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physicsworld.com Careers How to write a good CV for industry If you want a job in hi-tech industry, it pays to tailor your CV so that it makes the most of your iStock/ijeab business-relevant skills and expertise, says Andrew Hirst Physics World: What do people in industry tell you they need to see on a CV? Andrew Hirst: Writing a good CV for any job requires you to present strong evi- dence that you can do the job or – if you haven’t finished your degree yet – that you have the potential to do so. One mistake students often make is to believe their CV will land them the job they’ve applied for. A CV is the beginning and not the end of the recruitment process. It’s a door opener to the next step, be it a telephone interview, an assessment or a face-to-face interview. Your CV is a marketing tool that highlights to the recruiter your relevance to the job requirements, which will depend on the role, sector and seniority of the position. Industrial focus Employers want to know from your CV that you can apply your physics knowledge to solve real technical problems. So presumably it’s vital to tailor your CV to the role? business needs, and who enjoy applying ular activity – such as when you volunteered Yes, you need to emphasize the most rele- knowledge to real and incomplete prob- or worked in an office. vant skills and experiences for the job. One lems. They want people who can deliver common mistake that students make is to results in different team environments What practical advice do you have for submit a generic CV to multiple employers. and cultures, who understand themselves, writing a CV? When your CV arrives at its destination, its and who are team players who can adapt to Only include information from your career content will either appeal or it won’t. Your new situations. that’s relevant to the job application. Con- job is to take the excellent work you’ve done centrate on specific examples and write and feature it in a way that opens the doors So your CV shouldn’t just flag academic a maximum of two A4 pages – there’s no you want opened. Remember that compa- attainment? need to write a novel. Highlight what you’ve nies have different needs depending on Yes, employers are interested in a range of achieved – not just what you’ve done. Don’t the sector they’re in – be it aerospace, food skills and behaviours beyond just the abil- just list the modules you’ve studied, people manufacturing, automotive or optics – and ity to solve equations or learn from a text- you’ve worked for or extra-curricular activ- the type of role you are applying for. book. When writing your CV, think about ities you’ve taken part in. They’re impor- examples from your time at university that tant, but also state what you did, how you If your degree’s purely academic, how can show you’ve applied these competencies, did it and what were the results. you show you’re suited to a job in industry? whether it’s in the lab or in an extra-curric- Employers do want to see a track record What’s the best way of marshalling all of academic attainment but crucially they relevant information on a CV? also want to see you can apply your physics Organize the CV into To make clear to employers how your knowledge beyond the lecture theatre, to academic knowledge, technical skills and solve real technical problems. They want a series of skills extra-curricular activities are relevant evidence that you have a range of aptitudes to the job in hand, it’s useful to write a that you’ll need in a business setting. “competency-based” CV. This includes that match the similar information to the more tradi- And what exactly are those aptitudes? tional “reverse-chronological” CV, where Having spoken to many employers about requirements in the you list everything you’ve done starting the skills they associate with excellent from now and working backwards. A com- undergraduates and graduate students, job specification petency-based CV instead organizes the they are after people who are commer- content into a sequence of competencies cially aware, who can provide solutions to and skills that match the requirements in Physics World January 2018 43 Careers physicsworld.com the job specification. This kind of CV lets ment that investigated the moment of iner- temperature variation of electrical resist- employers see more easily how your experi- tia of different bodies, making use of rotary ance within metals and semiconductors. ence and skills match the requirements of motion and force sensors. I would calculate I discussed the theory I applied to the the job. theoretical parameters and compare to experiments; mentioned the method I experimental values found from manipu- used to gather suitable data, for example, That sounds great, but how do you do that lating data. This required me to problem- by calibrating a thermocouple and using in practice? solve throughout the experiment in terms data-acquisition interfaces; and analysed A simple tactic is to use the “challenge- of fault-finding and error analysis.” my results in terms of errors and the impor- approach-results” (or CAR) method. First, tance and implications of my results.” think about a problem or obstacle you have Any practical tips about the style and faced (the challenge). Then consider the appearance of the CV? Any final advice to help bag that top action you took to resolve the problem (the Don’t go mad. Don’t use fancy borders, industry job? approach). Finally, note down what was the fonts or background colours – no-one wants Research the job and company you’re outcome (the result). to read a CV in pink, 18-point Comic Sans. interested in before you start writing. Just use clear, well-spaced text that can be Understand how your interests, academic Can you can give some examples of this read quickly and easily. It’s also vital to knowledge and extra-curricular activities from someone who’s done a physics avoid clichés – I’ve lost count of the num- fit the role and the organization you hope to degree? ber of times I’ve read on a CV something work for. Mirror the structure of the CV to To show evidence for teamwork, you could like “I am an enthusiastic individual with the job’s specification or competencies and say something like: “I worked in a group of excellent communication skills.” Clichés include relevant modules from your degree. five students to conduct a four-week project will not allow you to stand out from the Articulate relevant skills and experience – to investigate the linear expansion of met- crowd – instead give concrete examples of and give examples. And finally, proofread als through interferometry. My role was to when you’ve learnt or enhanced these par- the document. There’s no excuse for spell- assign and prioritize tasks to team members ticular skills. ing mistakes. and to contribute to the data analysis and verbal presentation. This assignment gave So what kind of things should you say? Andrew Hirst is the year in industry placement me experience of project management, If you want to flag your communications co-ordinator at the Department of Physics, University communicating results within a team and skills, you might write: “As part of my pro- of York, UK. He is also the project manager for the completing tasks to meet a set deadline.” fessional-skills module I have given several White Rose Industrial Physics Academy (www.wripa. Or, to give evidence of lab skills, you could presentations, including one on the appli- ac.uk), which aims to increase the number of physics say: “I have designed, implemented and run cation of photomultiplier tubes. This gave graduates who pursue technical careers by weekly experiments, with little supervisory me the experience to communicate ideas organizing student–industry collaborations across guidance, in atomic physics, solid state and and results to both students and staff. I also the universities of Hull, Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield optics. For example, I conducted an experi- wrote a formal report that investigated the and York, e-mail [email protected] Careers and people Spotlight: Ángel Rubio and Dynamics of Matter in Hamburg, five team leaders, for detailed maps of Theoretical physicist Germany, while also serving as a the early universe that greatly improved Ángel Rubio has won the distinguished scientist at the Center for our knowledge of the evolution of the 2018 Max Born Medal and Computational Quantum Physics at the cosmos and the fluctuations that seeded Prize, which is awarded Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute in the formation of galaxies. In addition, by the German Physical New York, US, and the University of the New Horizons in Physics Prizes – annual Society (DPG) and the Basque Country, Spain. awards of $100 000 recognizing the Institute of Physics (IOP), achievements of early-career physicists – which publishes Physics World. Movers and Shakers have been awarded to Christopher Hirata Rubio was given the prize for “his Roger Barlow, a leading figure in the field (Ohio State University), Andrea Young sustained leadership in computational of particle physics and accelerators, has (University of California, Santa Barbara) solid-state physics and for his predictions received the title of emeritus professor and Douglas Stanford (Institute for of materials properties at nanometre from the University of Huddersfield on Advanced Study and Stanford University).

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