Part-time job CV example

Who this CV is for

This page is for adults looking for part-time work around something else in their life: children, caring for a relative, a course, or another job. It is not the same as a teenager's first Saturday job or a student fitting shifts around lectures. You probably have real experience, perhaps with a gap in it, and the question an employer has is less "can this person do a job?" and more "will these hours work for both of us?".

The example is Farah, who was an office administrator for five years, then took a three-year break when her second child was born. She now wants admin or reception work in school hours. Her situation is common, and the way her CV handles it works for most people in a similar position.

Put your hours near the top

On a full-time CV, availability is rarely worth a line. On a part-time CV it is one of the first things a manager checks, because part-time rotas are built around specific hours. Say which days and times you can work in your profile, in plain words. Be exact where you can: "9.15am to 2.45pm" tells a school office or a GP surgery much more than "school hours".

• "Available Monday to Friday, 9.15am to 2.45pm, and extra days in school holidays with notice."
• "Available Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, full days, as I care for my father on Mondays and Fridays."
• "Available evenings after 6pm and weekends, alongside my full-time job."
• "Available two full days a week around my nursing degree timetable, which changes each term."

You do not have to explain why you want these hours. A short reason, as in the second example, can help the reader believe the hours are fixed, but that is your choice.

Part-time adverts, or asking for fewer hours

The simplest route is to apply for jobs already advertised as part-time and match your CV to their hours. If the hours in the advert do not quite fit, say what you can do in your cover note, not on the CV itself, and let the employer decide.

If you want a job that is advertised as full-time, you still have options. GOV.UK says all employees have the legal right to request flexible working, including changes to the number of hours, the days they work and when they start or finish, from their first day in a job. The employer has to deal with the request reasonably, though it can refuse for a business reason. It is often easier to raise reduced hours once an offer is made, or to ask whether the role could be a job share, rather than put it on the CV and risk being screened out.

Writing a career break honestly

Leaving a gap unexplained invites the reader to guess, and guesses are rarely kind. A single line in your work history is enough, with the dates and a plain reason: raising children, caring for a relative, illness, study, travel or relocation. You do not need to apologise for it, justify it or give medical details.

If you did something during the break that shows the skills the job needs, put it in. A course, a qualification, volunteering or a committee role all count. If you did nothing work-related, that is fine too. The line explaining the break is still better than silence.

Unpaid roles count as experience

Farah's PTA treasurer role goes at the top of her work history, above her last paid job, because it is recent and it shows exactly what an admin employer wants: accounts, reports, handling money with controls in place, and working with a committee. Write roles like this the same way you would write a paid job, with a title, dates and bullets about what you did.

The same goes for running a sports club's membership list, helping at a food bank, being a school governor, managing a relative's care and appointments, or doing the books for a partner's business. Do not undersell any of them as "just helping out". If you had a title, use it. If you handled money, bookings, rotas or people, say so.

Older experience: keep what fits the job

After a break, your strongest experience may be a few years old. That is fine. Give it full detail if it matches the job you want, and write the bullets in a way that still sounds current: what you did, the systems you used, and anything you improved. Farah's housing office job gets five bullets because it is the evidence for admin and reception work. Jobs from long ago that do not relate to the role can shrink to one line or go.

Fitting part-time work around study or another job

If you are adding a part-time job to a full-time one, or to a course, the employer's worry is that you will be tired or will drop shifts when the other commitment gets busy. Deal with that directly. List your main job as normal and state your available hours clearly. If you have held a second job before, say how long you kept it. If you are studying, give your course and when it ends, so the reader can see whether your hours are likely to change.

One page, and what to leave out

Most part-time CVs fit on one page, and one page suits the kind of quick read a manager gives a stack of applications for a few shifts a week. To keep it there, cut:

• The ages and names of your children, your marital status and your date of birth. Employers do not need them.
• A long explanation of your circumstances. One line covers a career break.
• Early jobs that have nothing to do with the role.
• Referee details. You can give them when asked.

What to know before you accept

GOV.UK says part-time workers should get the same treatment as comparable full-time workers, including the same pay rates, holidays, pension opportunities and training, with some benefits worked out in proportion to the hours. Every new employee has to prove their right to work in the UK before they start, so have your passport or share code ready. That applies to part-time jobs just as it does to full-time ones.