Your CV (Curriculum Vitae) is a very important document. It is
the first thing that an employer will see from you and therefore
can be your only chance to make that "First Impression".
Take some time to plan the layout and content. There are a number
of books (library?) that can help, or if you want some extra help,
there are a number of people who will (for a fee) help you to prepare
your CV. These days most employers will expect to see a document
that has been prepared on a word processor. Hand written or typed
is not good enough. Make sure the paper is clean. Do NOT get too
fancy with the layout, fonts, borders etc. Remember that whoever
is reading it probably has a lot of other CVs to get through and
they need to be able to find the important information easily.
Opening Page
The first page should start with an outline of you. Name, DOB,
marital status, highest education standard, contact details, nationality.
Do not waste space with superfluous information.
Employment History
This MUST be done in reverse chronological order. That is you
must start with your current or last job/position. Your new employer
will be more concerned with the recent experience as opposed to
what you did straight after school. FILL in all dates. Do not
leave gaps as this raises questions in the mind of the reader.
A blank period can indicate that you are trying to hide something.
If you were unemployed, say so. If you were trekking around the
world, just saying "travelling". Honesty is the best
policy.
Try to use "active" (for example: Implemented, developed,
managed, supervised) words. An employer is much more interested
in reading about what you have done as opposed to what was written
in the job description. This means that you have to think about
what you actually did that made you stand out as a valuable employee.
Your current or last job should have the most detail. The detail
should decrease as you go further back in time. Experience from
10 or 15 years ago may not be very relevant to your present situation.
Leisure Interests
After this section, it is normal to add a brief bit about what
you are interested in socially and recreationally. Funnily enough
most people (reading your CV) are curious to know what you do
in your time off. This is a chance to sell yourself, so include
anything that you excel in (sports, hobby etc.) and include any
positions of leadership.
Training
Again in reverse time, should be listed. Do not give a huge amount
of detail about the courses, most people will glance through the
list to see if you are up to date with your training.
References
Professional references can be included, however most employment
agents will not forward these details to an employer until later
in the process. Do NOT include personal referees. Nobody takes
this seriously at all.
The whole document should be a maximum of 3 to 4 pages long. Remember
that the people who are reading it have got many other CVs to
get through. They will probably not sit and read through 10 pages.
Proof Reading
Make sure that there are no spelling mistakes, typing errors
etc. Small mistakes can spoil the effect. Get your document proof
read by somebody else. Ask them to "critique" your words,
listen to what they say. It is easy for the author to get lost
in their own ego
