Writing an Arts and Heritage CV

Friday, February 12, 2021
Working within the arts and heritage sector can provide an inspiring and rewarding career. However, competition for jobs can be intense. Your CV will often be the first communication you have with a new employer, so it’s vital to make a positive first impression. Follow these steps to help your CV to the top of the pile.

Focus, focus, focus

The arts and heritage sector covers an enormous diversity of roles. From archivists and librarians to gallery managers and artwork restoration specialists. All the distinct types of roles require different skill sets, experience and sometimes qualifications. If you are targeting more than one type of role then you need to adapt your CV or create further versions targeted to the types of jobs being applied for. So, how do you go about focusing your arts and heritage CV?

The professional profile

In the first line of your profile you should use the job title or best recognised industry term for the roles you are applying for. Stating this so early on helps to engage the reader from the outset so they know to read your CV with interest. You could also include a tag line near your name to provide a further connection. Then outline the personal qualities you bring to the role. Say something original about yourself and don’t fall back on recruitment clichés. Keep the profile to a short paragraph of 4 to 5 lines.

Presentation and formatting

The internet is bristling with CV templates. There are many 1000s of options all claiming to make your CV stand out better than the rest. A good CV is, of course, not about the template. Yes, the layout should look professional and the formatting should be consistent. However, the CV template or style is there to provide a backdrop to the content. It is the written information in your CV that has to be the centre of attention.

Specify your achievements

It is simply not enough to just reproduce a list of duties in your CV. Copying and pasting a generic job description is not going to allow the reader to understand how good you are. Use bullet points to demonstrate specific achievements with facts and figures to support the outcomes. Grounding your arts and heritage CV in reality is important. Each employment should tell its own story and reveal the impacts you have made.

Looking for a step up?

If you are looking to make that step into a more senior position then you will need to highlight your leadership and people management achievements in line with the role you are applying for. Read the job description and person specification. This will tell you what the requirements are. If you manage a team – state how many. Show how you influence stakeholders at a high level giving specific examples.

This article is written by Neville Rose, Director of CV Writers.

Full Article @ https://jobs.theguardian.com/article/writing-an-arts-and-heritage-cv/?s=44