Curriculum Vitae Tips

Curriculum Vitae or CV in short is a Latin statement meaning the story of my life. This is the first impression your prospective employer will have of you. A CV cannot get you the job. It is there to get you an interview, at which you can show your prospective employers why they should hire you and for you to decide if this is really the company you wish to work for. Even if you are confident about the job, take in mind the CV gives a glimpse of who you are before you are met. Among the many applicants, your CV should stand out; it should tell the audience what they want to hear in the first 20 – 30 seconds, for example, it should be interesting to look at, neat and tidy, and written in such a way it goes in line with the audience’s interests. This is how you sell yourself, and we all know first impression lasts.
In the following pages Getajob gives tips on how to write a winning CV, follow them and you might just land yourself your dream job.

Your CV should be

• Up to date


• Short, Attractive and Relevant to the post you’re applying (2 – 3 pages of A4 paper)


• Neat, Clean on good quality paper


• Well written having good grammar, spelling etc


• Well formatted and easily readable, descriptions should be simple and clear


• Error free with no ‘typos’


• Written in a language the employer would understand


• Emphasised with bullet points, italic, bold, and capital text


• Check and re–check your CV to get it perfect

• Lies – always be truthful in your information


• Any sort of failures – exams, marriages, businesses, criminal records etc.


• Overselling yourself and saying negative things about yourself


• Salary information – this is discussed when you sign the contract


• Big words – your audience won’t have time to refer to a dictionary


• abbreviations – they can be misunderstood


• Coloured paper – white paper does the trick!

Essential Content


Section headings should be in BOLD UPPER CASE.

Contact details – Name, Address, telephone numbers and email

Personal details – birth date, marital status, languages

Qualifications – educational information including extra courses (relevant to the application)

Work history – starting with the most recent jobs first

Brief summary of yourself – short and well worded paragraph about yourself.

Attachments

• Certified proof of qualifications held


• A nice ID photo


• And a nice cover letter