A Curriculum Vitae also popularly known as a CV is a written overview of a person’s experience and qualifications for a job opportunity. A CV is your scholarly identity and it is used to screen applicants. It is a Latin word for “the course of one’s life”. It is a brief account of your career. This document is so important that in some countries, a CV is the first document that a potential employer encounters with respect to a potential candidate looking for the job.
People tend to get confused between a curriculum vitae and a resume. A resume emphasizes an individual’s skills while a CV emphasizes academic accomplishments. A CV has no length limit like resumes. A CV contains details of a candidate’s whole academic career and credentials. We may call it a detailed description of a professional experience.
When you apply for a job, this CV can act like the lead hero and a ticket to direct entry in the organization in which you applied for the job. That’s why it is necessary to keep certain points in mind when you write it because writing a CV is no joke. It can make the deal or break the deal. This article will be a guide for you in writing a Curriculum Vitae. We have a lot of good information right here, so let’s get started.
Things to Remember Before Writing a CV
Keep it concise
Although a CV has no length limit, no one is going to read a long thesis about your life. Keep it brief which means your CV should not extend more than two pages. Include all important details and let go of the irrelevant information that you were going to put into it.
Focus in chronology
The academic information and credentials that you list on to your CV should be in chronological order, the reverse of your career history. If you took a drop for any of the years in between your academic career, do not fail to mention it as the employer asks in the interview that why there is a gap between those academic years.
Use Verbs instead of writing your CV in the first person
Writing your CV in the first person sounds unprofessional. Hence in order to avoid that, the candidate should use verbs like “Graduated…”, “Accomplished…”, “Completed…”, instead of using sentences like “I did this…”, “I did that…” etc.
The Presentation Matters
Do not forget that the presentation for the Curriculum Vitae is the key to get the most out of your CV. That is why it is your responsibility to keep it neat, structured, and well-formatted as any extra spaces, long paragraphs, and no bullets will reduce your chances of getting hired for the job you applied for. The recruiter should look at your CV and be compelled to it. So, choose the layout wisely.
Divide your CV into sections to make it look presentable, The section headings should be slightly larger than the rest of the contents of the CV.
Nullify errors
You should avoid typos in your CV. Your CV should be error-free and should not contain any grammatical mistakes, wrong sentence formations, or spelling mistakes. In order to avoid mistakes always proofread your CV pr get it proofread by a professional. An error-free CV is a sign of professionalism.
List of Important Things to Include in Your CV
1. Skills, Skills, and Skills
What else does an employer look for if not the skills section of your CV? Skills are the master. It makes you stand out from the crowd. The skills section of your CV could include some of the skills like:
- Leadership Skills
- Communication Skills
- Creative Skills
- Programming Skills
- Team-Management Skills
- Reasoning Skills
- Quantitative Skills
- Language Specialisation Skills
- Writing Skills
You could have learned these skills online or offline through courses available on different platforms or you could have just developed them over time by practicing them. You should mention your key skills as they can help you ace the recruiting process.
2. The areas that interest you
You should make the most out of your interests. These interests did not mean for you to include everything you like to do, these interests should relevant in addition to the work that you have applied for.
For example: “I used to write daily management reports for the company I used to work for and I really enjoyed writing them.”
“Worked as a team-leader when volunteered for a program.”
This means you have to highlight those interests that show off your skills. This is what employers look for. Include every interest that shows how skilled and diverse you are when it comes to your work. Describe your interests with respect to your skills to get that job.
3. Additional Sections
Your CV should include some good additional sections to get the employer’s attention. For example: these sections could include:
- Special Skills
- Awards
- Certifications
- Trainings
- Additional Courses
- Associations
- Publications
- Conferences attended
- Blogging
- Influencing and so on…
Suggested Format of a Curriculum Vitae:
Contact Information
- First Name and Last Name
- Work Title/Job Position
- Contact Number
- Your Work E-Mail Address
- LinkedIn Profile (If you have one)
For Example:
Seema Jain
Production Manager
90098000123
Curriculum Vitae Profile
- Mention who you are
- Mention the name of the company you want to work for
- Mention what role do you want to do in that company
- Mention some of your skills
- Mention some of your achievements
For Example:
Production Manager with 2+ years of expertise. Looking forward to work for and be a part of EXEL Co. and serve them with my key skills as Senior Production Manager. Led a team of 15 employees working under me for past job at ACER ltd. Trained 20+ employees in a campaign with my leadership skills.
Work Experience
- Include past job details
- Your position names
- Year of working
- The responsibilities you had
- Data of what you achieved to show your achievements
For example:
Production Manager
ACER ltd.
Pune, Maharashtra
2016-2019
Designed and Examined 3+ Product models.
Participated in 5 campaigns.
Product Designs were a huge success and led to 20% increase in company’s profit.
Learned Technical skills along the way during training with technical staff.
Education
- High School Degrees (with the name of the institution)
- Year of completion
- Results Achieved
- Subject of specialisation
- Graduation degrees (with the name of the institution)
- Course Information
- Year of completion
- GPA Details
For Example:
2012-11 Higher Education from DPS International
In Commerce with Informatics Practices
Scored 85 percentile
2011-2016 M.B.A. from Daly College
In Marketing
Scored 8.7 CGPA
Skills
- 5-10 relevant job skills
- Mention each skill with your expertise level in them. (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert)
- Skills should include hard skills as well as soft skills
For Example:
Project Management- Advanced
Google Analytics- Beginner
Business Communication- Expert
Creative Skills
Awards and Honours
For Example:
Awarded as “Best Employee of the Month” at ACER LTD.
Honoured as “Best Production Manager” at Marketing Campaign
Certifications and Courses
For Example:
Accomplished Business Communication Certification from Coursera
Completed Google Analytics Beginners course from Google Digital Unlocked
Volunteered as Project Head at Digital Campaign organised by Infotech
The CV can be written in three different formats:
- Chronological
- Functional
- Combination
An Example of Curriculum Vitae:
Vishnu Sharma
9980899898
LinkedIn: VishnuSharma01
Business Analyst with work experience of 3+ years in studying businesses and their success rates. Collaborated with 10+ companies and assisted in analytics programs for their businesses. Looking forward to increasing customer retention for the growth of your business.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Google Analytics- Advanced
Social Media Marketing- Advanced
E-Mail Marketing – Expert
Affiliate Marketing- Beginner
Business Intelligence
IT Systems
WORK EXPERIENCE
Business Analyst
Jellybean Co.
January 2019-2020
- Responsible for capturing, aggregating and transforming vast amounts of complex data into meaning reports.
- Studied the customer base
- Provided information for improving the customer base.
- Offered Training and Guidance to other members of the team.
- Established and managed data and provided recommendations based on business intelligence analysis.
KEY SKILLS
- Data Research Skills
- Technical Skills
- Programming – HTML, JAVA
- Team Management Skills
- Leadership Skills
- Can quickly understand new information and provide instant solutions
- Problem Solving Skills
- Customer Engagement Skills
EDUCATION
Higher Education in Commerce with Computers
2013-14
Delhi Public School
90%
M.B.A in Business Analytics
2017-2019
National University
9 GPA
Certifications and Courses
- Digital Marketing Certification from NMIMS
- Certified in Google Analytics by Google Digital Unlocked
You can follow this format for your CV. Choose a good template for your CV as it is an alternative to writing a resume to apply for your dream job.
Conclusion
Always remember to proofread your CV at the end and take reviews from professionals. Always customize your CV for every job you apply for. Yes, writing a professional Curriculum Vitae takes time but it’s totally worth it as it will improve your chances of getting hired for the job. I hope you enjoyed reading this article. Do comment below what you like about the article and let your fellow friends know about this article as they may be struggling with writing a CV for their jobs.
All the best!
References
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Sandeep Bhandari is the founder of PrepMyCareer.com website.
I am a full-time professional blogger, a digital marketer, and a trainer. I love anything related to the Web, and I try to learn new technologies every day.
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