CV Clinic - advice & tips for your fashion CV

As you would not have a career history, you should focus on your education and key skills. If you have not yet left school, list the qualifications you will be taking and the dates, possibly with predicted grades. You can also include non-academic certificates and awards in this section. Your key skills should be things that you are good at such as good at practical tasks, strong written and verbal communication etc and try and provide brief examples from the subjects that you are studying at school to back these up. You should also include any PC skills that you may have in this section.

If you do have any work experience, these should be listed on your CV - even if they are for short periods of work or voluntary. You may also want to include work related skills in this section, detailing what skills you learnt. E.g. Worked well in a team. If you are going to include reference details on your CV, you should provide information for two contacts, one of which can be a tutor at your school and the other could be an employer or someone who can provide you with a character reference.

It is definitely advised to state your non-fashion related roles on your CV as these can demonstrate competencies that some of your other roles may not. For example, working as an office administrator in a busy office can demonstrate your ability to manage your workload and work under pressure. If you do have roles that you think are completely irrelevant, you should still include these on your CV with dates of employment as this can help to clarify any gaps that you many have in between education/employment.

You should ensure you include your key achievements and some information on the type of role / position you are looking for – perhaps linking this to your Degree too. If you have completed any work experience / placement you should also include this; again identifying your achievements during this time

Unless the advert tells you not to, always send a covering letter. This should highlight the key areas of experience from your CV that are most relevant to the advertised job.

Your CV should be no more than two pages in length and should capture the most relevant information. The best CV format is normally in reverse chronological order with your employment history, in date order - avoid leaving any gaps, so if you have had time out of work always mention reasons why.

You must include basic contact information (name, address, email, telephone number etc); a profile section which lists your achievements in bullet form; and your education to date. If you’ve recently graduated you may want to put this before your employment history as this should be the main focus of your CV.

Clear, and attractive presentation is very important if your CV is to stand out. Ensure yours is uncluttered with key points easy to spot.

And finally, ALWAYS make sure you spell check and proof read your CV before submitting it!

Don't have the same CV for every application - have two or three versions, so it’s tailored to the job you're applying for. It isn't a case of one size fits all and you may find that certain job positions require completely different information to others.

Be sure to keep your CV up to date. It is amazing how many people just add their most recent position to their old CV without updating previous positions to the past tense or giving leaving dates. Try to go through your CV with a fine toothcomb whenever you get chance.