How to write your CV if you want to work for SafeLane Global

In 2018, one of our Manpower Executive colleagues Charlotte Haines published a guide on LinkedIn to making your CV stand out from the crowd.

Charlotte has kindly given us permission to use her article as inspiration for this blog post.

As a project-based company we are always in a hiring phase for contract staff – both in the UK and internationally.  And as a high growth company, we are often in a hiring phase for additional permanent talent. 

Keep an eye on our careers page for the latest positions and stay up to date with the latest opportunities by following our multiple social channels.

We receive a lot of enquiries about recruitment (which we love receiving), so we wanted to create this handy guide to help you tailor your CV for SafeLane Global roles.

Help! I don’t have an up-to-date CV!

If you don’t have an up-to-date CV – or even any CV at all – the thought of creating one may seem daunting.  It can be very hard to sell one’s own skills in a powerful way.

Don’t panic. 

Start by detailing all your personal contact information.  We need to see your name, address, telephone numbers, email address – and if you have a skype account, let us have that as well.

Our HR Manager or Manpower Executives may need to get hold of you quickly – and so you need to give them as much contact information as you can.

Next up, do you have any qualifications?  Yes?  Great – list them, and include proof when you send in your CV. 

We cannot take it as read that you really do have a PhD in detection dog training!  Our recruitment process involves close scrutiny of everyone’s qualifications – so submit all relevant qualifications when you send in your CV.

So far so good – but how do I make my CV stand out?

As you can imagine, we do receive many applications for the posts we recruit for.  To stand out, make sure you don’t just write a dry chronological history of employment with the names of employers and dates…but instead you also detail key achievements in each role.

If you’re applying for a specific role, have a short summary or list of bullet points of the relevant skills you have for the role in question.

Within your employment list, highlight the skills you brought to the role and then detail tangible achievements you made in that role.  What did you achieve in this role that you were proud of?

This will help us see what you can do, and how you can do it effectively.

I can’t write about myself; it feels too awkward…

There are three ways around this common hurdle to writing a stand-out CV. 

1) Pretend you’re writing about someone else. 

2) Ask a trusted colleague to critique your CV and be prepared to take it on the chin when they make you rewrite some sections!

3) If you’re really stuck or want an extra pair of eyes, use a professional CV writing service.

How long should my CV be?

You might have decades of experience in hundreds of roles, but if you list every single detail our HR Manager or Manpower Executives may fail to find that nugget of information that will make them call you.

Remember to detail core skills if applying for a given role, and focus on your key skills and achievements when detailing employment history.  This is the information that will make you stand out from the crowd.

Ideally a CV should be no more than two sides of A4 – and a resume one side.

The SafeLane recruitment database

Maintaining the strictest GDPR and data security rules, our Manpower team has a database of staff they can call on for any project requirement.

If your CV has skills we need or may one day need, you will be added to the database.  You will also be contacted by the team.

It could be that we don’t have anything suitable for you right now – but if and when we do, you will get a call.

If you’re applying for a specific permanent role at one of our UK offices, you will be contacted by our HR manager, Sharon.

Any final tips?

Remember, we do want to hear from you, and we want to understand why you’re the right fit for SafeLane Global. 

Our core company values are honesty, integrity, passion, and quality.  Think about how you can show you have the required skills for a given role - and how you can demonstrate you will uphold these values.

Good luck.