You’ve studied and trained for years to be an archaeologist, and now you’re ready to bag your dream role. The problem is your applications keep getting ignored.
Perhaps it’s because your CV is a little dated, or maybe you’re just not sure how to sell yourself on paper.
Whatever the case may be, this is no time to bury your head in the sand. You can bring your CV to life with our compressive writing guide and archaeologist CV example below.
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Archaeologist CV example
Before you start writing your CV, take a look at the example Archaeologist CV above to give yourself a good idea of the style and format that recruiters and hiring managers prefer to see.
Also, take note of the type of content that is included to impress recruiters, and how the most relevant information is made prominent, to ensure it gets noticed.
Archaeologist CV layout and format
Your CV is the first impression you’ll make on anybody who reads it.
A disorganised, cluttered and barely-readable CV could seriously decrease your chances of landing interviews, so it’s essential to make sure yours is slick, professional and easy to navigate.
You can do this by using a clear structure and formatting your content with some savvy formatting techniques – check them out below:
CV formatting tips
- Length: While there’s no ‘official’ CV length rule, the majority of recruiters agree that less is more. Aim for two pages of A4 or less. This is just enough room to showcase your suitability to the role, without overwhelming recruiters with irrelevant or excessive content.
- Readability: Columns, lists, bullet points, bold text and subtle colour can all help to aid the readability of your CV. Your overarching goal should be to make the content as easy to read and navigate as possible, whilst also aiming to make your key skills and achievements stand out.
- Design: 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.
- Avoid photos: It’s tempting to add a profile photo or images to your CV, especially if you’re struggling to fill up the page – but it’s best avoided! They won’t add any value to your application and, as are not a requirement the UK, so recruiters do not expect it, or want to see it.
Quick tip: Formatting your CV to look professional can be difficult and time-consuming when using Microsoft Word or Google Docs. If you want to create an attractive 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 I’ll tell you exactly what you should include in each CV section.
CV Contact Details
Kick-start your CV with your contact details, so recruiters can get in touch easily.
Here’s what you should include:
- Mobile number
- Email address – Make sure it’s professional, with no silly nicknames.
- Location – Your town or city is sufficient, rather than a full address.
- LinkedIn profile or portfolio URL – Ensure they’ve been updated and are looking slick and professional.
Quick tip: Avoid listing your date of birth, marital status or other irrelevant details – they’re unnecessary at this stage.
Archaeologist 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.
Tips for creating an strong CV profile:
- Keep it concise: When it comes to CV profile length, less is more, as recruiters are often time-strapped. Aim for around of 3-5 persuasive lines.
- Tailor it: No matter how much time you put into your CV profile, it won’t impress if it’s irrelevant to the role you’re applying for. Before you start writing, make a list of the skills, knowledge and experience your target employer is looking for. Then, make sure to mention them in your CV profile and throughout the rest of your application.
- Don’t add an objective: If you want to discuss your career objectives, save them for your cover letter, rather than wasting valuable CV profile space.
- Avoid cliches: If your CV is riddled with clichès like “Dynamic thought-leader”, hit that delete button. Phrases like these are like a broken record to recruiters, who read them countless times per day. Hard facts, skills, knowledge and results are sure to yield far better results.
Example CV profile for Archaeologist
What to include in your Archaeologist CV profile?
- Summary of experience: 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.
- Relevant 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 Archaeologist skills to your profile.
- Essential qualifications: Be sure to outline your relevant Archaeologist qualifications, so that anyone reading the CV can instantly see you are qualified for the jobs you are applying to.
Quick tip: Struggling to write a powerful 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 written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset.
Core skills section
Underneath your profile, write a core skills section to make your most relevant skills jump off the page at readers.
It should be made up of 2-3 columns of bullet points of your relevant skills.
Before you do this, look over the job description and make a list of any specific skills, specialisms or knowledge required.
Then, make sure to use your findings in your list. This will paint you as the perfect match for the role.
Top skills for your Archaeologist CV
Excavation techniques – utilising appropriate excavation methods to dig, uncover, identify, process, and record archaeological remains.
Artefact analysis – examining archaeological artefacts to better understand the artefacts and provide information about their creation and use, and the people who made and used them.
Archival research – utilising historical research to prepare for new research or excavations.
Technical reporting – providing complex accounts of archaeological research and its findings.
Archaeological fieldwork – discovering and recording archaeological sites from scouting to digging.
Quick tip: Our quick-and-easy CV Builder contains thousands of in-demand skills for every profession that can be added to your CV in seconds – saving you time and greatly improving your chances of landing job interviews.
Work experience/Career history
By this point, employers will be keen to know more detail about you career history.
Starting with your most recent role and working backwards, create a snappy list of any relevant roles you’ve held.
This could be freelance, voluntary, part-time or temporary jobs too. Anything that’s relevant to your target role is well-worth listing!
Structuring your roles
Your work experience section will be long, so it’s important to structure it in a way which helps recruiters to quickly and easily find the information they need.
Use the 3-step structure, shown in the below example, below to achieve this.
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
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
Lastly, add impact by highlight 1-3 key achievements that you made within the role.
Struggling to think of an achievement? If it had a positive impact on your company, it counts.
For example, you might increased company profits, improved processes, or something simpler, such as going above and beyond to solve a customer’s problem.
Example job for Archaeologist CV
Outline
Working for the St Helen’s Heritage Centre. Responsible for excavating and examining artefacts including prehistoric tools, buildings, bones and tiny organisms in support of existing archaeological research.
Key Responsibilities
- Locate and map prehistoric, historic and modern cultural resources and homesteads
- Organise teams of diggers and volunteers during excavations, including managing the work of contractors and other third parties
- Work on field excavations and digs using trowels, shovels and other hand tools
- Generate detailed excavation reports
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
Although there should be mentions of your highest and most relevant qualifications earlier on in your CV, save your exhaustive list of qualifications for the bottom.
If you’re an experienced candidate, simply include the qualifications that are highly relevant to Archaeologist roles.
However, less experienced candidates can provide a more thorough list of qualifications, including A-Levels and GCSEs.
You can also dedicate more space to your degree, discussing relevant exams, assignments and modules in more detail, if your target employers consider them to be important.
Interests and hobbies
The hobbies and interests CV section isn’t mandatory, so don’t worry if you’re out of room by this point.
However, if you have an interesting hobby, or an interest that could make you seem more suitable for the role, then certainly think about adding.
Be careful what you include though… Only consider hobbies that exhibit skills that are required for roles as a Archaeologist, or transferable workplace skills.
There is never any need to tell employers that you like to watch TV and eat out.
Writing your Archaeologist CV
Creating a strong Archaeologist 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!