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Teaching video: 7 minutes 46 seconds. Add this to the reading and practice estimate below; complete the lesson check once after studying.

Lesson 1 of 6 · Estimated 35 minutes including practice

Choose a target role and gather evidence

By the end of this lesson you can:

• Identify the main requirements of one vacancy.
• Build an evidence bank from paid and unpaid experience.
• Separate supported claims from skills still being developed.

Start with one job

A CV is a short, selective account of the experience you can bring to a particular opportunity. In this course, CV means the concise job-application document also called a resume in many countries. Academic CVs, government applications and regulated professions can require different formats. Always check the vacancy instructions and local conventions before using a sample.

Choose one real or practice vacancy. Copy its role title, main tasks, essential requirements, preferred requirements, application instructions and closing date into a private working note. Do not assume that every item has equal weight. A required licence is different from a preferred software tool. Mark any requirement you do not understand for research.

Describe the employer’s task in everyday language. For example, an office assistant may need to keep records accurate, respond politely to enquiries and coordinate appointments. This is more useful for selecting evidence than writing “I want any job.” A general master CV is useful as a record, but the version you submit should have a clear target.

Build an evidence bank

List things you actually did in jobs, study, volunteering, projects, community activities or other relevant responsibilities. For each example, record the setting and date, your action, tools or methods, scope, outcome and how you know. Evidence may be a completed assignment, a rota, a public project, a supervisor’s feedback or your own accurate record. Keep confidential records private; you do not need to attach them to a CV.

Use three labels in your notes: ready to claim, verify first, and learning goal. “Used Excel filters to check a class dataset” may be ready to claim. “Advanced Excel” is too broad unless you can demonstrate what it means. “Want to learn SQL” is a learning goal, not a current skill. Never turn a future plan into completed training.

Map one genuine example to each important requirement. If no evidence exists, leave the gap visible in your planning. You can pursue a suitable learning project or choose a better-matched role. Do not change a job title, invent employment or claim a qualification to make the map look complete.

Select rather than collect

Choose evidence for relevance and clarity, not only prestige. Running the sign-in desk at a community event can show organisation if you explain the action. A hobby without any relevant detail may add little. Save unused material in your evidence bank so future applications are easier.

Your first deliverable is a one-sentence target and three strong evidence matches. The point is to make later writing easier: each sentence on the CV should have a reason to be there and an accurate story behind it.

Worked example

Fictional vacancy: an entry-level office assistant will update spreadsheets, answer visitor questions and arrange appointments. Spreadsheet experience is essential; database experience is preferred.

Fictional evidence: Morgan checked a 60-row class project spreadsheet, volunteered at a visitor desk and kept a shared calendar for a student society. Morgan has never used a business database.

Evidence map: spreadsheet accuracy → checked entries and flagged missing values; customer communication → answered visitor questions and referred complex enquiries; scheduling → updated the society calendar. Database experience → gap, not a claim.

Target sentence: “Entry-level office assistant role where I can use accurate record keeping, visitor support and calendar coordination.” This is a planning sentence. The CV profile can be shorter and supported by the evidence selected.

Your practice

1. Choose a vacancy or use the fictional office assistant vacancy above. Write its three most important requirements.
2. Write five genuine examples from your own life. For each, name your action and the evidence that supports it.
3. Match one example to each requirement. Mark anything uncertain as verify first.
4. Write one sentence naming the role you are targeting. Keep it with your evidence bank.

Completion check: You can explain each of your three evidence matches without adding a claim that you cannot support.

Knowledge check

Choose one answer for each question, then open the explanation.