You are here: Home » Blog » TIME TO SHOWCASE YOUR TRAINING!

How to showcase training on your Curriculum Vitae

It’s a tough time to be hunting for jobs – use this quick guide to help you showcase your training and stand out among the crowd!

Keep it concise

Online training can be a great way to develop and showcase skills, particularly if you lack experience in the role you are applying for.  But don’t be tempted to go overboard and list every course you’ve taken during lockdown – you run the risk of vital information getting lost and your CV will appear generic rather than targeted for a specific role.

Use the job description and person specification to guide you.  Does the employer list any desired or essential qualifications?  Prioritise these to stand out among the crowd.

Keep it relevant

Make sure the information you present best reflects the position you are applying for by selecting relevant and transferrable qualifications.  If your employment background covers a range of industries, make sure you play this to your advantage and avoid the traps that could make you appear under-qualified.  For example, your First Aid training is a big plus for many employers.  On the other hand, a Degree in Ancient Greek Art is less likely to be universally relevant across your applications.  Pick out the skills you developed instead and use these to strengthen your profile.

Be thoughtful about where you list your skills and training.  Take a look at the examples below of two candidates applying for Project Manager position:

This list is concise and logical.  The candidate specifies the level of training where necessary, e.g. CSCS card type, coordinator, supervisor etc.  The list is brief but covers vital points, leaving room to expand on the skills developed elsewhere in the CV.

Candidate B also has a number of great qualifications, but by listing them in this way a few could go unnoticed.  According to Reed, the average CV is read for just 7 seconds before deciding whether to put it in the ‘no’ pile or the ‘read further’ pile!  Whilst courses such as manual handling and environmental awareness are important, these are usually covered again when joining a new company and could easily be referenced elsewhere in the CV.  Similarly, IT training or experience could be covered in the ‘Skills’ section of the CV, alongside other attributes like ‘excellent communication’ or ‘management experience’.

Get ready to be quizzed!

When deciding whether or not to list an additional qualification, ask yourself “Did I learn something valuable?”.  If the answer is no, you might be best leaving it out.  This is especially true for any online training undertaken during lockdown to further your learning.  At the interview stage, be prepared to talk about what you gained from the training and how you’ll make good use of those skills in the future.