Exam results: Should you include them on your CV?

I don’t, but then mine are from 1995!

Firstly a huge hug to anyone getting exam results today, and to parents!

If you or someone you know or parent are/is getting results today and then planning to create a CV, then 100% yes I’d say those results need to be on there. But try and make them work for you! They are just ONE part of your CV. What else is going on there? Work experience, volunteer work? Your CV does not have to revolve around exam results.

If they are pertinent to your job goals, then of course you want to put them on there. But then you also want to showcase skills, parts of YOU that aren’t exam based.

If you’re then thinking to fill space you could add some references - actual words from people rather than just their details. Is there someone at school or college who would write something about you?

Making your first CV can be quite a minefield but making it revolve around exam results doesn’t have to be the starting point.

For those not fresh out of exam season, ask yourself:

One: How recent are they?

Two: How much do they relate to your current job search/industry?

Three: Will the reader care, or are the exams a distraction from the other information you want to showcase?

For example my A-levels are in French German and Geography, and they are from - gasps - 1995.

So no way are they on my CV! Who cares?? They’re also a big distraction as they lead the reader into asking about language and whether I’ve lived in France.

Yes. But that’s not relevant to my work as a coach. I don’t coach in French!

They would take up valuable space that I can use for other skills and training more relevant to my work today.

Freelancers: My advice here is to think about the contracts you’re going for or clients you’re trying to reach, and whether that reader cares about exams and in particular cares about the type of exam and subjects.