Deckhand CV example

Deckhand jobs are engaging and rewarding, but its not always easy to land one in today’s job market.

Check out this example Deckhand CV along with our simple CV writing guide, to help you create an impressive CV that will attract employers and land you plenty of job interviews.

 

Guide contents

• Deckhand CV example
• CV layout and format
• Your CV profile
• Work experience
• Education section

 

CV templates 

 

Deckhand CV example

CV templates 

CV templates 

 

This example CV demonstrates how to structure and format your own Deckhand CV, so that it can be easily digested by busy hiring managers, and quickly prove why you are the best candidate for the jobs you are applying to.

It also gives you a good idea of the type of skills, experience and qualifications that you need to be making prominent in your own CV.

 

 

Deckhand CV layout and format

First impressions count, so a sloppy, disorganised CV may cause your CV to be overlooked..

Instead, perfect the format and structure of your CV by working to a clear logical structure and applying some simple formatting tricks to ease readability.

Don’t underestimate the importance of this step; if your CV lacks readability, your written content won’t even be seen.

 

 

CV formatting tips

• Length: Whether you’ve got one year or three decades of experience, your CV should never be more than two sides of A4. Recruiters are busy people who’re often juggling numerous roles and tasks, so they don’t have time to read lengthy applications. If you’re a recent graduate or don’t have much industry experience, one side of A4 is fine.

• Readability: To help busy recruiters scan through your CV, make sure your section headings stand out – bold or coloured text works well. Additionally, try to use bullet points wherever you can, as they’re far easier to skim through than huge paragraphs. Lastly, don’t be afraid of white space on your CV – a little breathing space is great for readability.

• Design: Don’t waste time adding fancy designs to your CV. It generally adds no value to your application and may even end up distracting recruiters away from the important written content.

• Avoid photos: Logos, profile photos or other images aren’t necessary and rarely add any value – save the space for written content, instead!

 

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 templates 

 

CV structure

Divide your CV into the following major sections when writing it:

• Name and contact details – Head your CV with your name and contact details, to let the reader know who you are and how to contact you.

• CV profile – A brief paragraph which summarises your skills and experience and highlights why you’re a good match for the role.

• Core skills list – A snappy, bullet-pointed list of your most relevant skills.

• Work experience – A structured list of your work experience in reverse chronological order.

• Education – A summary of any relevant qualifications or professional training you’ve completed.

• Hobbies and interests – An optional section, which should only be used if your hobbies are relevant to the jobs you’re applying to.

 

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.

 

 

Deckhand CV Profile

Grab the reader’s attention by kick-starting your CV with a powerful profile (or personal statement, if you’re a junior applicant).

This is a short introduction paragraph which summarises your skills, knowledge and experience.

It should paint you as the perfect match for the job description and entice recruiters to read through the rest of your CV.

 

 

Tips for creating an strong CV profile:

• Keep it concise: 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: If recruiters don’t see your suitability within a few seconds, they may close your CV straight away. Your CV profile should closely match the essential requirements listed in the job ad, so make sure to review them before you write it.

• 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 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 Deckhand

 

What to include in your Deckhand CV profile?

• Summary of experience: Recruiters will want to know what type of companies you’ve worked for, industries you have knowledge of, and the type of work you’ve carried out in the past, so give them a summary of this in your profile.

• Relevant skills: Highlight your skills which are most relevant to Deckhand jobs, to ensure that recruiters see your most in-demand skills as soon as they open your CV.

• Essential qualifications: If the jobs you are applying to require candidates to have certain qualifications, then you must add them in your profile to ensure they are seen by hiring managers.

 

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

Next, you should create a bullet pointed list of your core skills, formatted into 2-3 columns.

Here, you should focus on including the most important skills or knowledge listed in the job advertisement.

This will instantly prove that you’re an ideal candidate, even if a recruiter only has time to briefly scan your CV.

 

 

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

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.

 

 

Structuring your roles

Lengthy, unbroken chunks of text is a recruiters worst nightmare, but your work experience section can easily end up looking like that if you are not careful.

To avoid this, use my tried-and-tested 3-step structure, as illustrated below:

 

 

Outline

Start with a 1-2 sentence summary of your role as a whole, detailing what the goal of your position was, who you reported to or managed, and the type of organisation you worked for.

 

Key responsibilities

Next up, you should write a short list of your day-to-day duties within the job.

Recruiters are most interested in your sector-specific skills and knowledge, so highlight these wherever possible.

 

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.

 

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.

 

CV templates 

 

Education section

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

 

Interests and hobbies

Although this is an optional section, it can be useful if your hobbies and interests will add further depth to your CV.

Interests which are related to the sector you are applying to, or which show transferable skills like leadership or teamwork, can worth listing.

On the other hand, generic hobbies like “going out with friends” won’t add any value to your application, so are best left off your CV.

 

 

Writing your Deckhand CV

Creating a strong Deckhand 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!