Psychologist CV example and writing guide

Use a clean, reverse-chronological psychologist CV template with clear headings and consistent dates. Two pages will suit many applicants, although relevant research, publications or extensive senior experience may justify more space. Put contact details first, followed by your personal statement, core skills, employment, education and selected extras. Leave out your photograph, date of birth and full street address.

Keep the personal statement to roughly three or four lines. It should identify what you do and give the reader a reason to continue, rather than repeat broad qualities such as "hard-working" or "passionate".

Under each role, use three to five compact bullets. For psychologist CV work experience, relevant evidence can include psychological assessment and treatment planning, delivery of evidence-based interventions and work with multidisciplinary teams. Senior applicants can also describe supervision and contributions to service development or quality improvement. State only the scope and outcomes you can support.

Build the skills section around the vacancy. Assessment proficiency, communication and interpersonal skills may be relevant; include named therapy approaches only when you have actually used them and they apply to the post. In education, record the exact awarded title rather than shortening or upgrading it. Use extras selectively: one useful research project or publication is stronger than a long list with no connection to the application.

A duty tells the reader what your post involved; an achievement shows what changed because of your work. A useful pattern is: action + scope + method + result. For example, replace "Responsible for assessments" with "Conducted 42 structured psychological assessments over six months, completing 95% of reports within the service target." The second version supplies workload, timeframe and outcome.

Psychologist CV examples often become vague when they describe treatment or collaboration. Write "Developed individual treatment plans for a caseload of 18 clients, with 16 plans agreed at the first multidisciplinary review" rather than "Helped with treatment plans". Replace "Worked with other professionals" with "Coordinated fortnightly reviews with a six-person multidisciplinary team, reducing duplicated appointments by 10% over one quarter." Evidence of appropriate treatment selection, report writing, research work or continuing professional development may also be relevant to clinical psychologist posts, but keep the scope of each claim precise.

For intervention work, name an approach only when it reflects your real practice. A grounded bullet might read: "Delivered a 10-week evidence-based group intervention to 24 participants, with 20 completing the programme." Do not imply that attendance proves clinical improvement. If you have a validated outcome measure, identify the measure and report the result accurately; otherwise use a service measure such as completion, waiting time, response time or audit compliance.

Senior applicants should show leadership through evidence, not adjectives. State how many junior psychologists or trainees you supervised, how often supervision occurred and what improved. Likewise, quantify a service development or quality-improvement contribution through reach, turnaround time, uptake or an audited change.

Good action verbs include assessed, formulated, delivered, evaluated, interpreted, coordinated, supervised, audited, researched, presented and improved. Vary them when the work differs, but do not reach for inflated verbs. "Supported" is perfectly useful when it accurately describes your level of responsibility.

List education in reverse-chronological order. Give the exact qualification title, institution and completion year; add a concise note on relevant research or placement work only when it strengthens the application. Candidates still studying should state the expected completion year clearly. Do not present an unfinished course as an awarded qualification, and do not copy a broad person specification into your education record.

Qualification routes depend on the practitioner psychologist modality, and those modalities have their own qualification requirements and protected titles. Match your wording to the specific post rather than treating "psychologist" as one interchangeable route.

For clinical psychologists, the regulated route requires a professional doctorate. Counselling psychologists and educational psychologists require a professional doctorate or an equivalent qualification. State the exact award you hold; if you are still completing it, give your current status without suggesting that it has already been conferred.

For forensic psychologists, the regulated route requires a Masters degree together with the British Psychological Society qualification in forensic psychology, or an equivalent route. Health psychologists follow the corresponding route with the British Psychological Society qualification in health psychology. Occupational psychologists use the British Psychological Society qualification in occupational psychology, and sport and exercise psychologists use the British Psychological Society qualification in sport and exercise psychology; each is paired with a Masters degree or an equivalent route.

Keep the distinction between an awarded qualification, training in progress and short continuing-development activity. Put substantial awarded qualifications in education. A separate professional-development section can hold a small number of recent, relevant courses, described accurately and without presenting attendance as certification.