You’re thus trying to get a new work.
Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? There are so many fascinating possibilities available, and all it takes to take advantage of one is to provide a strong CV.
Imagine this:
You’ve discovered your ideal job. You’re aware that you’d fit in well. You send your resume and anxiously await a call-back. But it never takes place.
Sounds recognizable? Yes, for the majority of us. How is it feasible, though?
Why, I happen to have an explanation for that:
Nobody has ever read your resume. It wasn’t adequate.
Take heart—this terrible circumstance won’t ever happen again. That’s why you’re about to discover a tried-and-true method to turn your ordinary CV into a fantastic one.
If you read this guide, you’ll learn:
- Better than nine out of ten other CV samples.
- how to construct a curriculum vitae without any prior experience.
- Advice and examples on how to best present your accomplishments and talents on a CV.
- The best way to sum up your experience on a resume to land any job you want.
How to write a CV is as follows:
- Be sure you understand when to utilize a CV.
- Select the ideal CV format.
- Add your contact details appropriately.
- Create a CV personal profile first (CV summary or CV objective)
- Describe your prior employment and major accomplishments.
- Build the education portion of your CV properly.
- Add qualifications that are pertinent to the job posting.
- To impress the recruiter, add more parts to your resume.
- Put all of this information on a good CV template.
- Include a cover letter with your resume.
Make Sure You Are Aware of When to Utilize a CV
To make building a CV simple, let’s start with the fundamentals:
Describe a CV?
Curriculum vitae, or CV, is its full name (latin for: course of life). A CV is a document that you use for academic reasons in the US, UAE, Canada, and Australia. Your whole academic career is described in detail on your US academic CV. The CV is the international counterpart of the resume in the United States. When making employment applications, you use it.
Many people keep asking: “How come this document has multiple names in different countries?”
What distinguishes a resume from a curriculum vitae?
Let’s be clear about this once and for all:
Nowadays, there is seldom any formal distinction between a CV and a resume in the recruiting market. It’s the same thing that Americans and Britons refer to as a resume.
Similar to like they do with French fries and football, or Queen Elizabeth and Queen Bey.
Consequently, if you’re applying to a firm in Europe, you need prepare a CV. But you should create a résumé if you’re applying to a company with a US address.
A CV is not a cover letter, and vice versa. A cover letter is like a full-fledged marketing campaign, but a curriculum vitae is like a complete list of requirements.
Here’s a worrying idea:
Every time you apply for a job, you are up against an average of 250 other applicants.
You did read that correctly.
Assume you are the recruiter and you have 250 job applications to examine. Do you read them all carefully? Of course you don’t, though.
Only six seconds are spent by recruiters scanning each CV. Therefore, the initial impression is crucial. If you provide a tidy, well-organized document, you’ll persuade the hiring managers to give your CV greater attention.
On the other side, a badly structured CV will cause you to be overlooked during the initial inspection.
Here’s a guide on proper CV formatting.
Make an outline for your CV first, using the following sections:
CV: Sections in the Correct Order.
- CV header including contact details
- Personal Statement: CV Summary or Objective
- Education
- Training Skills
- Further Sections
Pro Tip: Put your schooling section before your job experience if you’re fresh out of college and need to build a student CV with no experience or if you’ve graduated from a very prominent university within the previous five years.
Always bear in mind the gold CV formatting guidelines when filling up the sections:
Select readable, clean typefaces.
- Use one of the traditional CV typefaces, such as Times New Roman or Bookman Old Style if you often choose serif fonts over sans-serif ones like Arial, Tahoma, or Helvetica.
- Use single spacing and a font size of 11 to 12. Choose a font size of 14 to 16 points for your name and section titles.
Continually update your resume’s design
- Set the margins to one inch on all four sides.
Make sure the headlines on your resume are all the same size, bold, and use little underlining and italics. - On your resume, use a single dates format, such as 11-2017 or November 2017.
Do not overstuff your resume with flashy graphics.
- Less may be more.
- White space is your buddy; candidates need some room to breathe!
- Additionally, your CV will often be printed in black ink on white paper when you send it out. The use of too many images might obstruct reading.
Remove the photographs from your CV.
Unless your picture is specifically requested to be in the job posting. If so, pick a photograph that looks professional but isn’t as rigid as an ID shot.
Shorten and make your resume pertinent.
Don’t be one of the job seekers trapped in the 1990s who believes their resumes must contain every single nuance of their lives.
These days, hiring is a very busy industry. Nobody has time to read ten or more bullet point summaries of your previous employment or care about the high school you attended. We’ll discuss that afterwards.
Pro tip: To ensure that your CV arrangement is preserved when you’ve completed writing, save your document as a PDF. But be sure to read the job description carefully. A PDF CV won’t be accepted by all employers. In such case, provide your CV in Word format.
Learn more about CV formatting by reading my latest short, focused guide, CV Formatting—The Ideal Structure.
So you know the fundamentals of CV writing and have the best CV template ready for you. It’s time to start!
You must provide the recruiters with contact information if you want them to contact you.
Enter your details under “Contact Information”
- Whole name
- Occupational title
- Inbox address
- Call-in number
- LinkedIn page
- dwelling address
The portion that contains contact information appears to be quite simple, but for one reason it could be challenging:
It will be used by recruiters to look you up online. You are instantly eliminated from consideration if your social media profiles lack professionalism or if the material on your LinkedIn page does not correspond to that on your resume.
Most applicants begin their job experience or educational background shortly after including their contact information on a CV.
You’ll succeed more than that, though. The employer will genuinely remember you.
So how can a CV stand out?
All you need is a brief, succinct CV personal profile statement that explains to hiring managers why you are the ideal applicant for the position.
You will either have a CV goal or a CV summary as your personal profile.
What’s the distinction?
A CV goal outlines your strengths and how you might fit in. It’s a wise decision if, for instance, you’re drafting a student CV and have limited work experience that relates to the position you’re applying for.
In contrast, a CV summary shows your professional development and accomplishments. If you’re an experienced expert with a ton of experience in your sector, use it.
Check out a few samples now. Imagine there is a job posting for a nurse. Here are some examples of nursing CV summaries and aims.
A CV objective example
WRONG
Looking for a tough nursing position at a hospital where I can put my talents to the test as a recently licensed nurse.
Not too bad, right? The issue is that this CV objective’s main message practically amounts to “I want a job because I learned for the job.”
View a different CV goal example.
Example of an Objective for a CV
RIGHT
trustworthy licensed NMC Registered Nurse with experience working in high-stress situations and the ability to maintain composure. In order to assist St Francis Hospital with its upcoming challenges, I will use my meticulous record-keeping and analytical abilities.
See the distinction? The latter applicant was just concerned with what she could provide her potential employer. The name of the particular hospital to which she is applying was also stated.
And certainly, mentioning names in your CV aim is something you should do as well.
It’s true that you won’t be able to spam your CV to every employer that is actively recruiting, but when was the last time you responded to a “Dear User” email?
As we’ve previously mentioned, if you’ve already had any relevant employment, you should start your CV with a CV summary rather than an objective.
View these examples of CV summaries.
CV summary example
RIGHT
Pediatric nurse with over 15 years of experience working in a community hospital’s intensive and neonatal care units. Bilingual (English and Dutch). As the Chief Pediatric Nurse at the General Hospital, I’m want to use my managerial expertise to aid in the implementation of new staff training initiatives.
The director of the general hospital just took up the phone to contact this applicant.
What makes this CV summary so fantastic?
Above all, it is incredibly detailed. It provides a thorough overview of the candidate’s past and demonstrates how her expertise will enable her to address specific issues the hospital is now experiencing.
Here is an additional CV summary illustration.
CV Example Summary
Wrong
The medication and medical records for newborns are being overseen by a pediatric nurse with years of experience.
On the other hand, this one only states, “I am a nurse.” It just outlines the standard duties that all nurses must perform.
Never use keywords that have no real value in your CV summary.
Drag and drop skills and bullet points when creating a CV in our builder, and let the tedious information auto-fill. Use spellcheck. Check.
List your relevant work history and major accomplishments.
Your job experience section is typically the most significant and attention-grabbing area of your whole CV.
Think twice before saying, “Easy, I only need to identify my past employment, the dates worked, and my duties.”
The aforementioned are requirements for a fundamental CV. Basic, however, won’t land you that ideal job.
However, hiring managers are aware of your actions. They are interested in your performance and what you can bring to a potential employer.
Here’s how to demonstrate it in your job experience section:
- Instead of merely concentrating on your obligations, pay attention to your quantifiable, pertinent accomplishments.
- Use action verbs rather than “responsible for producing, analyzing, and implementing,” such as “created,” “analyzed,” and “implemented.”
- Read the job description attentively and see what responsibilities will be placed on you before you submit your resume. Even if those weren’t your major responsibilities, if you’ve done them in the past, include them on your resume.
The following is an example of a job description for a junior product marketing professional.
Responsibilities:
- Filling product placement requests from the media
- Creating and maintaining media lists as needed (1)
- Writing product pitches (2)
- Researching new media opportunities (3)
- Support creating media materials and press kits (4)
- Lead a small project (5) from start to finish
- Help in the organization of events (6)
- Respond to media inquiries (7)
Take a look at this CV entry example for job experience now.
Work experience section of a resume sample.
Marketer of products
Nike, 10/15/2015 – now
London
- Created and maintained lists of media contacts (1)
- Researched opportunities (3) across online media channels
- Produced product pitches (2) and press kits (4)
- Supported event organization (6)
- Responded to media inquiries (7)
Key accomplishments include growing a new line of lifestyle items’ Facebook fan base from 0 to 12,000 in 4 months [LINK to the Facebook fanpage] and gaining 35,000 Instagram followers [LINK to the Instagram account] in 3 months while leading a project team of five people.
Wow, this one has to cooperate with us!
The recruiting manager will undoubtedly respond in such way to this entry.
Why is it so fantastic?
It’s firstly properly adapted to the job posting (have another look at the numbered phrases in bold). The applicant demonstrated that because she has handled them in the past, she will be able to manage her most crucial future duties.
Second, it uses a lot of action verbs. “Produced product pitches” rather than “product pitches production,” “created and maintained” rather than “responsible for generating and maintaining.”
Last but not least, it is centered on the accomplishments of the candidate. If you want your CV to stand out, include a “important achievement” section, much like the applicant above. Include hard numbers after that. Do not state that your sales “substantially rose.” specify the precise amount. A number pops!
When describing your accomplishments on a CV, use the PAR (Problem Action Result) method to ensure that they stand out as they should.
similar to the CV sample given:
Key accomplishments include growing a Facebook audience from 0 to 12,000 in 4 months and gaining 35,000 Instagram followers in 3 months. I also led a project team in building and implementing a complete social media relations plan for a new line of lifestyle items.
Problem: A new line of lifestyle items isn’t getting enough social media marketing.
Taking action: A new social media plan
As a result, in 4 months 12,000 Facebook fans and 35,000 Instagram followers were gained.
If you know how to properly list your accomplishments on a CV, you’ll perform better than nine out of ten other applicants.
Build the Education Section of Your Resume Properly
The good news is that include your education on a CV is frequently easy.
Include solely your post-secondary education on your resume if you have any. Unless it is your greatest level of schooling, avoid mentioning your high school. List:
Graduation year (if you’re currently in school, please indicate when you intend to graduate)
Your degree’s granting institution
Hon (if relevant) (if applicable)
Pro tip: You don’t have to mention your honors. If you don’t want them to hurt you more than help, only include them if your undergraduate degrees were earned with a 2:1 or higher and your graduate degrees were earned with “merit” or “distinction.”
CV Example Education Section
2014 B.A. in French
University of Southampton
Easy, right?
But what if you’re writing a CV with little or no work experience? What if you’ve just graduated and are looking for your first full-blown job?
If such is the case, you should do two things:
First of all, place your education section above your work experience.
Secondly, elaborate a bit more on your academic experience. Include, for instance:
- Name of your dissertation
- favorite academic disciplines
- Relevant academic work
- your top accomplishments
- academic extracurricular activities.
Add Specific Qualifications That Match the Job Opening
On to your abilities now. Most likely, you have a lot of these. But how would a list of fifteen abilities seem on a resume?
not at all.
One factor, above all others, is crucial when it comes to talents for a CV: relevancy. Your resume’s abilities section must reflect your qualifications for the position you’re applying for.
Recall how I said to adjust your resume to the job description? Here it is once more.
How do you do it?
Create a spreadsheet first. List all of your professional qualifications there (yes, “eyebrow dancing” is not one of them). Then look at the job description to see what abilities your potential employer is looking for.
Do they match some of your spreadsheet’s skills? Presto! You should list these in the skills part of your resume. Include a suitable blend of both hard and soft talents, as well as anything in between.
Pro Tip: To show your degree of competence, including a brief explanation of each talent when listing your qualifications. “Excellent,” “Advanced,” or “Basic,” for instance.
Impress the recruiter by adding more sections to your resume.
Let’s each make a confession.
We fabricate our identities frequently. Those small white lies that assist paint us in a slightly brighter light are something we simply can’t stop doing.
Would you like to guess which demographic is the best at lying?
Job seekers.
They all make false claims on their resumes in the vain hope that hiring managers won’t bother to check things like their “complete bilingual competence in French.”
Recruiters are trained to detect lies, so don’t even consider exaggerating your prior accomplishments or abilities.
But what if you could prevent hiring managers from even interviewing CV fraudsters? There is an effective method to achieve it:
Include a separate section on your CV where you highlight your undeniable accomplishments and things that demonstrate your suitability as a candidate.
that is?
Additional Sections of a Sample CV
- Industry awards
- Professional certifications
- Publications
- Professional affiliations
- Conferences attended
- Additional training
The difference between you and another applicant with a background that appears to be comparable can often be determined by a well-written supplemental section. Don’t pass up this chance to be noticed among the throng.
If you’re still in school and unable to demonstrate any of the aforementioned, don’t panic.
An additional part is still beneficial for a strong student resume. Here are a few concepts:
Sample Additional Sections for a Student CV
- experience serving others
- Hobbies and passions
- Projects
- Freelance employment Academic successes
- personal website
- Right, if you use all the techniques we covered, your CV will be flawless. And yet—
Want to go the simple route?
Put Everything in Order on a Professional CV Template.
Let’s be honest,
Nobody enjoys fiddling with a CV’s MS Word formatting.
Fortunately, there are plenty pre-made, blank CV templates available online. And we have a few that are absolutely brilliant.
Include a Cover Letter with Your CV.
“To demonstrate your dedication, stalk your potential boss.”
Does this seem like the worst career advice there is?
Well… And very likely is. However, guess what?
Second place goes to “You don’t need to compose a cover letter.”
Why?
Because, according to our HR statistics research, 45 out of 100 recruiters won’t even bother to read your CV if there isn’t a cover letter included. True, the other 55 could believe a CV cover letter is superfluous. Who does, however, read cover letters?
hiring supervisors. In the end, they will decide whether or not to offer you the position.
Most individuals detest creating CV cover letters since they have no idea how to do it effectively. And it’s lot simpler than it looks to write effective cover letters.
Do you want to know how to do it? This is the only manual you’ll require.
Key Learnings
hiring has seen significant modification. It happens swiftly. You must go above and above with your CV if you want to secure a job. This is how you create a CV:
- Start your resume with a personal profile, such as a resume goal or a summary.
- Write a succinct paragraph describing why you are the ideal candidate for the position.
- Put an emphasis on your accomplishments and achievements while discussing your professional experience.
- No hiring manager wants to read a dry list of bullet points outlining previous responsibilities.
- By including a section with your greatest accomplishments, such as awards, publications, certifications, and even extracurricular training or conference attendance, you can demonstrate your value as a candidate.
- Finally, increase your chances of being hired by include a cover letter with your job application.
- All good? Prepare for all of those call-in interviews!