23 May 10 How to Write a Good, Captivating CV?

A Curriculum Vitae is an ‘advert’ to sell yourself to the employer. It’s also known as ‘Resume’. A CV is sent to the employer while applying for the given job; or while enquiring if jobs are available with the employer. A CV should reflect you at the best possible way, as it’s your written representation and first chance to impress. An employer may receive thousands of CVs, but choose only the good ones. So give your best shot while crafting your CV. Follow the given tips.

General guidelines

• A CV has to be typed in word-processor, well formatted on a piece of A4 good quality paper. Print should be clear. Do not use too many variants of font sizes and styles. Make the headings bold/underlined. Don’t hesitate to leave plenty of white space around. It should look neat and professional. Use bullets wherever subsections are required.
• Use spell-check command after completion of writing. Accurate spelling and grammar are essential.
• A CV should not be more than 2 pages long. Be concise yet informative; as CV is appetizer not the main course of food. Just put relevant and important things on paper. Each page should be printed on a separate sheet of paper.
• Don’t write ‘Curriculum Vitae’ on top, that’s quite obvious.
• While applying for a specific job, bring your relevant skills on paper. Don’t unnecessarily add irrelevant skills in your CV.
• Be honest and truthful. Don’t omit information (which you don’t want employer to know) and neither communicate inaccurate and misleading information. Addition and deletion of information may actually drag you into problems.

Things to be included in CV

1. Personal Details
   • This would include name, address, phone number, email id, website.
2. Educational Qualification
   • Mention names of institutes, names of courses, marks achieved and year of passing. Most recent one comes first.
3. Work Experience
   • The recent work experience first. Name of the employer, designation, duration and year of working, job responsibilities, clients worked with – are to be included here. Even part-time jobs or summer trainings can be included.
4. Awards and Achievements
   • If you have achieved any title in your career or academic span, feel free to flaunt it here in detail (title, year, cause, provider’s detail). Even small achievements, titles and awards earned can be mentioned.
5. Skills
   • Languages known, computer-knowledge, driving skill can be included.
6. References
   • It’s recommended to put names of two references – one academic (teacher or project supervisor) and one person from your employer (your ex-colleague/supervisor/manager). Make sure you take permission of the given people before including their names. With due permission give their names, contact information, work information briefly.

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