CV Writing Tips | Construction Claims and Disputes

Having a great looking CV can be the difference between you getting the opportunity to attend an interview for a job role and selling yourself face to face to an employer and not. Therefore, it is certainly worth investing time and effort to make sure that your CV is reflecting you in the best light.

In this article, I hope to be able to provide some basic ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ for budding construction Quantum Consultants and Delay Analysts writing their CV.

Let’s start with the common mistakes that I see:

Spelling and Punctuation Mistakes:

Your CV should not contain spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes generally. However, it is doubly embarrassing when applying for a role in claims and disputes when so much emphasis is placed on your analytical and report writing skills.

It will be very hard to convince employers that you have strong writing and analytical skills if you are presenting them with a CV that is unchecked and littered with mistakes.

I have known hiring managers (often testifying expert witnesses) who have dismissed CVs on the smallest errors, let alone a CV that could be argued to prepared in a careless and sloppy manner.

Tailor your CV:

If you’re applying for a Quantum Consultant or Delay Analyst role, your CV probably shouldn’t be the same as the CV you would use to apply for a Planning, Quantity Surveying or Project Management role.

Most of the core of the CV is fine to remain the same, however if you are applying for construction disputes vacancies, you really should be bringing the more relevant skills to forefront of the CV.

Sell your claims and disputes experience (If you have any):

I see this all too often unfortunately. Candidates with prior experience of claims work, or formal disputes experience on adjudication, arbitrations or litigations that make no reference to them whatsoever in their CV.

It can come from a lack of motivation to seriously move into claims and disputes, or a lack of effort to think through the relevant experience you do have and to be able to articulate it clearly.

Previous practical experience on construction disputes is highly desirable. If you have this experience, you really need to include it in your CV and make it easy to read and digest.

Accurate Personal Summary / Statement

Most candidates include a brief statement at the beginning of their CV about themselves and their experience titled ‘Personal Statement’ or similar. I like this in a CV and think it’s a great way to give the reader the equivalent of the ‘Elevator pitch’ on your candidacy.

However, many candidates are missing the opportunity to sell themselves by not updating this section of their profile.

The worst of the mistakes I see is when traditional Planners, Quantity Surveyors, Engineers or Construction Managers are applying for their first role either as a Quantum Consultant or Delay Analyst. In their personal summary, it will still state that their career goal is to gain more experience in their role and progress into management rather than making it clear that they are looking to transition into a specialist claims and disputes role.

How to Include your Claims and Disputes Experience in your CV?

Many candidates tell me that they find this hard to do. I think sometimes it comes from them underestimating how valuable their experience is. Even if you have only assisted in the preparation of claims or disputes, make sure it is in your CV. Even your exposure to the process can be beneficial to your application in some instances. Particularly on formal disputes.

Here are the best two ways that I have seen candidates present their claims and disputes experience:

Prominent within Bullet Points:

Bullet points are a big favourite with candidates when describing their responsibilities within a job role on their CV. They encourage you to keep things brief, they are easy to read, and they can make a CV look tidy if done correctly.

If your CV is laid out in this fashion, then trying to incorporate any responsibilities relating to claims and disputes within these bullet points is a great idea. Prioritise them though. Put them higher up the list so they are more easily visible, and also don’t be afraid to prioritise your claims and disputes experience over more common traditional responsibilities that may be duplicated on numerous job roles within your CV.

Dedicated Section:

Several candidates that I have worked with recently have created an additional section to their CV to specifically detail their claims and disputes experience. Situated either before or after their ‘Employment History’, they have simply dedicated approximately half a page of their CV to specifically detail the disputes they have been involved in.

This has worked quite well and gives the employer a focused section of your CV to see all your relevant claims and disputes experience.

Information in this section can include:

• Project
• Value (project and dispute)
• Nature of the claim / dispute
• What resolution process was used (i.e., adjudication, arbitration, litigation etc)
• Role within the dispute (i.e., leading, supporting etc. Did you have a particular focus?)
• Whether you had a legal team involved who you worked with (internal, external – Feel free to list who it was if a particularly reputable individual / firm)

For more experienced candidates with significant claims and disputes experience, I have seen supporting documents which can be multiple pages long provided in addition to a CV to accurate reflect their claims and disputes experience. This may also be something that you want to consider.

Should I Include a Cover Letter / Email?

Cover Letters seem to have gone out of fashion these days. However, I still maintain that some form of supporting document to your CV is beneficial. I can say for certain that many candidates have made a positive impression on me by including a cover letter or something less formal such as an email stating their case for their suitability.

I think this can be especially important for early career Quantity Surveyors, Planners, Engineers etc. who are looking to make their first move into claims and disputes.

In a Cover Letter / Email supporting your CV, I would consider keeping it brief; ideally 3-4 paragraphs. Use at as an opportunity to sell your suitability for the role:

• Why you think you are suitable?
• What experience and qualifications do you have that suit this role?
• What is your motivation / future aspirations that tie in with this role?
• If your suitability is less obvious, what transferable skills do you have?

Summary

I hope that you were able to gather some useful information on how to prepare a strong CV for claims and disputes from reading this article.

If you are considering a move into or within the construction claims and disputes sector and want to chat about your CV, you are welcome to contact me or one of the Maxim Recruitment team to discuss how you can improve your CV and to send either a draft or a final version to us for review.  Send us your CV. 

Specialist Claims and Dispute Team
Maxim Recruitment
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Our specialist recruitment team are experts at sourcing staff for both Quantum and Delay jobs, from Consultant up to Director level. We work with Claims and Expert Witness consultancies who pay competitive salaries and lucrative bonuses, who are able to provide exposure to an exciting variety of construction disputes. We recruit for professionals in London, across the UK and in selected international locations.