CVs are of immense importance for every career as they are your first and maybe only direct communication with a potential employer. A CV provides a recruiter with a quick summary/overview of your experience, background, and skills to help them decide if you are a good candidate to invite for an interview.
General guidelines:
- Writing a CV is an art, not a science. The goal is not to force your content into a particular template, but rather to find a format and style that best highlights your experience and strengths.
- Put yourself in the shoes of your recruiters. Can they easily find the information they are looking for? Is it clear why you would be a potential candidate for the job?
- Order: The order and emphasis of your sections should maintain a L.I.F.O method (Last In First Out); That means your most recent experience should be at the top & all of your other experiences should follow the preceding order.
- Number: Use concrete examples when describing your experience. What did you do/accomplish? Use specific “Numbers” to clearly enumerate your accomplishments.
- Length: Outside of academia, your CV can be up to two pages. There are a few exceptions; including the management or business sector, which tends to prefer one page CVs.
- Font: Mostly used fonts for a professional CV are – Arial/ Calibri/ Times New Roman. Don’t use multiple fonts in one CV. Use any one of these fonts throughout your CV.
- Alignment: Professional CVs should maintain a “Left” alignment.
- Your CV needs to be consistent and clear in terms of its style and format, professional in its content and overall presentation, and as much as possible, specifically targeted to the position/company/field you are applying to.
- Make it job-specific. Do your research. For your applications to be effective, you need to demonstrate knowledge of the employer and what they are looking for. Be intentional and informed, not generic.
What should a CV include?
- Contact Information
- Personal summary / Career objective
- Career history/Experience
- Academic qualifications/Education
- Achievements
- Extra-curricular activities
- Areas of expertise/Skills
- Interests and Activities
- Languages
- References
Avoid:
- Writing too densely so that you can get a lot of information on one page because, for the reader, it will be too hard to read.
- Using all acronyms; For example: Using short forms of any organization’s name as it may create confusion for the reader.
– Farhana Yasmin/YSSE
