When searching for your next health and safety job, it is important that when you apply, your CV stands out against the potentially hundreds of other H&S professionals that are applying for the same role.
There can be a lot of conflicting advice on the internet with regards to what to include on your CV and how to present it effectively when applying for health and safety jobs, or any type of job for that matter. What are the key things you should think about when crafting your CV for a new job?
How long should my health and safety CV be?
If you are applying for a health and safety job role within the UK then typical guidelines suggest that your CV should be no longer than 2 sides of A4. However, there is not a one size fits all rule. If you are a recent health and safety graduate with minimal experience then you may not have enough to fill 2 sides of A4, if this is the case you shouldn’t try to stretch out your CV by including irrelevant information. Likewise, if you have been in the industry for decades then you may not feel that you can fit all of your relevant experience and achievements on 2 sides. In that case, consider attaching a cover letter with all the additional information you want to provide in order to up your chances of getting selected. A few good templates for a cover letter can be found on sites similar to Cultivated Culture, in case you are interested. Remember that your CV needs to be concise so recruiters can easily pick out key points that demonstrate your suitability for the role.
What to include on my health and safety CV?
Key sections to include on your health and safety CV include:
- Contact information
Ensure that all of your contact details are up to date including: mobile number, email address and home address in case a recruiter should want to contact you to discuss your application further. Ensure that your email address is professional to avoid giving your potential future employer the wrong impression.
- Work experience
The most relevant information on your CV is likely to be your experience within the health and safety industry. Recruiters want to know what types of companies you have worked for in the past and the types of responsibilities that you had whilst you were in these roles. Including a short outline of each company and your role will help recruiters to get a better understanding of your experiences. After the outline you should include the relevant skills that you developed during each role in an easily digestible format such as bullet points.
- Qualifications
As health and safety is a highly regulated industry there are many different qualifications that can be required for different roles and therefore it is imperative that you include the ones that you do have on your CV. For example, qualifications from NEBOSH or IOSH.
How to format a health and safety CV?
When applying for health and safety jobs it is important to remember these tips to keep your application easy to read.
- Use your name as the title instead of ‘CV’ or ‘Curriculum vitae’
- Break up your CV with titles appropriate for each section e.g. Education, Qualifications, work experience
- Use easy to read fonts
- List everything in reverse chronological order (most recent at the top)
- Use bullet points and clear spacing to keep it concise
By following these steps you should have an effective CV that is ready for health and safety job applications. Remember to tailor your CV for each job that you are applying for and read the job description thoroughly to identify any additional requirements such as cover letters.
