Curriculum Vitae 101, How to prepare your CV. (Resume)
How to prepare your CV. (Resume)
What is a CV. Well a curriculum vitae is a short written summary of a person’s career, including qualifications, and education. It the most common way to do all over the world, when someone is looking for a job or for a business. Americans prefer the term résumé, which means the same thing as CV. Of course this should be one of the most professional and well detailed document in your life, as it has the power to change your life and push you to the lane you want.
Writing a CV (curriculum vitae) can be a Stressful process, trying to find out what is needed and what you should add, but it’s the most important step in the employment process. Here are some general tips and guidelines to help you create a strong and attractive CV:
- Start with a header (Cover Page) that includes your name, contact information, and professional social media profiles (such as LinkedIn). You may be asking yourself how does Social media play a role in getting you employed. Social media has become the most useful reference page in companies, it depicts your lifestyle, your preference and what makes you happy as an individual. imagine you owning a company, having to trust someone whose always partying, having to trust them with the senior management position. Obviously that person comes with high risk of absenteeism, bad decisions, early departures from office and etc. It is not always the case but mostly, partying comes with these consequences.
- Write a professional summary or objective that captures your experience, skills, and career goals. This should be a brief statement that summarizes your experience, qualifications and career aspirations. A CV, is a summary, so please do not add unnecessary things. Some of the things are not needed, things like:
- Religions
- Hobbies
- Drinking habits
Trust me companies do not care about those, if the really wanna know about those, they will ask you in the interview. Make sure your CV. is straight forward and short.
- List your relevant work experience, start with your most recent job. For each job, include the job description, company name, duration of employment, and a brief description of your responsibilities and accomplishments.
- Highlight your education and training, including degrees, certificates, and relevant coursework. Be sure to list any honors or awards you received. Make sure you have the valid document of everything you type there, companies would not hire someone who is not honest. If you are still studying toward something, you need to specify near the qualification you wrote “Still Studying” or “In progress”. Do not just say degree yet you still studying or waiting for the qualification. They will think you are not honest, and may not give you the opportunity.
- Include any relevant skills such as language fluency, computer skills, or certifications. These days companies, would want to know the level of computer knowledge you have or computer programmes like word, excel etc.
- Customize your CV for each job application by emphasizing the skills and experiences that are most relevant to the position. We know you might have so many different qualifications and experience. for Example, you might have N1 to N6 electric qualification, so when they say want N3, do not give them N6, they might think you are over qualified. Give them what they want, on the application where they want N2, update your CV and give them exactly that.
- Use bullet points to make your CV easy to read and highlight your accomplishments and skills. We do not want to see paragraphs on your CV.
- Keep your CV concise and clear, ideally no more than two pages. We know you might have so many different qualifications and experience, but try to cut it down, summarize and submit what you think is relevant. HAVING A LONG CV. DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE THE WRITE CANDIDATE.
- Use a professional tone and avoid using slang or informal language. Avoid social media language /Shortcuts.
- Proofread your CV carefully to ensure that there are no typos or errors. Read it again and again, to ensure it is error-free.
Remember, your CV is your first impression with a potential employer, so take the time to make it stand out and showcase your qualifications and experiences. Hopefully the content above has helped to answer the question “How to prepare your CV. (Resume)”