As a contractor you need to put yourself in the market time after time. Competition is high and to set yourself apart from the rest you need a strong CV that appeals to employers and shows your skills and experience.
Do you have the skills that the company is asking for? Make sure that these are clearly evident on the first page of your CV. Keep in mind that you should always tailor your CV to the job you are applying for. Show previous experience of working on similar projects and give examples of times you have utilized key skills.
Being a contractor, you might have a long work history of different projects and the 2-page CV rule easily turns in to 4, 5 or even more pages. You don’t need to include every job you had in your career, especially when you are working in the IT industry. Skills that were in high demand 15 years ago are now outdated and barely used anymore. Highlight your current skillset early on in your CV and focus on the most recent roles. The key is to get right to the point, and make the reader know exactly what your core skills are at the very start of your CV.
Working in the networking industry it is also important to add your qualifications and accreditations. Write these down in bullet points under your summary or skillset.
As the recruitment timeline for contractor roles is often short, you need to get across your experience and strengths immediately. Recruiters only take 6 seconds to decide if you are suitable or not. So, start your CV with a short summary of key skills. When you get to the experience section make sure you aim to show what you can do using examples with results from previous projects. Spend more time detailing recent roles, and summarise any older roles. You don’t need to talk about soft skills such as i.e. being a team player. Just be straight to the point about what you did and the results. Don’t forget to add the duration of the projects you worked on. And if you had any renewals add this as well, because it always looks good if you had renewals. Keep in mind that your CV has one job and that is to get you to an interview. So, include the key information that will get you to the interview and then you can talk through your work and projects into more detail during the interview.
You don’t necessarily need to add your education on your contractor CV. If you have been contracting for years it is quite irrelevant. But If you are just starting your career don’t forget to mention your degree/education. The same goes for hobbies or interests. This will only take up space and doesn’t have to be on a there.
As with permanent CV’s spelling and grammar is just as important. Typos just don’t look good and you should avoid these at all times. Next to typos another common mistake is using different or weird fonts. Use common fonts such as Arial, Verdana or Times New Roman when creating your CV. And then at last there is the layout. Use a common presentation style throughout. Make your CV is eye-catching and presentable, so that anyone who reads it can quickly see what you do.
Tip: Contractor roles are often filled quickly, so the quicker you send over your details, the better it is for you.
Layout
Name:
Your name and contact details
Summary:
A paragraph including key skills, areas of expertise and achievements
Key Skills/expertise:
Summed up in bullet points or a table
Certifications:
Cisco/Juniper certifications
Employment history:
List your most recent role first. Include company, location and dates. Write down examples and results from previous projects.
References:
Write that these are ‘available upon request’