Your CV is often the first thing an employer will see, so it is worth taking the time to make sure it properly reflects your experience.
Whether you're a newly qualified Vet or RVN, or you've been working in the veterinary profession for many years, there are a few simple things you can do to make your CV clearer and help your experience stand out.
You don't need to completely rewrite your CV for every job you apply for, but it's worth making sure the experience most relevant to the role is easy to find.
Have a look at the job description and think about what the employer is looking for.
If the role involves team leadership, make sure your management or mentoring experience is clearly shown. If they're looking for someone with a particular clinical interest, make sure your relevant experience and CPD aren't hidden away.
A few small changes can make a big difference.
Your employment history should be straightforward to read, with your most recent role first.
For each role, include:
Your job title
The practice or employer
Dates of employment
Your main responsibilities and experience
Don't just list your job title and leave the employer to work out what you actually did.
For example, if you're an RVN, you might want to include your experience with anaesthesia, theatre, nurse clinics, Schedule 3 procedures, inpatient care, mentoring or team leadership.
For Vets, you could include your clinical interests, surgical experience, emergency work, consults, caseload and any additional responsibilities.
Make sure your relevant qualifications are clearly shown.
Depending on your role, this could include:
Veterinary or nursing qualifications
RCVS registration
Additional certificates or qualifications
Relevant CPD
Leadership or management training
You don't need to list every CPD course you've ever completed. Focus on the training that is relevant to your current experience and the type of role you're looking for.
Your CV doesn't need to be covered in fancy graphics or complicated formatting.
A clean and simple layout is much easier for an employer or recruiter to read.
Use clear headings, consistent formatting and bullet points where they make information easier to scan.
And don't worry about trying to squeeze everything onto two pages. There is no magic number when it comes to CV length. If you've got 15 years of relevant veterinary experience, your CV will naturally be longer than someone who has just qualified.
The important thing is that the information is relevant and not padded out unnecessarily.
A short profile at the beginning of your CV can be a great way to introduce yourself.
Keep it to a few sentences and explain who you are, your level of experience and what you're looking for.
Try to avoid generic phrases such as "hardworking", "passionate" and "reliable". Instead, use the space to tell the employer something useful about your experience.
For example, if you're an experienced RVN with an interest in leadership and several years of mentoring junior nurses, that's much more useful information than simply saying you're a "hardworking and dedicated veterinary nurse".
It sounds obvious, but always give your CV a final check before sending it.
Make sure your:
Contact details are correct
Employment dates are accurate
Qualifications and registration details are up to date
Spelling and grammar are checked
Most recent experience is included
It can also be helpful to ask someone else to read through your CV. A fresh pair of eyes can often spot things you've missed.
If you've worked in veterinary for many years, you don't necessarily need to go into huge detail about every job you've ever had.
Focus on the experience that is relevant to the role you're applying for.
If you're newly qualified and don't have much veterinary experience yet, don't worry. Previous jobs can still be useful if they demonstrate transferable skills such as customer service, teamwork, communication, responsibility or management.
There isn't a set length that works for everyone. Your CV should be long enough to properly show your relevant experience, without including unnecessary information.
Not necessarily, but it can be a useful way of giving an employer a quick overview of who you are and what you're looking for.
Focus on relevant experience. If you're new to the veterinary profession, previous non-veterinary roles can still be worth including if they demonstrate useful transferable skills.
You don't need to start from scratch every time, but it's worth making sure your most relevant experience is easy to find for each role you apply for.
Your CV doesn't need to be complicated or full of impressive-sounding words. It just needs to clearly show who you are, what experience you have and what you could bring to the role.
Take a little time to keep it up to date and make sure your strongest and most relevant experience is easy to see.
And if you're working with a recruiter, don't be afraid to ask for their advice. We look at veterinary CVs every day and can often help you identify experience that you may not have thought was particularly important.
A good CV won't tell an employer everything about you, but it should make them want to find out more.