CV, Cover Emails, and Gaining Employment. The Ultimate Guide

CVs, cover emails, and effective applications are vital if you want to significantly improve your chances of gaining consistent and better paid employment within the close protection and security industry. At the end of this document, we’ll let you know how to get our free CV template and CV examples.

Within this document we will refer to the 10% rule. 90% of security operators apply for jobs ineffectively. Which means for the 10% who put the time and effort into finding the right jobs and applying effectively, you can significantly give yourself a better chance of gaining employment than your peers. In addition, you can actually give yourself a better chance of finding employment than those security operators who are more experienced than you, if you make your applications better than their applications.

Within this document we are going to talk about the following:

• CVs
• Cover emails
• Effective applications

 

CVs

When you apply for a full-time close protection role for example, there will likely be 200+ other security operators applying for that role. Therefore, the recruiter does not have time to read all of the CVs. Instead, the recruiter will skim-read the CVs firstly to decide which of those 200+ CVs they want to read in detail.

So firstly, your CV must be skim readable. The recruiter will take no more than 10 seconds to do this skim-read, but it could be even as quick as 5 seconds.

If the CV is over two pages in length, has loads of random boxes with information in, uses too much bold or underlining, or has a range of fonts and font sizes, it is likely that the CV will be deleted before even being skim-read.

Therefore, it is important that when the recruiter opens the CV, it must look easy to extract information from. The information that the recruiter is looking to extract, is the information detailed in the job description. So the CV template that you use should be really simple and clear.

There are many CV examples available on the internet. But the free CV template which we will send you has been developed specifically for gaining employment in the security industry.

This is how you should draft your CV:

 

Name

This goes at the very top of the CV.

Forename Surname only, and capitalised. No need to add the word CV after your name, it’s quite clearly your CV!

Your name should look like this:

DAVE GREEN

 

CV Profile

The CV profile is the most important part of the CV. This is the section at the top of the CV, which summarises the rest of the CV. A well written profile can be enough to get your CV moved from the large pile of CVs that are being skim-read, into the more manageable pile of CVs to be read in detail.

The key information detailed in the job description should be highlighted clearly in your profile.

So if the job description says that you need to be a close protection operator, with five years of experience, ex-police, with FREC or FPOS-I, and experience working with Middle Eastern high-net worth families. Then this information should be in your profile. Therefore, it is really clear for the recruiter that you meet their recruitment criteria, and it is worth them reading your CV in detail.

Do not add personal attributes to a CV profile, such as a hardworking, experienced, professional, team player, but able to work as an individual, and great communicator……………. because well done, that makes you a basic functioning adult, and it is not a selling point for a CV. This kind of information just makes it harder for the recruiter to extract the information that they are looking for. Which to reiterate, is the information detailed in the job description.

Your profile on your CV should look like this:

I am a CLOSE PROTECTION OPERATOR and have been employed in the security industry for seven years. Throughout my employment I have gained experience working with business executives, high-profile people, and ultra-high net worth Middle Eastern families. In the UK and across Europe. Prior to working in the security industry, I served for eleven years with the Metropolitan Police. To complement my experience, I have completed a Level 4 advanced surveillance course and hold the FREC medical qualification.

*Note the minimal use of Bold to draw the eye to the most important information. Also note how it is very clear and straight to the point.

 

Key Skills

Key skills are exactly that, the key skills that you want to be known for. These should be brief and punchy, straight to the point. Some CV examples have lists and lists of key skills, but you can’t have lists and lists of key skills, or they would just be skills. Not your key skills and what you want to be known for.

Three of four key skills as a maximum, and again, align these key skills to the job description.

So if the job description says that you need to be a close protection operator, with an advance surveillance qualification, and ability to lead a team of eight security operators, your key skills would look like this:

• Close Protection
• Surveillance
• Leadership and Management

Experience

If the recruiter has decided to move your CV into the more manageable pile of CVs to be read in detail, it is your experience that will land you the role, rather than your qualifications. As most security operators have very similar qualifications, so they are rarely a selling point on a CV. We guarantee that if you use our free CV template, you will be giving yourself the best opportunity possible of having your CV moved from the pile of CVs being skim-read, into the pile of CVs to be read in detail.

Again, your experience needs to be easy to read. So no large paragraphs of information. Use bullet points to split up the experiences that you gained within each role you held.

Title each job role within your experience section like this using Bold:

 

Job Role, Employer                                                          Date Employed From – Date Employed To

 

Under the header of each job role that you have held, should be a two-line summary of the role. So if the recruiter has very little time, they can just read the summary of the role. Rather than having to read into your bullet points of experiences.

For each of your bullet point experiences, your information about the task that you did should be no longer than two lines. Get straight to the point, do not pad out your information with unnecessary wording.

Your experiences section should look like this:

 

Close Protection Operator, AEGIS                                                                                    Sep 15 – Aug 21

Provided security and safety to FCO personnel, UK Ministers, heads of large organisations like the World Bank, and other visiting VIPs. Based at the British Embassy in Afghanistan.

Key Tasks

• Deputised for the Team Leader to manage a team of 8 close protection operators.
• Supported the Team Leader to establish SOPs to facilitate a smooth transition into role for new team members and ensure no reduction in operational effectiveness.
• Produced and implemented training timetables for the team to ensure competency in weapon handling, vehicle drills, communications, and first aid.
• Conducted detailed journey management planning, using intelligence sources and local knowledge to ensure safe routes for operation.
• Managed the team’s weapons, ammunition, and operational equipment.

*The bullet point at the top, should be the key task that is the most relevant to the job description. The bullet point that is least relevant to the job description should be at the bottom.

 

If you have served in the military or police, above your job role when you are going to add your military or police experience, title it with either HM FORCES EXPERIENCE or POLICE EXPERIENCE, as relevant to you.

Use our free CV template and CV examples to draft your own experience section on your CV.

Qualifications

You should only include qualifications that are relevant to the role that you are applying for. Those qualifications that are relevant are………. the ones that would add value to you as an applicant, or those detailed in the job description.

So there is no need for your A Levels or GCSEs. Your engineering diploma won’t add value. A love of photography is great, but not required in the CP role. Neither are most of your military or police qualifications. Although there are some exceptions to this rule, if they are relevant to the role that you are applying for.

So before you add your qualifications, ask yourself, do these qualifications really add value to me as a security operator for the role that I am applying for?

Your qualifications should look like this:

 

SIA License – 1086 0000 0000 124, valid until July 2026.

Security Management (Level 4 Diploma) – Completed with Stonebridge College.

Hostile Environment Close Protection (BTEC Level 4) – Completed with Security Ex.

Close Protection Operator (BTEC Level 3) – Completed with Excellentia Global.

First Person on Scene Intermediate (FPOS-I) – Completed with Excellentia Global.

Emergency Paediatric First Aid (BTEC Level 2) – Completed with Medical First.

RoSPA Advance Driving – Gold Award.

* Note the consistent formatting throughout.

Personal Information

Do not put your personal information at the start of a CV. Why you ask? This is because the personal information only matters for that one person who will be offered the job. So why make it the first piece of information that a recruiter sees, as for 99% applicants, it will be irrelevant.

Therefore, if you put your personal information at the start of the CV, what you are actually doing is making it harder for the recruiter to read your profile, which should be the first section of the CV that the reader views as it is the most important part. So don’t distract the recruiter with your unnecessary personal information at the start of your CV.

Personal information goes at the very end of your CV as you will see on our free CV template and CV examples, and should look like this:

 

Address – Park Way, Nottingham, NG11 6HY.

Contact Number – 0796743873.

Date of Birth – 27 March 1980.

Marital Status – Single.

Leisure Pursuits – Rugby, cricket, diving, reading, and current affairs.

References – Exemplary references available upon request.

 

Some people question whether you should trust a recruiter with all of your personal information. But if you don’t trust the recruiter with your personal information, why would you trust them to pay you. So if you have any doubts about trusting the recruiter, you shouldn’t be applying for the job.

Some people also questions having leisure pursuits on the CV. But this part of the CV is for job application Ninjas and if used correctly can be devastating in getting you an interview. But CV Ninja skills will be discussed in Part 2 of this Ultimate CV and employment guidance.

 

CV Footer

In the CV footer, should be the page number (which will never be higher than 2!), plus your name and email address.

Font

The font should be Ariel, or another clear and easy to read font. Then either font size 11 or 12. Not smaller, as you are trying to make it easy for the recruiter to extract information from the CV, and smaller fonts make it hard for them to do this.

 

How to get your CV under 2 pages in length

This is easy………. remove the information that adds the least value to the CV. The information that adds the least value will be the information not required in the job description, or that adds the least value to your application or you as an applicant.

 

Saving your CV

When you save your CV, just use your Forename Surname CV – Job title you are applying for

Plus add a reference if the job description states to add one.

It should look like this:

 

Dave Green CV – The Security Advisor Close Protection Operator Role Op Bannard

 

When you are saving your CV, you should save it as a Word document so that you can tailor it each time you apply for a different role. Aligning it to the job description for each application of course.

But ensure that when you do actually send your CV, that you send it as a PDF. If you do not send the CV as a PDF, the format may be corrupted when the recruiter opens it. Undoing all of your hard work in drafting the CV. This is especially the case if you have a picture on your CV and send it as a Word file.

 

Pictures

Only add a picture to a CV, if the recruiter is requesting a picture on the CV. Only a head and shoulders picture should be used on a CV.

If the recruiter is requesting a picture be sent separate, then send the picture separately. But this should be both a head and shoulders picture, and a full-length picture.

 

CV summary

That’s everything that you need to know about how to write an effective CV.

So make sure that the CV is no more than two pages in length. Is easy to extract information from. Is skim readable. Has the information detailed in the job description. Plus remove any information that does not add value to the job that you are applying for, or you as an applicant.

Use the free CV template that can be found within the Zip file that you can request from us to start drafting your own job winning CV. Plus use the CV examples to guide you on how to format the CV correctly.

 

COVER EMAILS

Your cover email is a high-level summary about you, like to your CV profile, but written in a more formal manner.

As with your CV, it should be tailored to the job description.

You should ensure that you have the name of the person that you are sending the cover email to. Do not just send it to The Hiring Manager, or to a company name. As this is lazy. If you don’t have the person’s name, find it!

You should state in the cover email which job you are applying for, like this:

 

I am emailing you to apply for the Op Banner Close Protection Role of which I found on LinkedIn. Please find attached my CV.

 

Then state why you are applying for the role. Like this:

 

I am applying for the Close Protection role as I have the necessary experiences, qualifications and expertise, as required in the job description, to successfully fulfil the position as you can see from my CV. In addition to this, my work ethic and professionalism would complement that of The Security Advisor.

 

Then add a summary paragraph about your experiences. Which remember, is like your CV profile but written in a more formal manner. Similar to your CV profile, do not use personal attributes on your cover email. It should look like this:

 

I am a close protection operator and have been employed in the security industry for seven years. Throughout my employment, I have gained experience working with business executives, high-profile people, and ultra-high net worth Middle Eastern families. I have conducted my roles within the UK and across Europe. Prior to working in the security industry, I served for eleven exemplary years with the Metropolitan Police. Where I specialised in high-profile event management, especially where there was attendance by VIPs.

To complement my experience, I have completed a Level 4 advanced surveillance course and hold the FREC medical qualification.

* You should notice that you have more room on your cover email than you do on your CV profile. So you can expand on the information. But don’t go over the top, it should still be punchy and straight to the point.

 

Finish the cover email off with your name and telephone number, like this:

Dave Green

0796743873

 

Email subject

 

The subject of the email should be capitalised so that your email will stand out from all of the other emails in the recruiter’s inbox. Like this:

 

THE SECURITY ADVISOR OP BANNER CLOSE PROTECTION ROLE APPLICATION

 

Before you send the cover email with your attached CV (don’t forget to attach it), make sure that you select the ‘High Importance’ option which will add a red exclamation mark to your email and therefore make it stand out even further in the recruiter’s inbox.

 

Cover emails summary

That’s everything that you need to know about how to write an effective cover email.

Importantly, make sure that your cover email is tailored to the job description every single time. Never just send a generic cover email.

Use the cover email template that can be found within the Zip file with our free CV template and CV examples to start drafting your own job winning cover email. Plus use the cover email example to guide you on how to format the cover email correctly.

 

EFFECTIVE APPLICATIONS

Don’t be a chancer!

As we previously discussed, there will be 200+ applicants for each full time close protection role. So if you don’t meet the recruitment criteria, meaning that you don’t have all of the specifications required in the job description, then don’t apply. That is because there will be 10’s of people who do meet the recruitment criteria, so your application will just be deleted.

If you have a strong CV, which you will have if you use our free CV template and CV examples, but might be short of a qualification, then it could be worth applying. But realistically, the recruiter wouldn’t have added the information to the job description, if that wasn’t what was required of the applicant.

Also, do not apply to a company if you are not available when they are advertising a job. Saying something like, “I’m not available now, but please find attached my CV for future work”. The recruiter is busy enough as it is and does not have time for speculative applications while they are in the middle of recruiting a role. Your email will be deleted.

 

Focus on quality applications over quantity

Rather than making a long list of jobs that you want to apply for. Be really specific about the jobs that you think you will have the most chance of getting an interview for.

Then spend quality time on the jobs that you think you will have a chance of getting, rather than trying to apply for every job.

So if you have eight hours one day to apply for jobs. Spend eight hours applying for four jobs that you have a realistic chance of getting, and really focus on making them quality applications. Spending two hours on each application. Instead of applying for ten jobs, but rushing the applications and sending the same untailored CV and cover email off for each role (which is what most people do).

 

Tailoring a CV to a job description

Tailoring a CV to a job description or company is absolutely essential to ensure that your CV stands out from the crowd. It should be done every single time that you send your CV. Whether it’s changing a paragraph, reformatting or tweaking a sentence, it can make a big difference. With recruiters and employers skim-reading CVs in under ten seconds, your aim is to ensure that everything detailed in the job description is highlighted on your CV and is easy to identify.

Start by printing off the job description. Take a highlighter and highlight all the essential requirements in the job description. Then go to the desirable or preferred requirements and highlight the ones that apply to you. Starting at the top of your highlighted list, take each job description requirement in turn and ensure that it is clearly written into your CV.

Use the experience section of your CV to really emphasise the requirements and provide evidence to show that you have the knowledge and experience in the areas of what was required by the job description. If you already have a bullet point in your CV outlining what is required in the job description, ensure that bullet point is at the top of the list of bullet points. Therefore it gets read first. The same goes for qualifications, ensure all qualifications required in the job description are at the top of your qualifications section of the CV.

Once you have done this then you can write your  CV profile, which is a high-level summary of your CV. So it should outline the key requirements from the job description that you meet, but not go into detail as we have discussed in the CVs section of this document.

For a recruiter receiving your tailored CV, it shows that you have had the respect to take the time and effort to ensure that your CV meets their requirements. Less than 10% of security operators tailor their CV before applying for a position. So if you really want to stand out from the crowd, take an hour to tailor your CV the next time you send it off.

 

What should I send the recruiter

This is easy, all you need to send the recruiter is exactly what they have asked for. No more, and no less.

If it is a speculative application that you are sending off, just send a cover email and CV. Nothing else, no supporting documents.

 

Supporting documents

Only send supporting documents if the recruiter has asked for them. Similar to your personal information, supporting documents are only relevant to the person who will be offered the role. So for everyone else, there is no point sending supporting documents such as your medical certificates, a CP course certificate, a driving license, passport, or a right to work for example, as they are irrelevant unless you are being offered the role. The recruiter will be busy enough without having to wade through your supporting documents to try and find your CV. So guess what will happen……….. your whole email will just be deleted.

 

Using abbreviations in your CV, cover email, and applications

You can use abbreviations in your CV, cover email, and applications, but they need to be obvious everyday abbreviations that people would be expected to know in the security industry. Abbreviations like RST, FCO, VIP, SOP, UHNW, or IBG for example are ok as they are clear and obvious to security industry personnel.

But don’t use abbreviations that most security industry personnel are unlikely to know. If you want to use these, spell them out in full first, then bracket the abbreviation after. Then you can use the abbreviation throughout the rest of your document. Like this:

 

Department for International Development (DFID)

 

Effective applications summary

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Plus, have a look at the security operator focussed articles on our operational site to develop yourself as a security operator and further improve your job applications:

https://securityandsafetysolutions.co.uk/bodyguard-security/

 

Contact us today to get our FREE CV template and CV examples – [email protected]

Or if you’ve tried to write your own CV using our FREE CV template and CV examples, but think you need a professional to write your CV and cover email for you, get in touch and we’ll talk you through the process.