In your role, every number counts, and your CV should add up to showcase your fiscal prudence and strategic cost management skills.
Let our guide and Cost Controller CV example assist you in illustrating your value to potential employers.
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Cost Controller CV example
This CV example illustrates the ideal structure and format for your Cost Controller CV, making it easy for busy hiring managers to quickly identify your suitability for the jobs you’re applying for,
It also gives some guidance on the skills, experience and qualifications you should emphasise in your own CV.
Cost Controller CV format and structure
Hiring managers and recruiters are frequently overloaded with applications, and if they can’t identify the relevant information in your CV within a few seconds, your application may be overlooked.
To avoid this, it’s essential to format and structure your CV in a manner that makes it simple to pick out the most important information, even if the reader is in a rush.
Tips for formatting your Cost Controller CV
- Length: Recruiters will be immediately put off by lengthy CVs – with hundreds of applications to read through, they simply don’t have the time! Grabbing their attention with a short, snappy and highly relevant CV is far more likely to lead to success. Aim for two sides of A4 or less.
- Readability: Make sure your CV is easy to read and looks professional by applying some simple formatting tricks. Bullet points are great for making large paragraphs more digestible, while formatting your headings with bold or coloured text will help the reader to find the information they need, with speed.
- Design & format: It’s generally best to stick to a simple CV design, as funky or elaborate designs rarely add any value to your application. A clear, modern font and a subtle colour scheme work perfectly and allow your skills, experience and achievements to speak for themselves.
- Photos: Recruiters can’t factor in appearance, gender or race into the recruitment process, so a profile photo is not usually needed. However, creative employers do like to see them, so you can choose to include one if you think it will add value to your CV .
Quick tip: Creating a professional CV style can be difficult and time-consuming when using Microsoft Word or Google Docs. To create a winning CV quickly, try our quick-and-easy CV Builder and use one of their eye-catching professional CV templates.
CV structure
For easy reading, write your CV to the following CV structure:
- Contact details – Make it easy for recruiters to get in touch with you by listing your contact details at the top of your CV.
- Profile – A short and snappy summary of your experience and skills, showcasing what makes you a good fit for the position.
- Work experience / career history – Note down all your work history, with your current position first, then working backwards.
- Education – A short list of your academic background and professional/vocational qualifications.
- Interest and hobbies – This is an optional section, which you can use to highlight any relevant hobbies or interests.
Now you understand the basic layout of a CV, here’s what you should include in each section of yours.
Contact Details
Tuck your contact details into the corner of your CV, so that they don’t take up too much space.
Stick to the basic details, such as:
- Mobile number
- Email address – It should sound professional, such as your full name.
- Location -Just write your rough location, rather than your full address.
- LinkedIn profile or portfolio URL – If you include these, ensure they’re sleek, professional and up-to-date.
Cost Controller CV Profile
Recruiters and hiring managers are busy, so it’s essential to catch their attention from the get-go.
A strong introductory profile (or personal statement, for junior candidates) at the top of the CV is the first thing they’ll read, so it’s a great chance to make an impression.
It should be a short but punchy summary of your key skills, relevant experience and accomplishments.
Ultimately, it should explain why you’re a great fit for the role you’re applying for and inspire recruiters to read the rest of your CV.
How to write a good CV profile:
- Make it short and sharp: The best CV profiles are short, sharp and highly relevant to the target role. For this reason, it’s best to write 3-4 lines of high-level information, as anything over might be missed.
- Tailor it: Recruiters can spot a generic, mass-produced CV at a glance – and they certainly won’t be impressed! Before you write your profile (and CV as a whole), read through the job advert and make a list of any skills, knowledge and experience required. You should then incorporate your findings throughout your profile and the rest of your CV.
- Don’t add an objective: Avoid discussing your career goals in your CV profile – if you think they’re necessary, briefly mention them in your cover letter instead.
- Avoid generic phrases: “Determined team player who always gives 110%” might seem like a good way to fill up your CV profile, but generic phrases like this won’t land you an interview. Recruiters hear them time and time again and have no real reason to believe them. Instead, pack your profile with your hard skills and tangible achievements.
Example CV profile for Cost Controller
AACE-Certified Cost Controller with a successful 15-year career in managing financial controls and cost optimisation within the dynamic landscape of the fashion retail industry. Adept at implementing strategic cost management initiatives, ensuring financial integrity, and delivering data-driven analyses. Holds a first class degree in Finance from the University of Glasgow, bringing a proven track record of success in overseeing cost functions for multi-million pound companies.
What to include in your Cost Controller CV profile?
- Experience overview: Start with a brief summary of your relevant experience so far. How many years experience do you have? What type of companies have you worked for? What industries/sectors have you worked in? What are your specialisms?
- Targeted skills: Employers need to know what skills you can bring to their organisation, and ideally they want to see skills that match their job vacancy. So, research your target roles thoroughly and add the most important Cost Controller skills to your profile.
- Important qualifications: If the job postings require specific qualifications, it is essential to incorporate them in your profile to ensure visibility to hiring managers.
Quick tip: If you are finding it difficult to write an attention-grabbing CV profile, choose from hundreds of pre-written profiles across all industries, and add one to your CV with one click in our quick-and-easy CV Builder. All profiles are written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset.
Core skills section
Add a core skills section below your profile to draw attention to your most applicable skills and make them stand out to readers.
This should consist of 2-3 columns of bullet points that emphasise your relevant skills.
Before creating this section, review the job description and compile a list of any specific skills, specializations, or knowledge needed. Incorporate these findings into your list to portray yourself as the ideal candidate for the position.
Important skills for your Cost Controller CV
Budget Management – Proficient in overseeing and managing budgets, ensuring financial resources are allocated appropriately to meet project objectives.
Financial Analysis – Expertise in conducting thorough financial analyses, interpreting data to provide insights into cost trends, and making informed recommendations.
Cost Estimation – Able in accurately estimating costs for projects, considering variables such as materials, labour, and overhead expenses.
Variance Analysis – Adept at performing variance analysis to compare actual costs against budgeted costs, identifying discrepancies and implementing corrective measures.
Forecasting – Capable of developing financial forecasts, predicting future costs and expenses to assist in strategic planning and decision-making.
Contract Review and Negotiation – Experience in reviewing contracts to ensure cost-related terms are favourable and negotiating with vendors to secure cost-effective agreements.
Financial Reporting – Shows fluency in generating comprehensive financial reports, summarising cost-related data and presenting it to stakeholders for informed decision-making.
Cost Control Strategies – Knowledgeable in implementing effective cost control strategies, optimising spending while maintaining project quality and objectives.
ERP Systems Utilisation – Familiarity with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems for efficient tracking, reporting, and management of costs within an organisation.
Compliance Management – Competent in ensuring adherence to financial regulations and industry standards, mitigating risks related to cost control and financial management.
Quick tip: Our quick-and-easy CV Builder has thousands of in-demand skills for all industries and professions, that can be added to your CV in seconds – This will save you time and ensure you get noticed by recruiters.
Work experience
By now, you’ll have hooked the reader’s attention and need to show them how you apply your skills and knowledge in the workplace, to benefit your employers.
So, starting with your most recent role and working backwards to your older roles, create a thorough summary of your career history to date.
If you’ve held several roles and are struggling for space, cut down the descriptions for your oldest jobs.
Structuring each job
If you don’t pay attention to the structure of your career history section, it could quickly become bulky and overwhelming.
Get in recruiters’ good books by creating a pleasant reading experience, using the 3-step structure below:
Outline
Begin with a summary of your role, detailing what the purpose of your job was, who you reported to and what size of team you were part of (or led).
Key responsibilities
Using easy-to-read bullet points, note down your day-to-day responsibilities in the role.
Make sure to showcase how you used your hard sector skills and knowledge.
Key achievements
To finish off each role and prove the impact you made, list 1-3 stand out achievements, results or accomplishments.
This could be anything which had a positive outcome for the company you worked for, or perhaps a client/customer.
Where applicable, quantify your examples with facts and figures.
Sample job description for Cost Controller CV
Outline
Oversee and optimise cost control processes for a fast-growing fashion retail company with 18 stores nationwide and an annual turnover of £12 million.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and implement a comprehensive cost control framework, utilising advanced cost accounting methodologies to ensure accurate tracking and reporting
- Collaborate with the procurement team to negotiate supplier contracts
- Implement and manage a real-time cost tracking dashboard using SAP
- Conduct regular cost variance analysis, identifying trends and anomalies, and provide actionable insights to senior management
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our quick-and-easy CV Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education section
In your education section, make any degrees, qualifications or training which are relevant to Cost Controller roles a focal point.
As well as mentioning the name of the organisation, qualification titles and dates of study, you should showcase any particularly relevant modules, assignments or projects.
Hobbies and interests
This section is entirely optional, so you’ll have to use your own judgement to figure out if it’s worth including.
If your hobbies and interests could make you appear more suitable for your dream job, then they are definitely worth adding.
Interests which are related to the industry, or hobbies like sports teams or volunteering, which display valuable transferable skills might be worth including.
When putting together your Cost Controller CV, there are a few key points to remember.
Always tailor your CV to the target role, even if it means creating several versions for different roles.
Additionally, remember that the structure and format of your CV needs just as much attention as the content.
Good luck with your job search!