Top Tips for Part-Time Job CV Writing | Crown Institute of Studies

The holidays offer both students and office workers a welcome respite from the stress of everyday life. For those already working, it’s a time to kick back, relax, and enjoy the spoils of the year. For students, it is a chance to forget about stressful exams and pesky assignments.

Enterprising students who want to have some work experience to show on their CVs, however, may prefer to find a part-time job or temporary work to give their profile that edge.

It’s easy to find work as there is a lot to go around, but making employers notice you from all those people submitting their application is hard. Here are our top tips on how to make your application stand out.

What makes you look like a strong candidate? Perhaps surprisingly, it is keeping the information on your CV short and sweet! There are only two pages of paper, at the most, that you can fill with experiences if you are a student – after all, you are just starting your career journey. It also pays to add information that is relevant to the job you’re applying for. Reflect the language used in the job advertisement in your own relevant experiences.

Lastly, no one wants a novel. It’s also a good idea to avoid making it look like a wall of text to read.

When writing your CV, it’s great to list qualities, but better to list them with descriptive paragraphs. When you list down your qualities and describe what happened as a result of using these in school or an organisation, employers may see this as work experience. When you can illustrate a handful of qualities that clearly define you and which you have clearly demonstrated in your work and school history, you help employers visualise you working for them. This is a crucial thing to include in your CV, especially if you’re a student looking for your first job, internship, or summer role.

There are many ways you can complete your CV. Professionals would write a reverse-chronological type of CV where the most recent achievements are found at the top. Since you’re a student, a nice touch would be to write a CV that highlights the skills that make you a fit for the job. It will also help you write the achievements you’ve gained as a result of using those skills.

There are different ways you can organise the sections of your CV, but as a general rule of thumb your education comes first, followed by any work experiences or organisational work done during your time in school. In writing your CV as a part-time applicant, it’s helpful to include any instances that you were of great help to your school organisation.

Crown Institute offers courses in New Zealand that can help you transform your CV with hands-on work experience. If you’d like to find out more about our courses, contact us today!