What Does a CV Stand For? CV Meaning Explained
What does a CV stand for? Read our comprehensive guide and learn the CV meaning compared to a resume meaning. No more asking “What’s a CV?” since now.
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As an HR professional, you might feel a little funny searching online for how to write a Human Resources CV. You might feel like a food critic looking up how to cook pasta al dente or a sports commentator looking for pointers on how to kick a ball with their children.
In this guide, you'll view an HR CV that many HR specialists would like to have. You'll also get numerous UK-based CV examples that meet all standards and requirements. And, after the reading, you'll perfectly know how to write about your HR work experience when you're actually an HR professional.
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Based on over 6 million CVs created in our builder, we found out that*:
*The data comes from a period of the last 12 months (August 2023-August 2024).
Bethany Chapman
P: 077 4433 2211
E: bethany.chapman@lcmail.co.uk
L: linkedin.com/in/bethanychapman
Personal statement
Dynamic and forward-thinking HR professional with over 5 years’ experience working in different industries and for both SMEs and large corporations. Recently drafted new exit interview procedures that have already led to initiatives that have saved the company approximately £250,000 and boosted employee satisfaction levels by 15% on average and up to 70% on individual measures. Looking to leverage experience, knowledge and skills in HR Manager role at Henry & Michael Fashion Warehouse to help it scale the way of working for which it is quickly becoming famous.
Work experience
HR and Recruitment Officer
Zuru Customer Service Centre, Liverpool
August 2017—present
HR Administrator
CE Corporation, Liverpool
May 2015—July 2017
Education
BA (Hons) Human Resource Management (2:1), 2011–2014
Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool
(Including one-year placement with CE Corporation)
Skills
Additional qualifications
Professional development
Read on to see how to write a CV for an HR job and what should your CV look like.
Imagine how much simpler your job would be if every candidate and even employee could sum up who they are and what they have to offer the company in three or four coherent sentences. Make life that easy for the HR professionals and hiring managers who come across your HR CV.
Keep it simple and make sure your CV personal statement (also called a CV summary or a CV profile) does just three things and does them well. It should:
Does your HR CV personal statement answer the following questions? You could even write out your responses one after the other and end up with a coherent and concise personal statement. Keep it to 3–4 sentences and 50–150 words.
Whether or not you’re experienced with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs), it’s an increasingly safe bet to assume that the company to which you’re applying is using one. So pay attention to the keywords you use (it’s best to use wording similar to the one in the job advert) and be sure to mention the name of the position and the company name in your personal statement.
It’s best to write your personal statement last, or at least after you’ve prepared your job descriptions (and that's why it's also called a CV summary). You’ll be able to do a much better job once you’ve gone through and written out and quantified your HR achievements. Come back to this section later and keep it mind in the meantime.
Dynamic and forward-thinking HR professional with over 5 years’ experience working in different industries and for both SMEs and large corporations. Recently drafted new exit interview procedures that have already led to initiatives that have saved the company approximately £250,000 and boosted employee satisfaction levels by 15% on average and up to 70% on individual measures. Looking to leverage experience, knowledge and skills in HR Manager role at Henry & Michael Fashion Warehouse to help it scale the way of working for which it is quickly becoming famous.
A strong CV summary will convince the recruiter you’re the perfect candidate. Save time and choose a ready-made personal statement written by career experts and adjust it to your needs in the LiveCareer CV builder.
Just in case your recruitment experience has taught you otherwise, it’s best to stick with a chronological format for your HR CV. So start with your most recent job description and work your way back from there. This is what most hiring managers are accustomed to and it’s easier for an ATS to parse.
Use this template to create a subheading for each CV job description:
[Job Title]
[Company Name, Location]
[Dates of Employment]
Populate each job description with up to six bullet points. Merely listing your duties and responsibilities is definitely not the way to go here. Instead, come up with a measurable achievement for each bullet point. Quantify everything you can and focus on the benefits you brought to the company.
Use accomplishment statements to help structure and quantify your achievements. You could also incorporate something like a PAR (Problem Action Result) formula to develop your bullet points. Start with a strong verb and describe the actions you took to address a problem, quantifying the result.
Writing your first CV with little or no work experience? Follow the above guidelines focusing on any internships, placement work, and volunteer work you’ve done and put this section after your education section. If you have no experience at all, then a student CV might be better suited to your circumstances.
HR and Recruitment Officer
Zuru Customer Service Centre, Liverpool
August 2017—present
HR Administrator
CE Corporation, Liverpool
May 2015—July 2017
A university degree is almost always required to get into HR. Make sure yours is front and centre in your HR CV education section. Keep to the reverse-chronological format so that your highest level of education comes first. If you have a university degree, then there’s no need to mention high school.
Use the following template to list university degrees and other tertiary qualifications:
[Degree Type] [Degree Name](Degree Class), [Years Attended]
[Institution Name], [Institution Location]
If you’re currently studying, then include an expected graduation date. If you don’t have a university degree, then use the following templates to detail your high school education:
A-levels: [Subject Name 1], [Subject Name 2], [Subject Name 3]
[School Name], [School Location], [Years Attended]
[number of] GCSEs (including Mathematics and English)
[School Name], [School Location], [Years Attended]
BA (Hons) Human Resource Management (2:1), 2011–2014
Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool
(Including one-year placement with CE Corporation)
It’s easy to at best skim over an applicant’s skills section. Listing skills on a CV is for some people little more than an opportunity to dream up the perfect employee. Or clone the skills listed in the job advert. Although it’s true that you should at least cover those required skills, you can do much better.
Make a master list of your HR skills, listing everything that comes to mind (hard, soft and IT skills/technical skills). Now go back and add a sentence onto each skill, showing how and when you’ve demonstrated it at work. Be as concrete as you can. Any skills you can’t do this for don’t make the cut. Save this list for future applications.
Copy 5–10 skills from your master list into your CV, at least covering what’s spelt out in the advert. Notice how a list like this carries so much more weight than a list of skill keywords. On the topic of keywords: substitute synonyms to mirror the keywords used in the advert to stay on top of any ATS being used.
You’ve probably seen some pretty breathtakingly misjudged inclusions on candidates’ CVs. But, in the right hands, those extra sections on a CV can really help paint a fuller picture of the applicant. So don’t shy away from supplementing the sections above with something more uniquely yours.
It’s true that something like a CIPD diploma could just as easily go in your education section, but it’s just as correct to give these kinds of things their own section (certainly at award level). You could also add languages, non-work related achievements, even hobbies. As long as it’s relevant it’s fair game.
Additional qualifications
Professional development
Maybe you’re one of those people who never reads cover letters, maybe the cover letter is the first document you reach for. It goes without saying that you should always assume you’re dealing with the latter when you submit your HR CV. All good cover letters share the same basic structure:
Make your HR cover letter stand out by writing 3–5 body paragraphs that include:
Done right, your cover letter will end up being over half an A4 page but no longer than one A4 page, about 250–400 words in total, including:
If you’re in the ‘cover letters don’t matter’ camp, then it can be easy to fall into the trap of assuming other HR professionals will be the same. Include a cover letter unless it’s been made clear that you shouldn’t do so. Better to have a great cover ignored than a bad one taken into consideration.
Many of the following things will be obvious to you, but it’s the obvious things that we’re most likely to overlook. Consider this a final pre-flight checklist for the next leg of your HR career.
Are you within the one-page-per-decade-of-experience limit? Don’t go over two pages, no matter how experienced you are. That's the very basics of a good CV.
Check you HR CV and cover letter (yes, again). Run spellcheck, feed your documents through a web app, get another pair of eyes on both documents.
The only reason not to use PDF is if you’ve been explicitly asked to use something else.
Follow up if you haven’t heard back after a week. Think of how you’d perceive a candidate who did this. Also, consider adding your CV to LinkedIn for better exposure.
You don’t have to be a CV writing expert. In the LiveCareer CV builder you’ll find ready-made content for every industry and position, which you can then add with a single click.
Did you like our sample HR CV? I hope this has article has answered some of those questions that you were afraid to ask. Is there anything you’d like more information on? Is there anything you’d like to respectfully disagree with? Leave your questions, comments and feedback below. We’d love to hear from you!
Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.
About the author
Since 2013, the LiveCareer UK team has shared the best advice to help you advance your career. Experts from our UK editorial team have written more than one hundred guides on how to write the perfect CV or cover letter.
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