| Index »CV (Curriculum Vitae) WRITING TECHNIQUES |
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| CV (Curriculum Vitae) WRITING TECHNIQUES
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| You've identified your dream job, found a vacancy and are about to submit an application. So how do you go about putting together a CV which will guarantee you an interview? To get your first foot on the career ladder, you need to understand what makes a good CV, how to perform well in an interview and what you should expect from one. Being prepared to work hard and having an on-going commitment to learning new skills will help you progress to your dream job.
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| Your priority is to put together a document which rapidly communicates your suitability for the role - do this well, and an employer will be only too happy to put your application in the interview pile. You know your CV can have just 10 seconds to prove your interview worth and first impressions will determine your success or failure.
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| Importance And Attributes Of A Good CV
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| A curriculum vitae or CV is a short document that lists your personal details, skills and experience. A curriculum vitae (CV) is used by employers to decide whether someone is suitable for a job vacancy. Employers will decide whether to ask you for an interview based solely on this CV, so it's important that it's accurate, describes you in a positive way and matches the job description.
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| You should make sure it's up to date when you apply for a new job. it's really important that it shows off your plus points. Spelling mistakes, poor grammar and missing information on a CV look really bad and if it is incomplete, employers may simply throw it in the bin. It should ideally be two sides of A4 giving a potential employer key facts about yourself. Employers receive a lot of CVs, so it's unlikely that they will read each one from start to finish. In fact, most will make a judgment about a CV after a few seconds, so keep it as short as possible. You can boost your chances of getting a meeting by making your CV look and 'sound' special.
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| With as little as 10 seconds to impress the recruiter, it will need to sell you! If you wrote a company sales brochure, you would consider the first page the prime selling position. Likewise you must prioritise the content of your CV, detailing the salient points of most interest to your reader first.
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| Your CV has little to do with your past but should instead reflect your future potential. Your CV should reflect specific targeted content to sell you effectively to employers. For example, you should say how you will use your transferable skills in your next position. Employers are most interested in seeing how you have made specific, measurable, personal differences rather than reading your job description.
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| Your CV should always market you effectively. It needs to be self-oriented, to spell out how your skills and traits will benefit your next employer. You need to reflect your specific, personal contribution towards delivering consistent achievements for your employer.
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| Your ability to secure a more desirable job depends on how well you can translate your achievements and transferable skills into a clear benefit for your audience.
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| Tips On writing A CV
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| There is a significant amount of misinformation and poor advice regarding how to write a CV re: the content, targeting, presentation, formatting, writing etc.
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Any single version of the CV should aim to cover two pages and no more than three. CV preparation can be organised to provide you with a database of skills, experience and achievements from which you should select material to reflect the requirements of the specific post. |
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A CV should begin with a short summary of who you are. Make sure that this is objective and avoid all the subjective cliche's such as 'excellent self-starter', 'good team player', 'natural leader and good communicator'. |
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Opening statement. The opening statement can be tailored to pick up on the key features of a given job description. Inform your potential employer of "what is in it for them", such as, "seeking to utilize 10+ years experience in the industry..." or "...proven sales record..." |
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Express yourself. Always express your skills and qualities in the present tense - you may not be using them right now but you still have these facilities. |
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CV should be printed and well designed. So that the material is clear and visually attractive, yet so many CVs do not reach this standard. Make sure that yours does; otherwise it is a complete waste of effort. A suitable typeface is Times Roman or a similar business font. The size should be 10 or 11 point, depending on the printer. |
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As a check for size, with 2.5cm (1 in) left and right hand margins there should be 15 - 18 words on a line. A CV should stand out on its own so it is not necessary to resort to tacky techniques of different colours, logos and fonts. Use one font size throughout and keep the layout professional and easy to read as your readers are far more interested in the content than they are its appearance. |
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It is really important to be objective. Get someone independent to look at your CV when you have completed it - not a friend or family member. Be prepared to refine it a number of times until it is right. |
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If you have read the job description in an advertisement, try to mirror one or two of the words listed. For instance, if the job indicated a desire for a self-starter, then experiment with using the same term or one with the same meaning. |
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Avoid being too general. It is better to do a little research with the company and uncover some of what they may be looking for than to write an over-generalized objective. |
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A CV should also give some ideal of your future potential. If you are presently studying for an additional qualification say so. |
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Try to avoid a key skills section as these skills are purely theoretical. Recruiters would much rather see how you utilise these skills in a working environment with quantifiable examples of success. |
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Tell the truth. Honesty is the best policy. It is tempting to massage details to fit a role, and there's nothing wrong with editing your experience to offer the most relevance to a recruiter. But when it comes to outright mistruths about qualifications or past experience, don't be tempted. If you lie about your level of experience or the skills that you have and your employer finds out, you could face the sack. |
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You can build credibility into your CV by qualifying and quantifying results. Do not promise more than you can deliver! If you are chronically late, then describing yourself as punctual will only undermine your credibility later when it is discovered that you have misrepresented yourself. |
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Work out what qualifications, experience, and skills are required for the job and think of what you have done that matches those attributes. Be specific, focused, and factual and give full explicit details and provide evidence for any claims you make. |
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References should be from people who know you well and can tell an employer about what you have done in the past. They are usually your last two employers, but if you haven't worked before, you can use a teacher or a tutor from school or college. |
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Highlight the things that show off the skills that employers look for. anything you've done that shows working in a team, any relevant voluntary work or work experience, any positions of responsibility and any activity that shows initiative and commitment are really good things to put down. |
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Make sure the spelling is correct. Get at least two people to check and read your CV. Yes, it's an obvious point - but you would be amazed how many CVs employers receive with typos and spelling mistakes. For a recruiter with a mountain of CVs to work through, even one small error is a welcome reason to file an application in the pile marked 'dustbin'. |
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Don't use the word 'I'. "I", is more appropriately used in a cover letter. Using "I" and "my" too frequently may loose a recruiter whose context and focus is on what the company can gain from a new hire. start every sentence with a verb or action word. |
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Don't include any negatives or anything critical. Don't include poor grades, or unfortunate work experiences. |
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There is rarely an advantage to include any personal interests or hobbies in your CV unless relevant to the job.However, there is no harm in doing so. |
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Don't include references unless specifically requested - they can be requested upon interview. |
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If someone has to re-read something or cannot retain the information without having to refer back to the document then the CV is not capturing the reader's attention. Choose active rather than passive verbs. |
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Only use bold and italics sparingly for emphasis and easy navigation. For example, only use on section and sub headings. Do not use underlining. Do not use all caps. Do not use graphics or images in your C.V. |
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Try not to do a functional style curriculum vitae as most employers now look upon this as attempting to hide gaps. Keep to a reverse chronological format (dates in order of most recent first). |
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Do not attempt to hide any gaps as most of the time there is a perfectly good reason, such as getting laid off , child birth, or illness, that can be explained at interview. |
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Keep it relevant, Keep it businesslike, Keep to the point: Almost every recruiter begged candidates to keep their CV's to the point. And when you have hundreds of them to plough through, less is more. You might feel a few pages isn't enough to fit in all your experience but you're demonstrating your ability to edit as well as showcase by being concise. |
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Try to avoid specific terminology. It is important that your CV attracts the widest audience possible so that recruiters and employers outside of your current marketplace will not understand. Your aim is to include, not exclude, the reader, so cut out the jargon and clarify where necessary. |
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This is your sales brochure and should where possible avoid being too technical as it may not be a technical person that initially reads your CV. Your audience are more interested in how you have used your technical skills in the work environment and how you combine your technical skills with your commercial acumen to significantly add value to the business. |
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Do not include matters about your health or any disabilities you have. |
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Do not include any trade union or political affiliations. Don't include children you have. Don't include humour. Don't show your existing salary or expected salary unless requested. |
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Don't give more than is necessary. when writing a CV remember you are selling yourself on paper so keep it short, relevant and as interesting . |
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| There is no need to include attributes such as gender, date of birth,photograph, children, weight, height, or marital status. There are exceptions however.
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| What can't Be Left Out?
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Name, address, telephone numbers and email address (make sure these are up to date) |
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Key skills - no more than six - and consider including skills relevant to a new job |
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Career to date - work experience or employment history and dates |
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Education or qualifications |
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| What Can Be Left Out?
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Date of birth - although some employers may require this information at some stage in your application. |
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Personal details - consider whether it is necessary to add reference to your children or marital status. |
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Interests - only include interests that are appropriate to your job application or indicate that you have relevant, transferable skills |
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References on request - an employer will contact you for details of your referees if they are interested in employing you |
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| Format Of A CV
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| There is no set format, but you may find it useful to include the following:
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Personal details |
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Personal profile/career history |
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Achievements |
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Work history |
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Ttraining/qualifications |
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Interests/spare time activities |
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References |
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| Profile/Objective
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| Profile summary sections are common in CVs, but they add little sales punch to warrant the space taken. Try and keep it short to a few sentences.
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| Education Section
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| If you have little work history or are currently attending or due to finish school, college, or university then put education section above work history.
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Don't include poor grades. |
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Include honours if awarded. |
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Give more detail to the higher qualifications listed such as degrees and masters. |
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Give full course details and dates. |
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| If you do not have a degree then show you successfully completed other educational courses or training such as night school, continuing education, seminars, or workshops. Write 'degree expected [month/year]' if you have not yet graduated. If you have nothing to put in an education section then focus on writing the other sections of your CV, highlighting the skills and experience you
have gained.
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| Achievements Section
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| This section can showcase each of your specific transferable skills and show how you are going to benefit your audience. Just because you have done a job for so many months or years means nothing: what counts is results. Your duties are not results and what sells you are your achievements. Achievements are the best way of reflecting how good you are so demonstrate your unique contribution to a company. Employers will want to know how specifically your work has been excellent or successful and how that in turn impacted on your employers operating results for the better. Do not just reflect your job description as you need to sell yourself to get interview responses.
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| Other Skills/Sections
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| You can include: Languages , Computing skills , Published works Membership of relevant professional bodies, clubs or societies. Make sure you list any other skills that will interest an employer if they are relevant.When listing languages make sure you include your level such as fluent, intermediate, or basic. Show if you read, write, or speak. For computing skills make sure you mention the packages you have used such as Microsoft Word. Show your ability to type quickly and accurately by including the words per minute you can type.It's also important to include a section dedicated to your skills. The ones that you mention will depend on the nature of the job you're applying for, but some examples of key skills can make you really stand out:computer skills, including using commonly-used programs, writing a blog or knowledge of web design are useful in many jobs.
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| if you're confident in speaking in front of groups and calm and friendly on the telephone, use these as examples of good communication skills if you've ever worked with a large group such as a sports team or a drama group, this can be evidence of team working think about any obstacles you have overcome and how you did it to show off your problem solving ability.
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| OTHER GENERAL POINTS
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| A positive attitude will help you succeed. If you feel good in yourself, you will influence your environment positively and employers will want to hire you. A positive image on paper will inspire the employer to have faith in your worth and the valuable contribution you can make to a company.
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| Matching Your CV To A Job Description
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| Because different jobs need different sets of skills, you should make changes to your CV so that it closely relates to whatever you are applying for. You don't have to re-write it completely, but you may want to re-draft or re-order some of your interests and skills so the most important ones are nearer the beginning of the document. You might also want to remove things that you don't need to mention for a particular role.
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| Keeping Your CV Updated
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| It's really important to review your CV regularly, so that all your skills and experiences are included and it is an accurate and positive reflection of you.If you've recently completed a work placement or started to volunteer, make sure you record it on your CV along with a short description of what your main duties were and what skills you used. You should also add any new qualifications to your CV as soon as you finish them.
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| Application Forms
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| Some companies will ask you to fill in an application form instead of sending a CV. If you are asked to complete a form, remember to:
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Read and follow all the instructions carefully
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Draft out your answers on a notepad first and get someone else to read through them.
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Cutting and pasting the CV into the form makes you look lazy
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Be truthful and highlight how your skills relate to the job as much as possible
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| This is a general guide on how to write a CV. This part deals with how to write a CV generally. Therefore please do it the way it should be with the specific approach. We are sure the above will help you get a general idea and to avoid making common mistakes as it depends on the individual approach to the job market.
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