- Profile Statement: Open your CV with a short paragraph giving a clear picture of who you are, include an overview of your sector and role experience. Try including an intention statement if you are seeking a specific role, for example: “Interested in supporting charitable organisations and gaining trustee experience.”
- Highlight your Skills: Bullet point your key skills near the top of your CV to emphasise your expertise.
- Governance Experience: Create a separate section for your governance experience to demonstrate your understanding, abilities and transferable experience. Here you can detail previous experience including: non-executive director (NED) roles, trustee roles, governor roles, and committee, network or panel positions. If you have completed any governance training programmes, this is also a good place to highlight it. If you do not have governance experience, have you worked closely with or reported to the board of your own organisation? Try using this experience to demonstrate your understanding of governance
- Executive Summary: Outline your key recent roles in detail, highlighting your responsibilities and achievements. Avoid using jargon and try to ensure that your CV is accessible to those outside your sector; perhaps also include a sentence explaining your organisation’s purpose and area of expertise. If you have an extensive career history, focus on your last 3 – 4 roles in detail and consider listing your older roles under previous experience.
- Length: Aim to keep your CV to 2 – 3 pages. Remember, most applications will require a cover letter where you can expand on your experience and include further relevant examples from your experience.
Please find a CV template below to get you started:
Profile
What to include: A short summary about yourself, your experience and your strengths, aim for around 75-100 words.
Skills and Expertise
What to include: List 8-10 key skills and experiences, e.g. Digital Transformation, People Strategy, Organisational Change
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Board Experience [if applicable]
What to include: list your Non-Executive Director (NED)/ Board experience in date order (most recent first) and include a short description of the organisation and your role or expertise/skills you are utilising on the board – aim for around 100 words per role.
NED, XXX Org, January 2014 – January 2020
NED for an org focused on xxxx advised on growth strategy
Trustee, XXX Charity, January 2010 – January 2016
Board Trustee for an org focused on supporting xxxx advised on people strategy and sat on the xxxxx committee.
Career History
What to include: list your career history in date order (most recent first) and include a short description of the organisation and your role. Aim for between 100 and 150 words per role. You don’t need to provide a description of your early career experience if it takes up too much space. Where possible add the revenue/turnover of each organisation to give an impression of size and mention if you have observed and/or reported to the board.
Director of Digital, XXX Organisation, January 2014 – Present
Lead a team of XXX to deliver transformation for a FTSE350 organisation key achievements include XXX
Deputy Digital Director, XXX Organisation, January 2010 – January 2014
Led XXX function for a national charity with an income of XXX key achievements include: XXX
Head of Digital, XXX Organisation, January 2009- January 2010
Reporting to Digital Director led a team of XX to deliver transformation project aimed at XXX key achievements include
Digital Project Manager, XXX Organisation, 2005 – 2009
Project Manager, XXX Organisation, 2004 – 2005
Project Coordinator, XXX Organisation, 2003 – 2004
Project Assistant, XXX Organisation, 2000 – 2003
Education and Qualifications
What to include: List your education starting with the most recent.
MBA, University of XXX, 2019 – Present
PRINCE2 Project Management 2004 – 2005
BA, Subject, University XXX, 1997 – 2000
Interests [Optional]
What to include: Give a brief impression of your interests outside of work
E.g. I am a keen runner and ran the London Marathon in 2019 raising £2000 for charity.
