In the competitive, internet-driven world of job searches, your resume represents you to potential employers. It serves as your tool to attract attention, get the interview and/or get a job. A great resume will make you stand out from other candidates by showcasing your aptitudes. Think of your resume as your sales pitch – you need to sell yourself in the best possible way. Invest some time and research into developing your resume.
What A CV Is: And The Importance Of An Impressive CV
A CV is a one or to two-page document summarizing your career objectives, professional experiences achievements, and educational background. The heading of the CV should contain your name, address and contact information.
The body of the CV should be broken into the following sections:
Career Objective Profile/Summary Professional Experience Achievements Scholastic References
Your career objective should be brief, up to two sentences; it should give your potential employers an idea of how you wish to move forward in your professional life. ScholasticA concise profile or a summary should discuss who you are and how your skills and experience best apply to the job you are interested in. The summary, as well as other parts of your CV, should not contain personal information that discloses ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status, age, living situations, or
any other personal information that is not directly related to your career.
Personal profile/summary should only contain a few well-written sentences that convey what you can bring to the table in terms of the specific job.
Use this section to attract the employer’s attention, but don’t go overboard in trying to be creative – stay professional. Your experience listing should include information on one to five jobs you’ve held, starting with your current or last job, and listing previous positions in chronological order.
The listing should include the date range of your employment, name of the companies or person(s) you have worked for, and the city and state where the place of employment is located (full address of employment is not necessary).
List your title and your main responsibilities, with emphasis on duties that are applicable to the type of work you are seeking. Your education should include college, graduate and post-graduate work, as well as any courses or professional certifications that are relevant to your career development. Achievements, volunteer positions, publications and interests should only be listed if they apply to your professional work experience
References should be listed if requested; best practices suggest not to list generic statements about
references being available upon request as this is understood.
You will want to make sure that your CV is error free – double check your grammar and spelling, make sure that all company and school names and cities are spelled properly. A CV containing errors, no matter how minimal, will give your potential employer an impression that you do not have attention to detail, that you don’t take time to double check your work, and that you are a poor communicator. Additionally, make sure that your CV is formatted well.
Stick to basic fonts, like Arial and Times New Roman. Keep the font size and color standard; don’t use large fonts or multiple colors in your CV. Don’t go overboard with bold, italicized, or large-cap text. Keep your format consistent and make sure that the CV looks great when viewed online as well as when printed out. Keep your CV to one or two pages – any additional pages give an impression that you either don’t know how to concisely summarize your education and experience, or that you are listing unnecessary information for the sake of taking up space.
If you’ve never written a CV before, reference books, Internet resources or seek assistance from a professional CV writing service. A well-written CV can make a difference between being stuck at your current job and getting an interview to land the job of your dreams.
HOW TO GET STARTED WRITING A CV
Facing a blank page when you are trying to write a CV can be very scary.
You may think that you don’t have enough to say about yourself to fill a page; you may be wondering just how to list all of your skills and experience within a single sheet of paper. To get started, ask yourself some titles about your past jobs and your career goals.
Before you even begin writing a CV, define the exact reasons why you need one. While this may sound simple, it takes more than saying, “I want to get a new job.” Consider your career objective first. Make sure that your goals are specific in terms of industry, position title, and future professional achievements.
Download a professional CV sampe
Once you are clear on the type of job you are seeking, it will be much easier to compose a CV that highlights your expertise in the area of your interest. Once you have your career objective developed, do some research on a CV format that is most commonly used and may be most appropriate for your industry. Search the Internet or check out the books in your local library to get a better idea of what well-written professional CVs look like. Once you find a format that best suits your field and your career objective, use the same layout to get started.
When listing your personal information at the top of the CV, include your address, home and/or mobile phone number, and your email address. A helpful hint about listing your email address – make sure that it contains your name, as
this helps you appear more professional. You can create a free Yahoo email account; it also maybe helpful to have one email address as a point of contact for your job search.
Before you begin listing your experiences, make sure to list them out on a separate sheet of paper, in chronological order, starting with the most recent job you had (possibly the job you are presently holding). List up to five previous jobs you have held, although make sure that your CV does not exceed two pages in length. Make sure that are listed in order; don’t skip any of your employments as this will create gaps in your professional history.
When listing your education, start with your college attendance and move to your most recent accomplishments. If you never attended college, make sure to include any courses, even if they were taken as training at your previous jobs, which will help in showcasing your qualifications. In terms of skills, make sure to list, in bullet point form, all of the abilities that confirm that you are the best candidate for the job you are seeking.
You can omit references from your CV, but let your potential employer know that you can provide them if necessary. You can do so in the cover letter or by including a line at the bottom of your CV that simply states, “Professional references available upon request.”
As your final check point, ask a friend or a family member to review your CV, and give you feedback. Having a second pair of eyes can help you correct any typos, or even bring to your attention anything that appears unclear or confusing. A well-written, error-free CV will help you put your best foot forward and get the job that exceeds your career goal.
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