Grade 7 CV, Employment History and Previous Skills Help

Grade 7 Application Help›CV, Employment History and Previous Skills Help
Grade 7 CV applications
Keep Employment History factual and use Previous Skills to map Grade 7 evidence
Where the application separates Employment History from Previous Skills and Experience, the first should usually be a controlled timeline and the second should carry the main criteria-matched evidence, unless the vacancy instructs otherwise.

Civil Service CV instructions vary between campaigns. Read the advert, person specification and attachments before following any general method. Some campaigns request dates and roles only, while others ask for duties, achievements or a full anonymised CV.

Scoring and format warning
Many departments provide little detailed guidance on how the Civil Service CV section will be sifted. Follow the live vacancy instruction first. The method on this page is a practical evidence-mapping approach and cannot guarantee a sift pass.

The two CV sections have different jobs

SectionRecommended purposeAvoid
Employment HistoryEmployer, role and dates, with short detail only when requested.Repeating long duty lists that do not help the sift.
Previous Skills and ExperienceThe main evidence map for essential, desirable, responsibility and technical points.A broad career narrative that makes the sifter search for relevance.

A suitable Employment History format

Programme Delivery Lead, Example Department | April 2023 to present
Senior Policy Adviser, Example Agency | January 2020 to March 2023
Operational Strategy Manager, Example Organisation | June 2017 to December 2019

Previous Skills and Experience should mirror the advert

  • Extract every important point, including essential and desirable criteria, responsibilities, technical requirements and attachments.
  • Rank the points so lead and repeated requirements receive the strongest evidence.
  • Create one evidence slot for every point.
  • Use the advert wording as headings where the form allows.
  • Name the setting, scale, actions, stakeholders, risks and result.
  • Combine overlapping points only when both remain visible.
What Grade 7 evidence should add
Show strategic context, complex judgement, senior or cross-boundary influence, governance, trade-offs and outcomes beyond one immediate team.
Members can unlock the complete Grade 7 CV method below, including a worked advert breakdown, one evidence slot for every requirement, full Employment History and Relevant Skills examples, background-specific adaptations and a final anonymisation and quality audit.

Join our careers service to read more...

If everyone knew the best tricks and tips then they would no longer work! That is why the best guidance is for members only.

Subscribe to open the locked section on this page and get access to the full Civil Service Careers premium library.

Get help with applications, interviews, behaviours, personal statements, CVs, tests, workplace problems, promotions, and career decisions, all written for people who want a better result.

Subscribe

Already subscribed? Log in