How to make your CV sing! Part I: Graduate and Assistant Level

You’ve seen your dream job advertised, you’re keen to make a good impression but your CV needs an update and you don’t know how to make it stand out. Kate Berry & Sally Blaxall, industry leaders in technical consultancy for retailers and their supply chain offer their expertise…

It depends at what stage you are in your career as to how you present your CV. If you are starting out at Graduate or Assistant level you should start with your personal profile and a statement about what career you want and why.

Next, include any relevant internships or work experience you have done, starting with the most recent.

Move on to include products you have covered, e.g. Men’s, Women’s, Jersey, Woven etc. and Departments worked on, plus experience gained e.g. test reports, specifications, REACH. (This should ideally be the biggest section as is it most relevant to the employer.)

Next include other work experience i.e. not related to fashion and textile. (This should only be a short one line per role.)

Qualifications:

Start with your degree and University dates and details – but don’t write out the whole course content!

A Levels/ Highers – School, Subjects and grades.

GCSE's – just the number passed, no need to list them all.

Here you can highlight any particular specialist areas of expertise: e.g.

Men's Tailoring or Performance Wear Skills - anything relevant to textiles, fashion or technology and any computer/technical skills e.g. Coral Draw plus any awards or achievements.

References on request: try to find referees from industry work experience not your course tutor or your best friend’s mum.

In general – make your CV neat, tidy and easy to read. Use a contemporary font and format in Word with a simple layout. It should be a maximum of 3 pages. Don’t try to make it 'arty' with images and portfolios in the background. These are technical not design roles and your CV should reflect that. Focus on the work experience and use relevant technical language. Show knowledge of current technical developments and keep abreast of what is going on in the industry – sign up to our industry newsletter and twitter feed and read our website for current topical news.

To search for garment technologist roles with QHQ on FashionUnited click here: