5 tips for the perfect sports/fitness CV

So… you’re looking for a job in the sports and fitness industries. Whether you’re new to the industry or have a few years under your belt, your CV needs to convince recruiters that you deserve an interview. Be sure to remember the follow five tips if you want to find success.

1. Highlight your industry qualifications

These days, you don’t always need an industry qualification to enter the sports and fitness industry, especially with the birth of the outdoor fitness market and fitspo Instagram accounts.

However, to boost your chances of becoming a desirable hire, you must make your industry-related qualifications as prominent as possible on your CV.

There are a couple of ways to do this.

Firstly, if you have extensive experience in the industry, you can introduce a ‘key skills’ or ‘core competencies’ section just underneath your personal profile, to prioritise your relevant abilities.

Here, bullet point out your industry qualifications, certifications or registrations and any other abilities that prove you’re a suitable match for the role.

Alternatively, you can expand your education section to detail your education, qualifications and training. Just be sure to list the title of the qualification, the institution and the year you completed it. If you have a degree in sports or fitness, delve into the specific modules relevant to the job as this will show you’re qualified for the role.

2. Make your experience prominent

Qualifications are great, but experience is more likely to land you a job in the sports and fitness industry. As a result, you need to ensure this section is on point.

If you have a lot of work experience generally, you might like to split your employment history section into ‘fitness experience’ and ‘other experience’. This makes the recruiter’s life a lot easier when it comes to identifying why you’re great for the vacancy.

Another way to make your experience pop is by zooming in on the sought-after skills and skimming down the unnecessary.

Take a look at the requirements listed in the job description and make sure that your CV addresses the majority of them. Assume that the job spec is the question and your CV is the answer.

Then, double check your CV to see if there’s anything irrelevant or unrelated; you can afford to reduce the detail here. However, don’t cut too much, like entire roles, or you may raise a red flag with the recruiter.

“Take a look at the requirements listed in the job description and make sure that your CV addresses the majority of them. Assume that the job spec is the question and your CV is the answer”

3. Identify transferable skills

When writing a sports and fitness CV, you can fall into the trap of focusing on all the hard skills and experiences and nothing but.

However, transferable skills are highly desirable in this industry due to its B2C nature. Therefore, don’t forget about the soft skills that you have developed so far, such as communication, teamwork and organisation.

4. Show your value with achievements

Listing your skills and abilities is great because it tells the recruiter where your expertise lies.

However, to make yourself an outstanding candidate, support your claims with facts, figures and statistics wherever possible to prove your value.

For example, you may have ‘worked with clients’, but how many have you worked with? What did you do? What did you learn? What did you achieve? Do you have any testimonials? Why does this piece of information make you a great catch?

Be as specific as possible with your claims and skills as results quantify your achievements and offer tangible reasons to invite you to an interview.

5. Format it to perfection

You may have included all the right information, but unless your CV looks the part, you’re unlikely to progress in the application process.

Having a CV that’s easy-to-read and the right length is essential if you want recruiters to read your CV thoroughly.

Start by choosing a clean font such as Calibri or Ariel. Then ensure the body of your CV is somewhere in the range of 10 to 12 point font – headings can be slightly larger.

You CV should fit two pages comfortably. Any more or less and you risk it looking unfinished. If you’re struggling to make the content fit, have a play with the font sizes and page margins. Just make sure that the formatting is consistent throughout to create a polished finish.

Laura Slingo is Digital Copywriter for the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library. For more expert advice on job searches, careers and the workplace, visit their Career Advice pages.