggests, this is the C.V. you will use for applications and to demonstrate your understanding of the requirements of the post. You may find it helpful to reflect the competency-based application forms which can be found on Deanery websites. Alternatively you may choose to follow the structure of the Person Specification.

Structure and Content

As there are no ‘hard and fast’ rules about the structure of your CV you have the freedom to decide what to include and how to present it. However you should bear in mind the purpose of your CV which is to present a concise summary of your experience, skills and knowledge and to demonstrate how you can match the person specification. Remember the selectors will not have long to spend reading your CV.

A commonly used structure includes the following:

  • Personal Details
  • Career Statement
  • Education and Qualifications
  • Present Position
  • Career History
  • Clinical skills and experience
  • Development activities such as conferences, management and leadership courses
  • Presentations, Prizes, Publications
  • Audits
  • Teaching Experience
  • References

Personal Details will include name, contact details, GMC number and NTN if you have one. You do not need to include age, date of birth, marital status, dependents or gender. Ensure any email addresses or mobile phone numbers are current and accurate.

Career Statement: This is relevant when applying for specialty posts but is becoming widely used. This short paragraph informs the reader of your career intentions and can also be used to direct them to other sections within your CV, such as Audits, Presentations and Publications. Do ensure this section is appropriate to your application: the O & G interview panel will not be impressed by an opening statement about your long held interest in Psychiatry!

Education and Qualifications: include dates and results. Do not list your A levels or GCSEs, nor include your primary school. You may wish to provide some detail about research projects or special study modules if appropriate.

Present Position: rather than just list your employer and post, you may wish to consider including some brief information about your responsibilities within the role (particularly where it relates to the specialty or post) and the skills you have developed.

Career History: Include information such as dates, role and an outline of the responsibilities, skills and achievements. Remember to make it specific- don’t waste space (and the reader’s time) with a lot of detail about posts which are not relevant.

Presentations, Prizes, Publications, Teaching and Audits: Include this if you have them. Do not ‘invent’ anything- not everyone will have won prizes for example, but do include any presentations or publications even if they are not directly relevant to your specialty. Many of the skills you have developed are transferable across specialties and here you can demonstrate evidence of communication, teaching, teamwork, problem-solving, and report writing to name a few.

References: Ensure these are current and that you have permission from your referee to include their contact details. It may help to give them a copy of your CV and the job description so that they are able to write a focused reference.

And finally…

  • Check it, check it and check it again! Ask at least two other people to read it before submitting your CV. You will benefit from an objective view.
  • Ensure it is in a format that can be emailed.
  • Use positive language- avoid words such as basic, only, average, quite. Be positive and enthusiastic!
  • Use good quality white paper for printing. Avoid ‘quirky’ paper or fonts – they make you stand out, but for the wrong reasons.
  • Allow plenty of time to work on your CV. You want to give the reader or person short-listing a favourable impression – ideally to convey that you are a confident, competent, responsible professional and worth further investment in your training.