Every country craft its own rule for writing CV e.g., In USA & Canada the CV is far detailed than a resume and mainly used in academic and medical circles only but in UK the CV is a maximum of two sides of an A4 paper. However the European Union developed a standardized CV format known as Europass, based on a Decision (adopted in 2004 by the European Parliament and European Commission) and promoted by the EU to ease skilled migration between member countries.
For many beginners it is very difficult to chalk out skills, relevant experience and qualifications for writing a CV. But most of the time students and even professionals sometime in their life hire a CV writing service or adopt a CV template. But the main problem with templates are one cannot get hold of proper phrases and words to be prominent enough to get through the employers' eyes. In the following lines I'll try to take you through the steps of writing a near perfect CV with the help of a sample CV I have written for someone.
First of all every CV has the same structure and it begins with:
1. Contact information:
- First & Last Name
- Address
- Telephone/ mobile number
- Email address
2. Objective:
It's the most significant part and an employer decides whether to go further down the CV or not. Here you must enter the position you are applying and why you are applying furthermore how you could be the most suitable candidate.
General objective
3. Work Experience:
Here you only enter a brief and a relevant account of work experience from current position to your first job along with the dates and positions you have occupied. Attention grabbing words should be all verbs with a past or past participle form if it's not a current job. Example Lead, Managed, Developed, Maintained, Improved, Motivated, Streamlined, etc.
No Experience/ Internships:
If you are applying for an internship or for your first job then go to Skills and academic achievements by writing brief account of course-works and modules you have studied and and capability of handling tools or machinery or any equipment in this regard. Then you must put some of the following selling phrases:
• Leadership;
• Teamwork, cooperative;
• Creative, resourceful, visionary, far sighted;
• Take initiative, have analytical skills;
• Problem-solving, eye for details;
• Self-motivation or self-direction;
• discipline, orderly, good time managing skills;
• Reliability, dependability, steadfastness, consistency, trustworthy;
• Persistence, perseverance, diligent, and determination;
• compassionate, sympathetic and believe in animal rights;
• Caring, considerate, thoughtful, understanding;
• Specific abilities with language, communications and Computing skills, fixing and
making things, selling and marketing something, etc.
4. Education:
Everything related to your education apart from school. Such as Degree, date and year of passing, title of University and it's location and any other relevant certificates.
5. Skills:
Here mention only job related skills i.e., the job you are applying for. Key attributes would be:
•Measurement and analysis of meaningful cause and effect - some appreciation of productive use of time and resource in an organizational context the capability to assess and judge the role in a future organizational setup - this is a very crucial point:
•Vision - appreciation of what's needed for the future; how things are changing and how to meet those changes
•Strategic awareness and interest - seeing implications of issues beyond the issues themselves i.e., thinking inside out of the box not just out of the box.
•Objectivity, maturity, tolerance, patience, wisdom, etc - the opposite of impulsiveness - so as to use the additional responsibility wisely and fairly
•And ideally (which can be a clincher) show a command and knowledge of the role from a technical 'leading edge' perspective - as if you are a consultant or expert, or perhaps a teacher or writer in the discipline, or simply someone who takes a keen interest in the most advanced thinking associated with the role - it's a matter of presenting yourself as, and being, someone who sees the positive and future implications of the role, not just the role itself.
6. Additional:
Hobbies and be brief. You could also mention any charity work instead of hobbies and use compound words like:
Trustworthy, determined, decisive, dependable, calm, adaptable, patient, positive outlook, energetic, understanding, self-sufficient, honest, good communicator, leadership etc.
A CV sent to me:
Simple CV with irrelevant info
A focused CV
After amendments, a focused CV