WRITING A CURRICULUM VITAE
A: What is a Curriculum Vitae (CV)?
A CV has been described as:
Ø A written representation of ‘you’
Ø A bibliographical summary of one’s education and career
Ø A reflection of your personal and working history
Ø An advertisement, selling you to an employer
A Curriculum Vita provides a short but full account of your life to date. It covers your education background, work experience, your skills, achievements and interests. It includes summary of your educational and academic background, as well as teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, awards, honours, affiliations, and other details.
Curriculum Vitae is a Latin term meaning ‘course of life’ or ‘life story’.
A CV is longer (two or more pages), more detailed synopsis than a resume.
B. Why you need a CV
Today, career progression is something you have to create yourself. There is no such a thing as a job for life, and it is a fact that if you want to get ahead-you have to make it happen. In order to progress and grow, you need to change jobs several times in the course of your working life. It is therefore increasingly important for every employee to have a good CV. It should also be regularly updated and reviewed as who knows when you may get that call from a Headhunter or when your perfect job may present itself!
Remember, your CV is your paper salesman. If it is not up-to-date, and selling you whenever the opportunity arises, it is not doing its job.
C: Why you need a right CV
· First impressions count. As they say, ‘you only get one chance to make a first impression’.
· Your CV is what employers will use to gauge you as an individual
· Potential employers will make a judgment based on your CV as to: whether you will fit into their business culture and working environment: whether you are qualified and whether you have all the attributes and skills required for the job.
· It is a crucial document in selling and marketing you to potential employers
D: What make a CV Successful
Ø It needs to convey a positive image
Ø It must demonstrate that you are the appropriate person for the job and this should be shown in both the content and construction
Ø It must speak loudly and clearly of your value as a potential employee and this must be conveyed in a few brief seconds
Ø It must show how you can satisfy the employer’s needs better than any other applicant
Ø It must stand out from all the others
Ø It must prompt the employer to want to call you
Ø It must be an impressive CV!
E: How to write a CV
There are important points to consider when preparing an effective CV. It should be clear, concise, complete and up-to-date with current employment and educational information.
F: When to use a CV
In the United States, a curriculum vita is used primarily when applying for academic, education, scientific or research positions. It is also applicable when applying for fellowships or grants.
When asking for a job in Europe, the Middle East, Africa or Asia, expect to submit a CV rather than a resume. Keep in mind that, overseas employers often expect to read the types of personal information on curriculum vitae that would never be included on an American resume such as date of birth, nationality and place of birth. United States law on what information job applicants can be asked to provide does not apply outside the country. This is to avoid racism.
G: CURRICULUM VITAE FORMAT
PERSONAL DETAILS/DATA
Under personal details, the following information is included: Your name (in full), sex, and your physical address, date of birth, telephone numbers, Email address and marital status (e.g. married, single, divorced or separated).
EDUCATION/QUALIFICATIONS
Here, information to do with schools and colleges you attended is supplied. The information include name of institutions, dates you attended and degrees or certificates obtained. If you attended more than one school, present them in reverse chronological order, the most recent at the top. You do not need to include your high school.
WORK EXPERIENCE/EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
In this part, you are expected to list positions you have held that are relevant to your field of interest listing them in reverse chronological order-the most recent first. Each work experience entry should have four items: job title, job description, name of company, and dates of employment.
v Use action words such as developed, planned, organized, managed, etc.
v Emphasis, if it is a shop, bar or restaurant work, on working in a team, providing quality service to customers and dealing tactfully with complaints. Don’t mention the routine, non-people tasks (cleaning tables) unless you are applying for a casual summer job in a restaurant or similar job
v Try to relate the skills to the job e.g. marketing role implies persuading and negotiating skills
INTERESTS /HOBBIES
v Keep this section short and to the point as it is optional
v Bullets can be used to separate interests into different types
Note: Reading, Cinema, Stamp-collecting, playing computer games suggest a solitary individual who does not get on with other people. The better way to put these interests would be:
Cinema: Member of the university film-making society
Travel: travelled through Europe by train this summer in a group f four people, visiting historic sites and practicing my French and Italian
Reading: Helped younger pupils with reading difficulties at school.
· Don’t use old boring cliché like: ‘socializing with friends’
· Don’t put many passive, solitary hobbies
· Show a range of interests
· Mention unique hobbies: skydiving, mountaineering. Show a sense of wanting to stretch yourself in demanding situations
· Any interests relevant to the job
· Any evidence of leadership is important to mention
SKILLS
· The usual ones to mention are languages.eg. Good conversational French, basic Spanish. Computing e.g. good working knowledge of MS Access and Excel plus basic web page design skills and Driving e.g. Full current clean driving license
· If you are a mature candidate or have lots of relevant skills to offer, a skill-based CV may work for you
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP
Here you indicate membership or registration in organizations or boards such as: ERB (Engineers Registration Board), NBAA (National Board of Accountants and Auditors), PSPTB (Procurement and Supplies Professionals and Technicians Board), AQRB (Architect and Quantity Surveyors Registration Board), CRB (Contractors Registration Boarder) etc.
VOLUNTEER WORK AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
In this section, you indicate any volunteer work or any service you have ever rendered to the community or particular organizations such as church/mosque. This section is crucial as it shows how committed you are in the community you live. Your prospective employer may be impressed by your volunteer spirit and may, as a result, consider you as someone worth employing.
PUBLICATIONS
Here you list books, articles and works you have written and providing links to locate them if they are online
AWARDS AND HONORS
· Here information about special recognition you received is provided.
· Academic awards, scholarships and awards and honors from different organizations are listed here. As you List, start with the most recent first
· Give honors/awards title and dates received
REFERENCES
· Many employers don’t check references at the application stage so unless the vacancy specifically requests referees; it is fine to omit this section completely if you are running short of space or to say “references are available on request”.
· You are advised to list people who will speak positively but honestly about you.
· Normally, two references are sufficient: One academic (perhaps your tutor or project supervisor) and from an employer (perhaps your last part-time or summer job.
H: What make a CV different from a Resume?
A resume is a one or two page summary of your skills, experience and education. While a resume is brief and concise-no more than a page or two, a CV is a longer (at least two pages) and more detailed synopsis. A goal of resume writing is to be brief and concise since at best, the resume reader will spend a minute or so reviewing your qualifications.
I: Why Use Professionals in CV Writing?
· CV writing can be tedious and time consuming. Professionals can boost your productivity by relieving you of this burden
· It will dramatically your chances of being interviewed
· It will shorten the length of time you spend looking for a job
· They invariably keep up-to-date with market trends and thereby know what employers are looking for and what will get you that all-important interview
· To compete effectively. The competition are all getting their CVs done professionally