2 Great HGV Driver CV Examples (With CV Writing Guide)

When pursuing HGV driver jobs, you’ll need to equip yourself with a good CV that demonstrates your skills, experiences and suitability for the job.

As an HGV driver, your CV is one of your most important marketing tools. It should communicate your ability to perform your driving duties safely and efficiently while showing the recruiter what makes you stand out.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to prepare a CV that does exactly that.

This guide includes two great HGV driver CV samples and templates that you can use now to optimise your job search.

When writing your HGV driver CV, the first step is to prepare your professional profile. Also referred to as personal statements and CV summaries, the professional profile is a short introduction at the beginning of your CV. It should convey your skills, experience and background in a concise manner.

Your professional profile should be between 50 and 100 words. Think of your professional profile as a sales pitch; it should communicate your value and convince recruiters to select you for job interviews.

As an HGV driver, you may want to use your professional profile to highlight your safety record, your ability to maintain vehicles and your efficiency. Such details can make you stand out from the competition.

Here is an example of an HGV driver’s professional profile:

‘Efficient, safety-oriented HGV Class 2 driver with over 12 years’ experience. Track record of transporting goods on time and without incident, having encountered zero incidents after driving over 25,000 hours. Adept at maintaining vehicles to high standards and understands the importance of performing daily checks of vehicles. Utilises excellent organisation and time management skills to complete tasks within timescales.’

After you’ve written your professional profile, it’s time to include a skills section. This section is usually positioned near the beginning of CVs.

Focus on 9 or 10 of your strongest skills. Avoid including an exhaustive list of your skills. This will take the attention away from your strongest skills and make the section less effective. Instead, focus on a small number of skills that are pertinent to the job you’re applying for.

To gain insight into the skills employers are looking for in HGV drivers, study the job description or job adverts for HGV driver jobs.

Key skills for HGV drivers include time management, organisation, geographical knowledge, customer service, punctuality, communication and flexibility.

Here is an example of an HGV driver’s skills section:

Now it’s time to detail your employment history. The work experience section is arguably the most important part of your CV as it enables you to demonstrate your achievements.

When listing your work experience, use the reverse-chronological format. The reverse-chronological CV format involves listing your most recent position first and working backwords.

Include your job title, which will likely be ‘HGV Driver’, followed by the company name, the location of employment and the dates of employment.

If possible, try to include achievements for each position. For example, did you encounter zero safety-related incidents while working as a HGV driver? Did you meet all timescales while conducting HGV operations?

Here is an example of a HGV driver’s achievements:

‘Encountered zero incidents while conducting over 4,000 hours of HGV operations across England and Wales.’

In this section, list your education and training information. Start with your most recent qualification and work backwards.

Omit any training that is not relevant to your role as an HGV driver. Including irrelevant training may take the focus away from your more important training.

How do you format your HGV driver CV’s education section?

Start by including the name of your qualification, followed by the institution, the location and the dates of study.

Here is an example:

‘Communication Training, Example Training Company, London (2002 – 2003).’

In the final section of your HGV driver CV, include any further relevant information. This may include licences, memberships, volunteering work and language proficiency.

Many recruiters and HR departments use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter and rank applicants’ CVs based on their suitability for the job.

ATS scan your CV for specific keywords related to skills, former employers, school/university names and other requirements. In order to ensure your CV ranks well and passes through Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), you need to ensure your document contains all the relevant keywords.

To determine the most important keywords to include on your CV, study the job description or job advert for the role you’re pursuing. This will give you insight into the essential requirements.

The HGV driver CV templates in this guide are optimised for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), so feel free to use them to improve your job search.

The ideal length for HGV driver CVs is between one and two pages. This should provide enough space to convey your skills, experiences and achievements in a concise manner.

CVs that are longer than two pages tend to make for a poorer reading experience. For this reason, long CVs may not be read by recruiters.

Nowadays, many recruiters want to check out your LinkedIn profile after reading your CV. So if you have a strong, well fleshed-out LinkedIn profile, ensure to include your LinkedIn URL with your contact information.

However, if you don’t have a strong LinkedIn profile that effectively demonstrates your value as an employee, don’t include a link to your profile. Weak LinkedIn profiles can actually have a negative impact on your job search.

Want to improve your LinkedIn profile? View 15 great LinkedIn headline examples. Or take a look at our 20 LinkedIn summary examples.

We hope you have found this guide to HGV driver CVs helpful. Feel free to use the HGV driver CV templates in this guide to optimise your job search.