Visual merchandiser CV example

What contact details should I include in my visual merchandiser CV

First things first – get your contact details right! This allows the employer to quickly understand where you’re based and how they can contact you. The information required is your name, address, and some other important details.

A good rule of thumb to follow is to put your name first, somewhere near the top of the document, and list everything else close by. This way, the employer will be able to get all the information they need to contact you without much issue.

Here is what you’ll need to include:

• Your full name
• Your address
• A professional email address
• Your phone number

Example of contact section for a visual merchandiser CV

How to write a personal statement for your visual merchandiser CV

Next, it’s time to introduce yourself. You’ll want to let the reader know who you are and what you’re about. To do this you need to write a personal statement. This should be a simple explanation of who you are as a candidate and it should do so in brief. The hardest part? You’ll only have three to four sentences to do this!

Sentence one is where you introduce yourself, explaining your experience and career focus. Sentence two is all about defining something you have achieved that will wow your employer. You’ll want to sprinkle in real world facts or figures to show that you mean business. What do we mean by this? In short, you’ll want to use stats or achievements that prove you’re an effective visual merchandiser. For example, you may have already led a visual merchandising campaign that increased profits by 40%! This would be a great thing to mention.

Moving on to your final sentences, highlight any skills or specialisms that you have. For example, you might have experience in a particular industry, or have skills in using a specific tool.

What else do you need to know for your personal statement? Take note of these:

• Always write in the third person as this is more professional
• Don’t go over 100 words if you can help it
• Keep the tone professional but friendly
• Respond to any important requirements noted on the job ad
• Don’t go into detail about your later career ambitions – you can keep these for your cover letter.

Example of personal statement for a visual merchandiser CV

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Adding experience section to your visual merchandiser CV

In many ways, the work experience section of your CV is the most important. It’s likely that this is the first thing your employer will look at. This is the time where you define your relevant experience and explain why you are the best fit for the job. It’s important to always tailor this section to the specifics of the job ad in question.

How exactly do you add a work experience section to your CV? It’s simple. You should begin with your most recent role or piece of experience, then work backwards noting up to six responsibilities for each role. Ensure to add the most detailed roles that are relevant. The more direct or transferable experience you have, the more likely you are to catch the employer’s eye.

Make sure that you include:

• Job title
• Employment start and end dates
• Company name
• Company location
• List of key responsibilities
• Relevant achievements

As with your personal statement, you should sprinkle stats and figures where appropriate. Any time you can give a real-world example of how you were effective in the past, you will be painting a picture of you as an effective candidate.

It’s also worth noting that you shouldn’t repeat yourself or cover simple tasks that don’t strengthen your application. For example “answering emails” is a standard task for any professional role, and including it is only a waste of words you can use for more important credentials.

You should also aim to keep the reader engaged with active language. Make use of action verbs and positive adjectives. What are these? In short, an action verb is a word that describes how effective you are, for example “advised”, “created”, or “led”.

A positive adjective is a word that helps describe you as a candidate. For example, you might be “punctual” or “organised”.

Example of work experience for a visual merchandiser CV

Top skills for your visual merchandiser CV

Whether you work in homeware or hardware, it’s crucial to display the right set of visual merchandiser skills and qualities on your CV. Impress your recruiters with a CV skills section that ticks every box from the visual merchandiser job description.

A good rule here is to break your skills into hard and soft skills. Getting a balance of these is a great choice to show what you are like as a candidate and potential employee. We recommend you try to include 12 in total.

Hard skills are technical skills such as inventory management, customer service, and marketing experience. Soft skills are more like positive character traits, for example organisation and teamwork. If you include a suitable amount of each, you will appear to the employer as a person who is well rounded as a person, but also experienced enough for the job.

Outlining education on a visual merchandiser CV

Education section is another vital part of your CV that helps to show you as an effective and studious candidate. Your educational background may include any school, college, or university courses you have completed. It shows that you have the qualifications to back up your experience. You can also add any professional training courses you’ve taken and completed over the years.

There are some things to keep in mind here. First off, make sure that you don’t mention any incomplete courses or particularly bad grades you have got over the years. Instead, highlight qualifications and achievements that bolster your application. You’ll want each qualification to be relevant to your desired job as a visual merchandiser. You should also start with the highest-level qualifications you have and work backwards.

So what qualifications are expected for a visual merchandiser? This depends on the level of the position and how much experience you have. The more experience you’ve gained over the years, the less you’ll need to focus on your qualifications. That said, you should always include at least some of your education history regardless of your experience in similar job roles.

When creating an effective education section, always include:

• The name of the academic institution
• Start and end dates of study
• The title of the subject you studied
• Your qualification level
• Your result

Example of education for a visual merchandiser CV