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Policy Advisor CV example

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Are you looking for your next position as a policy advisor?

If so, you need a CV that carefully showcases your attention to detail, legal foundations and expertise in the field.

But we understand that’s a lot to fit on a couple of pages, so you need to be strategic about this. We can help you do just that with our comprehensive writing guide and policy advisor CV example.

 

 

Policy Advisor CV example

Policy Advisor CV 1

Policy Advisor CV 2

 

This CV example showcases the optimal structure and format for your Policy Advisor CV, providing a pleasant reading experience for busy recruiters.

It also demonstrates the skills, experience and qualifications you should emphasize in your own CV to increase your chances of landing job interviews.

 

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Policy Advisor CV layout and format

The format and structure of your CV is important because it will determine how easy it is for recruiters and employers to read your CV.

If they can find the information they need quickly, they’ll be happy; but if they struggle, your application could be overlooked.

A simple and logical structure will always create a better reading experience than a complex structure, and with a few simple formatting tricks, you’ll be good to go.

 

How to write a CV

 

Tips for formatting your Policy Advisor CV

  • Length: Two sides of A4 makes for the perfect CV length, though one page is okay for less experienced applicants. This forces you to make sure that every single sentence adds value to your CV and ensures you avoid unnecessary  info.
  • Readability: Recruiters appreciate CVs that they can quickly scan through without trouble. Ensure yours makes the cut by formatting your headings for attention (bold or coloured fonts should do the trick) and breaking up long paragraphs into smaller chunks or short, snappy bullet points.
  • Design: While it’s important that your CV design looks good, it also needs to be functional (which means easy for recruiters to read) Keep the design simple to achieve a good balance between looking good and reading well.
  • 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 formatting tips

 

 

CV structure

When writing your CV, break up the content into the following key sections, to ensure it can be easily digested by busy recruiters and hiring managers:

  • Contact details – Always list these at the very top of your CV – you don’t want them to be missed!
  • Profile – An introductory paragraph, intended to grab recruiters attention and summarise your offering.
  • Work experience / career history – Working from your current role and working backwards, list your relevant work experience.
  • Education – Create a snappy summary of your education and qualifications.
  • Interest and hobbies – An optional section to document any hobbies that demonstrate transferable skills.

Now you understand the basic layout of a CV, here’s what you should include in each section of yours.

 

Contact Details

Contact details

 

Make it easy for recruiters to get in touch, by heading your CV with your contact details.

There’s no need for excessive details – just list the basics:

  • Mobile number
  • Email address – Use a professional address with no nicknames.
  • Location – Just write your general location, such as ‘London’ or ‘Cardiff’ – there’s no need to put your full address.
  • LinkedIn profile or portfolio URL

 

Policy Advisor CV Profile

Your CV profile is the first thing recruiters will read – so your goal is to give them a reason to read onto the end of the document!

Create a short and snappy paragraph that showcases your key skills, relevant experience and impressive accomplishments.

Ultimately, it should prove to the reader that you’ve got what it takes to carry out the job.

 

CV profile

 

CV profile writing tips:

  • Make it short and sharp: Aim for a short, snappy paragraph of 3-5 lines. This is just enough room to showcase why you’d make the perfect hire, without going into excessive detail and overwhelming busy recruiters.
  • Tailor it: Not tailoring your profile (and the rest of your CV) to the role you’re applying for, is the worst CV mistake you could make. Before setting pen to paper, look over the job ad and make a note of the skills and experience required. Then, incorporate your findings throughout.
  • Don’t add an objective: Career goals and objectives are best suited to your cover letter, so don’t waste space with them in your CV profile.
  • Avoid generic phrases: Focus on fact, not fluff. Phrases like “Committed and enthusiastic thought-leader” and “Dynamic problem solver” might sound fancy, but they’ll do nothing for your application. Not only do they sound cheesy, but they have no substance – stick to real skills and facts

 

Example CV profile for Policy Advisor

A highly experienced Climate Policy Advisor with a strong passion for sustainability and 9 years cumulative experience in diplomacy and civil society advocacy. Accomplished analyst with a master’s in environmental science currently managing and implementing the development of Earth Agency’s climate crisis program. Demonstrated success in analysing data and conducting holistic research to reduce carbon emissions in corporate companies.

 

What to include in your Policy Advisor CV profile?

  • Experience overview: Demonstrate your suitability for your target jobs by giving a high level summary of your previous work work experience, including the industries you have worked in, types of employer, and the type of roles you have previous experience of.
  • Targeted skills: Make your most relevant Policy Advisor key skills clear in your profile. These should be tailored to the specific role you’re applying for – so make sure to check the job description first, and aim to match their requirements as closely as you can.
  • Key qualifications: If you have any qualifications which are highly relevant to Policy Advisor jobs, then highlight them in your profile so that employers do not miss them.

 

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

Create a core skills section underneath your profile to spotlight your most in-demand skills and grab the attention of readers.

This section should feature 2-3 columns of bullet points that emphasise your applicable skills for your target jobs. Before constructing this section, review the job description and compile a list of any specific skills, specialisms, or knowledge required.

 

Core skills section CV

 

Important skills for your Policy Advisor CV

Policy development – Creating and implementing policies to solve problems.

Research and analysis – Gathering analysing and interpreting data and information for policy development.

Strategic planning – Identifying long-term goals and objectives and creating a plan to achieve them.

Stakeholder management – Managing relationships with stakeholders and engaging them in the policy process.

Policy communications – Communicating complex policy issues in a clear and concise manner to diverse audiences.

Project management – Managing multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously.

Budgeting – Developing and managing budgets for policy initiatives.

Problem resolution – Identifying problems and developing creative solutions to address them.

Negotiation – Negotiating stakeholders and resolving conflicts to achieve policy goals.

 

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.

 

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Work experience section

Now that recruiters have a good overview of your skills and abilities, you need to jump into the detail of your career history.

Give them a more thorough insight into what you can do by creating a detailed list of your relevant experience.

Start with your current role, and work backwards through all the relevant positions you’ve held.
This could be freelance, contract or voluntary work too; as long as it’s related to the role you’re applying for.

Work experience

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:

Role descriptions
Outline

Provide a brief overview of the job as a whole, such as what the overriding purpose of your job was and what type of company you worked for.

 

Key responsibilities

Use bullet points to detail the key responsibilities of your role, highlighting hard skills, software and knowledge wherever you can.

Keep them short and sharp to make them easily digestible by readers.

 

Key achievements

Finish off by showcasing 1-3 key achievements made within the role.

This could be anything that had a positive effect on your company, clients or customers, such as saving time or money, receiving exemplary feedback or receiving an award.

 

Sample job description for Policy Advisor CV

Outline

Work as part of the policy team at an international non-profit organisation, that works with over 100 businesses, governments, and civil societies to accelerate their transition to a low-carbon economy.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead the development, implementation, monitoring, impact, and evaluation of The Climate Group’s climate crisis programme
  • Collaborate with other departments, identifying synergies between programmes, and identifying opportunities for joint initiatives
  • Lead on policy analysis, reporting, and impact through written briefings and the development of policy position papers
  • Engage with strategic partner networks to increase reach, impact, and achievement of programme outcomes

 

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 and qualifications

In your education section, make any degrees, qualifications or training which are relevant to Policy Advisor 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.

 

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Creating a strong Policy Advisor CV requires a blend of punchy content, considered structure and format, and heavy tailoring.

By creating a punchy profile and core skills list, you’ll be able to hook recruiter’s attention and ensure your CV gets read.

Remember that research and relevance is the key to a good CV, so research your target roles before you start writing and pack your CV with relevant skills.

Best of luck with your next application!