Writing a social work CV in adults’ services

By Michael Simms

What should your CV look like when applying for a social care role in adults’ services? There are plenty of guides from recruiters, HR professionals and the like, but really, there are no hard and fast rules.

That said, there are some basics that you should cover off to make sure you are ticking all the relevant boxes and giving yourself the best possible chance of your application succeeding.

The introduction

• Name – include your pronouns here if you would like to.
• Address – you do not need to give your complete address, just the town, area or postcode. This can be handy for the recruiter as they can match you to the most suitable location if they have multiple roles available.
• Contact details – include your mobile number and email (make sure your email address is suitable for professional use).
• Social work registration number.
• Driving licence – if you have one, make sure you include this information, as being able to travel around the community is important for many roles.

Your professional summary or career aims

• This is your chance to grab the reader’s attention and make them want to find out more.
• Keep it short and sweet – your opening gambit should not be a wall of text.
• Think about how you would quickly and positively introduce yourself to someone on a professional basis.
• Be sure to include your key experience, qualifications and career aims – where you see your future and what do you want to achieve.

Career history

• Your career history should be given in reverse chronological order, with the details of your current or last job given first.
• If you have an extensive work history, only list those roles that are relevant to your current career.
• All the roles that you do list should include the following details:
  • Company/employer.
  • Position(s).
  • Dates from and to (try to be as detailed as possible, in line with safer recruitment requirements).
  • Explain any gaps in your career history – if you don’t explain them now, you will have to explain them later in the process.
• You should also explain some of your key responsibilities, but just give the highlights. How much you put into this section will depend on the recentness and level of your role – as your career and experience progress, so should the level of detail you give about your roles.
• List what you have achieved in each role. These could be personal achievements, organisational achievements or both. As above, the level of detail should vary depending on your experience. Bullet points are good to use here but do not give any more than six.
• Consider the language that you use. Keep it plain and simple, and avoid acronyms (where possible) and organisational terms. It is worth remembering that not everyone that reads your CV will be a professional in your field, so make it easy to pick up on the key points.
• Avoid buzzwords but do consider key search words and terms relating to titles, responsibilities or skills, for examples ‘strengths based’, ‘budget management’, ‘safeguarding’, ‘mental health’, ‘discharge to assess’ or ‘AMHP’. These are what recruiters will word match to and also what the algorithms on search sites will use to pick out your profile.

Education

• List this in reverse chronological order or by level. Unless you are applying for your first role in social work, GCSEs or equivalent do not need to be listed.
• Include the details of any CPD or other professional courses that you have undertaken.

Overall

• Keep it all as concise as possible – anything longer than three pages is overkill and most likely will not be read.
• Remember to double check your spelling and grammar.
• Check your formatting. The font should be the same throughout, although differing size, and use of bold and italics is fine, and paragraphs and bullet points should all line up.
• Remember, in a lot of cases you will be asked to produce a covering letter with your CV. So, your CV should highlight the very best of you and the covering letter is where you will go into detail about your suitability for that particular role.

Michael Simms is senior talent and resourcing advisor – adult care & community wellbeing for a local authority