Mar 2
CV (Curriculum Vitae)
CV is an acronym for the Latin term “Curriculum Vitae” which means in the English language: “Course of Life”. In the United States, a CV is a document or file that contains a rundown of your personal information, especially your academic career and achievements in full detail. The United States CV is majorly owned by Academics and is mostly used when applying for academic positions such as lecturer, research program, PhD, etc.
However, in Europe, a CV is slightly different from the above definition. A CV in Europe is a 1- 2 page document highlighting a summary of your personal information, educational background, work experience, relevant skills and achievements. This is mostly used when applying for regular jobs like applying for a position in a company. This CV is the same thing the Americans call a ‘resume’.
Since we have known the difference between CV in the United States and CV in Europe, I will now focus more on talking about the CV in Europe or resume as Americans will call it. Someone that has different skills and is applying for different positions for companies should have different CVs for each of the positions he/she is applying for. That means if I’m applying for the position of a web developer and the position of a digital marketer, I should have two different CVs for both positions because a CV should be specific to your background and tailored to the job for which you are applying for.
How to write a CV
- Choose a good CV format:
First impressions really matter. Reports have it that recruiters spend only 6 seconds scanning through the CV of each of their applicants. That’s why it is very important that you select a good format when writing a CV. To select a CV format, you can go to https://zety.com/blog/free-resume-templates and download free CV templates.
2. Add your contact information:
Your contact information should include Your full name, professional title, email address, phone number, and social media profiles. You can also add your home address but it is optional.
3. Add your CV objective:
A CV objective is a 1–2 paragraph summary of every information you want to add to your CV. Most recruiters don’t have the time to read everything on your CV, they will simply read the CV objective.
4. Add your work experience and achievements:
The order in which you will add your work experience should be in descending order. That means it should start from the most current to the oldest. Also, each of the work experiences should have a list of what you were able to achieve or do during that period of work.
5. Add educational background:
Similar to work experience, the educational background should be ordered in descending order. Starting from the most relevant certificate and the degree to the least. You can decide to add the date and years or not.
6. Add relevant skills:
In this section, you are expected to add the things that you are good at, generally the skills you have both life skills, digital skills, or any other skill that you acquire.
7. Add your accomplishments:
Accomplishments can be a very decisive factor in choosing you over other applicants. Accomplishments can include:
- Good projects
- Awards
- Interests
- Volunteer experience
- Publications
- Certifications
- Events attended
NOTE: Everything you are adding to your CV, starting from contact information to accomplishments must be related to the job role you are applying for.
P.S: If you find this article interesting and educational, please do well to share it with your friends and also invite them to follow my page for more articles like this. Thank you!
