How to make a perfect CV - complete guidelines-AJ
This guide will show you how to write a great CV that’s ready for 2020 and beyond.
What is a CV?
Your CV, short for curriculum vitae, is a personal marketing document used to sell yourself to prospective employers. It should tell them about you, your professional history and your skills, abilities and achievements. Ultimately, it should highlight why you’re the best person for the job.
A CV is required when applying for a job. In addition to your CV, employers may also require a cover letter and a completed application form.
Useful Tips on How To Make Perfect CV
1) Right Basics
There is no particular way on how to write curriculum vitae. Nonetheless, there are basic sections that you should include in your CV. Firstly, your CV should contain detailed personal and contact information, such that the prospective employers can contact you in case they need to learn more about you. Secondly, you should include your education and qualifications. Thirdly, make sure you include your work history and experience if any. Moreover, include the relevant job skills, personal interests, hobbies and achievement and, lastly, include references.
2) Presentation
Writing a good resume involves proper arrangement and clear presentation of the information. A poorly presented CV will not impress prospective employers. If you want to catch their attention, present your CV in a well-structured format, printed on a clean sheet of paper. Never present a crumpled, folded or smudged CV to prospective employers. Furthermore, include the crucial information on the upper middle page of your CV in order to catch the attention of the prospective employer.
3) Maintain a Two-Page Limit
A perfect CV should be clear and concise. Make sure that you CV give the relevant information in a clear and brief manner. In this regard, you should try to limit your CV to a two-page A4 document. Please remember that the CV represents you to the potential employer and since the employer does not know about you, make sure you create an appealing impression. The best CV format should be clear, concise and well structured.
4) Understand The Job Description
This is where most candidates fail during their professional CV writing process. Before you start preparing your CV, read the job description and understand all the details. Take notes and highlight the important parts of the job description. State the qualifications you have and the ones you do not have. At this point, there is no harm in using your skills to your advantage, even if they do not necessarily fit the requirements. However, understand that you must have the basic qualifications before you apply for the job.
5) Structure Your CV To The Role
After going through the job description, write your CV in a manner that matches with the job requirements. Writing a good resume is easy if you understand the job requirements because you will follow the guidelines and tailor your CV according to the role required.
6)Experience and employment history
Your employment history section gives you a chance to outline your previous jobs, internships and work experience.
List your experience in reverse chronological order as your recent role is the most relevant to the employer.
It helps to choose the duties most relevant to the job you’re applying for, especially if it’s a long list. If you have many years’ worth of experience, you can reduce the detail of old or irrelevant roles. If you have positions from more than 10 years’ ago, you can delete them.
Here’s an example of how to lay out each position of employment on your CV:
mmm yyyy – mmm yyyy
Company Name, Location
Role Title
Outline
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Key responsibilities
- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Key achievements/projects
- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
7)Education and qualifications
Like your experience section, your education should be listed in reverse chronological order. Include the name of the institutions and the dates you were there, followed by the qualifications and grades you achieved.
If you have recently left education, you may write your degree, A-levels or GCSEs (or equivalents) like so:
Institution name – Dates attended (from – to)
Qualification/subject – Grade
If you have a degree, you could list a few of the most relevant modules, assignments or projects underneath.
For professionals that are a little further along in their careers, or have many certificates in their repertoire, you can lay your qualifications out in this way:
Qualification, grade – Institution – Year
Additional sections
There is a range of additional sections that may strengthen your CV and highlight your skills. Here are just a few you can include if you have room:
Key skills: If you’re writing a functional CV, or have some abilities you want to show off to the employer immediately, insert a key skills section underneath your personal profile. You should aim to detail four to five abilities at most.
Hobbies and interests: If you feel that your CV is lacking, you can boost your document by inserting a hobbies and interests section at the end. This can help to show how well you fit into the company or the industry. For example, if you’re applying for an environmental job, why not include that you have a big interest in climate change activism?
What not to include
There are a variety of details that you shouldn’t include on your CV. Here are a few of the common ones:
A headshot: In many countries, it’s common practice to include a photo of yourself on your CV. But the UK is not one of them.
Age and date of birth: The only dates that should be on your CV are from employment and your qualifications. Your age doesn’t affect your ability to do the job, and it’s illegal for employers to ask about age under the Equality Act 2010.
Marital status: Like your age, your marital status and dependents don’t affect your ability to do your job. These details are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, and it’s against the law for employers to ask about them, so don’t include them on your CV.
Comments
Post a Comment