In my last blog, I wrote about creating a matrix to help narrow down your career options, thinking not just about your experiences but how much you enjoyed them. This week, let’s create a new matrix to consider how recent and relevant experiences intersect on your CV.
Anything that is both recent and relevant to your chosen role should take pride of place on your CV, while dated items should be removed. But what do you do when your experience falls somewhere in the middle – relevant but not recent, or vice versa?
Well, grab a pen and draw another plus (+) in the centre of a page. We’ll use the horizontal line to look at relevant experiences, and the vertical line to look at recent ones.
Not recent, but relevant
(Top left)
Let’s start by thinking about what ‘recent’ could mean to a student. If you’re in your first year, you might have completed a Duke of Edinburgh award while you were in school the previous year. That’s fine to have on your CV for now. However, once you approach graduation, that DofE might feel like a lifetime ago! I’ve suggested before that DofE can be knocked off a graduate CV to make space for the modules, projects and experiences you’ve gained from your degree.
But what should you do if your older experience is relevant to the role you’re going for? What if you completed a week’s work experience at a bank, and now you’re aiming for an internship at the same place?
In these cases, I would say keep it. These experiences have medium priority. They should come before things that are not as relevant, while leaving space for your more recent achievements. Consider splitting your work experience into two sections – ‘Relevant experience’ and ‘Other experience’ – to showcase older, relevant experiences as needed.
Recent and relevant
(Top right)
Was that last quadrant a bit of a headache? Don’t worry, this one’s easy. If you have recently completed a module, written a report, or carried out a role that is relevant to your next steps, this is the holy grail of your CV.
Whether you are studying a Bachelor’s, a Master’s, or a PhD, make sure your current or most recent studies get the attention they deserve. Within your education section, work in reverse chronological order as you would with experience, putting the most recent thing first.
If you’ve been on placement and want to do something similar in a graduate role, your placement is relevant experience. But remember it is fine to move away from that if you didn’t enjoy it or want to pursue something different.
Employers want to know what you did during your time at university. And if it relates to their role, company or sector, it’s relevant as well as recent. These experiences have high priority.
Not recent and not relevant
(Bottom left)
If you need to cut your CV down, this might be the best place to start. What could you easily remove to make space for other things? This will all depend on your individual circumstances, but it could include:
- volunteer work in an unrelated sector from over two years ago
- individual GCSE subjects (could you summarise the number of grades instead?)
- anything you don’t remember in detail!
These things have low priority. It’s not necessarily wrong to put them on your CV, but if you need to make cutbacks they should be the first to go.
Recent but not relevant
(Bottom right)
If your most recent or current role is not related to your field of interest, I would still suggest keeping this on your CV. For example, maybe you’re working part-time alongside your studies, suggesting excellent time management skills. Perhaps you’ve been in that role for a significant length of time. While the job itself might not be an exact match, it tells future employers that you’re reliable. If you’ve asked your current employer for a reference, you should always put this role somewhere on your CV – perhaps in ‘Other experience’ if it’s not as obviously relevant.
Transferable skills are crucial to securing your next role, and you may have more than you realise! So instead of just saying ‘I handled cash’ or ‘I answered the phone’, think about what skills you were using and how they match the essential criteria. Cash handling could be attention to detail, while a good telephone manner suggests verbal communication and listening skills. These experiences have medium priority compared with things that are directly related to your chosen role. It’s good to make space for them further down your CV.
Summary
Not recent but relevant: medium priority, keep if there’s space
Recent and relevant: high priority, keep
Not recent and not relevant: low priority, remove
Recent but not relevant: medium priority, keep if there’s space
While I hope this matrix is useful to you, it is only intended as a guide. Everyone’s CV is different, and what you prioritise will depend on the experience you have. You can drop in to the Careers Centre if you need tailored feedback on your CV.
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