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How To Write A Graduate CV

The old saying "You never get a second chance to make a first impression" is absolutely true when it comes to applying for a job and your CV is the first opportunity you will get to impress a potential employer. If your CV is not carefully written you may never get a second chance.

how to write a cv cv writing writing a CV professional cv online cv cv template cv service write cv curriculum vitae make a cv cv builder perfect cv prepare a cv help to write cv cv format quality cv cv wizard

The old saying "You never get a second chance to make a first impression" is absolutely true when it comes to applying for a job and your CV is the first opportunity you will get to impress a potential employer. If your CV is not carefully written you may never get a second chance.

What Format Do You Use?

The difference between a Graduate CV and the CV of a person established in the workplace (sometimes called a Performance CV) is predominately one of emphasis.

A Performance CV is written in reverse chronological order, beginning with Profile, then a list of Achievements, Career History, Skills, Education, Personal Information and Interests. It is designed to highlight achievements and responsibilities in a person’s career. The main emphasis is on job titles and the companies they have worked for.

As a graduate this can seem intimidating as you suddenly realise that three years hard academic study doesn’t seem to provide enough experience to complete a CV.

Your emphasis, therefore, should be on the ‘Profile’ and ‘Achievements’ sections of your CV, which are in the focal point, i.e. one third down from the top of the page, where it is thought that the human eye is naturally drawn.

The format can be the same as the Performance CV because:

1. It is the most popular and therefore makes it easy for the reader to scan your CV quickly and find the information they need.

2. The ‘Education’ section provides a concise list of qualifications that, although valuable, may not distinguish you enough from other applicants for you to be invited for interview. Therefore this section can remain further down the CV just as it is on the Performance CV whilst a summary is written in the ‘Profile’ and ‘Achievements’ sections.

Profile
This is a statement in the focal point of your CV that summarises what you have to offer. The key is to emphasise the transferable skills gained while at Uni that will be of benefit to a potential employer. Examples could be drawn from your educational achievements, foreign travel, work experience, and involvement in clubs and voluntary work. You must be specific and concise and a full description of your skills with evidence should be written elsewhere in the CV. The reader should be able to see that the skills described in the ‘Profile’ are relevant to the vacancy they are trying to fill otherwise they may not bother reading any further.

Achievements
This section should be used only to highlight specific achievements that are relevant to the job for which you are applying. It is a good idea to complete it after you have written the rest of your CV. Pick out a maximum of six, preferably write them in bullet points and if you cannot think of any then leave this section out altogether.

Work Experience
Both employers and students know that the University environment is unique and very different to the full-time workplace. Employers need to have re-assurance that you have had experience in the ‘real world’. Your work experience therefore is very important on your CV, whether it was a summer job, part-time work, voluntary, or an industrial placement.

Any job will have provided you with valuable skills and experience that should be highlighted to an employer and linked to the requirements of the job.

For example: A part-time job in the local petrol station provides cash-handling skills, customer service experience, diplomacy, stock control, ability to accept responsibility, able to work in a team and/or work on your own initiative, willing to learn new skills, trustworthiness, hardworking, able to cope with routine tasks.

Skills
This section gives you an opportunity to list your computer skills, languages, and any extra-curricular courses you have taken outside your degree. Make sure you include the level you have achieved, for example: fluent German, conversational Italian, regular use of all Microsoft Office Applications.

Education
Start with your most recent qualification, which may be your degree or a post-graduate course. Do not list every course or module that you have studied but include any that are relevant to the job you are applying for including presentations, projects and travel as part of your course. Only include grades if they are impressive.

A levels, or other qualifications achieved before university, should only be included if relevant.

Interests
Many professional CV writing companies advise not to include any interests, as they are rarely relevant to the job for which you are applying. However, it is a good idea to add some information about how you spend your free time for two reasons: firstly, it gives the reader a rounded picture of you as an individual secondly, if invited for interview your interests are often discussed as a soft introduction to the interview before the more searching questions are asked. If you include interests in your CV try not to just write a list but include a fuller description of your involvement.

E & O E - Copyright 2005 <a href="http://cvwriting.net"> CVwriting.net</a>

 

How to Write an English CV

The purpose of an English CV is to sell yourself: An English CV is seen as an opportunity to sell yourself and should emphasise your skills, experiences and achievements. You should include successes and wherever possible include facts and figures to support your claims. Do NOT include information that is negative.

how to write a cv cv writing writing a CV professional cv online cv cv template cv service write cv curriculum vitae make a cv cv builder perfect cv prepare a cv help to write cv cv format quality cv cv wizard

Important Points When Writing an English CV

The purpose of an English CV is to sell yourself: An English CV is seen as an opportunity to sell yourself and should emphasise your skills, experiences and achievements. You should include successes and wherever possible include facts and figures to support your claims. Do NOT include information that is negative.

Spelling and Grammar Check: Correct spelling and grammar are of absolute importance in an English CV. Employers will NOT tolerate any mistakes. It is very important that a native English speaker checks your CV before you send it to an English-speaking employer.

CVwriting.net can provide a full spelling and grammar check and suggest any changes to the content of your CV in line with what employers expect.

Do not include a photo: Most English employers do NOT like to see a photo on the CV and, in fact, including one could work against you. Only include a photo if it has been specifically requested for a particular job application.

English Language skills: This is a very important aspect of your CV and your professional career. You must explain your knowledge of the English language under the ‘Skills’ heading. Describe your level of knowledge as one of the following:

• Bilingual – You can speak English as well as your mother tongue
• Fluent – You have a complete working knowledge of the English language, both written and speaking.
• Working knowledge- you have a good practical knowledge of English for professional purposes.
• Conversational – You can converse adequately in English with good comprehension.

English CV Format:

Your name, address, telephone number and email address should appear at the top of your English CV. Always use a capital letter at the beginning of a name including the name of a street, town or country. Do NOT put CV or Curriculum Vitae as a heading.

Your CV should be produced on a word processor, not hand written, and be available softcopy as a Word or PDF file. If you are printing your CV you should use good quality paper.

An employer will scan your CV in thirty seconds looking for keywords that are relevant to the vacancy he is trying to fill. Keep your CV short and concise so that your positive attributes stand out. Your CV should be no more than two pages long.

Do NOT use initials for company names or qualifications, as these could be meaningless to an English employer. Always write the words in full.

Headings:

1. Profile: This is an opportunity to summarise the skills and experience you have described elsewhere in your CV. It is the first part of the CV that the employer will read. It should be only one or two paragraphs long otherwise the reader may not go on to read the rest of your CV. You should also include your career aspirations.

2. Achievements: list any special achievements from your career history or education that may make you stand out from other candidates. List no more than six.

3. Career History: This is a very important part of your CV. The most common CV format is written in reverse-chronological order. Start with your most recent employment and work backwards. List the dates between which you worked for each employer the name of the employer, your position and the location at which you worked. Write a short description of the company and then describe your responsibilities including facts and figures as much as possible.

4. Skills: In an English CV it is necessary to list particular technical, professional or other skills separate from your career history. An English employer will not necessarily be familiar with non-English professional qualifications therefore you must explain each one.

5. Education: You must enter your highest qualification first, then where achieved, and then dates. Make sure you explain any non-English qualifications or try and put the English equivalent, e.g. Baccalaureate, French equivalent to the Higher Leaving Certificate and A levels. Do not include grades unless they are particularly impressive.

6. Personal details: It is not necessary to include all of your personal details on an English CV as your skills and experience are of paramount importance. However, you need to include your nationality and it is normal to include your Date of Birth such as: 11th November 1967. Do not put your age.

7. Interests. You do not have to include your interests on an English CV but they will help to give the employer a rounded picture of you as an individual.

Signature: It is not necessary to personally sign your English CV.

E & O E - Copyright 2005 <a href="http://cvwriting.net"> CVwriting.net</a>

 

How to Write Checklists

Writing a checklist, to provide steps in a process or to convey the impression of organized content, is best done by following a few standard conventions, which we review here.

checklist, strategic checklist, effective communication

There are a number of strategic reasons for using checklists, a writing format which helps you make your point(s) by writing at least some of your document in lists, rather than all in standard paragraphs. For example, checklists may convey the idea that you have carefully analyzed a situation, that a sequence should be followed, or that you are a well-organized person.

In this article, I have a follow-up, in which we look at the creation of checklists.

How you create your checklist will depend on its type. In some cases, you will want readers to follow a sequence of steps; this is a sequential checklist. On the other hand, if it's just a list, like a shopping list, then it would be a non-sequential list.

If you write non-sequential checklists, use bullets or boxes to indicate a new line or new item, as in:
* something
* something else
* another thing again

One quick note about bullets: if you're printing and distributing the message, then you can use conventional bullet forms (usually a square or round dot, whether solid or hollow). If you're sending the message by email, use an asterisk because not all email programs handle bullets properly (something to do with ASCII characters).

If the steps must be taken in sequence, then you'll use numbers or letters as your bullets. And, if that sequence has several sub-steps within each step, you would follow convention by using these types of characters, in this order:
* Roman numeral;
* Capital letter;
* Standard (Arabic) number;
* Lower case letter.

For example:
I The Beginning
A. The first part of the Beginning
1. The first part of the first part
a) and so on.

Indentations are helpful when working with highly structured checklists, like these. They show at a glance the importance of each component in the list.

A couple of other types of checklist might also be considered -- flowcharts and mind-maps. A flow-chart means a series of boxes illustrating the linear steps in a process. These are especially helpful if the checklist includes decision points. For example, "If the computer starts, do this" or "If the computer DOES NOT start, do that."

A mind-map refers to a number of boxes with interconnecting lines (not necessarily in a sequence, but perhaps showing interrelationships). In this case, the idea is to show how different aspects of the same issue connect with each other.

One final thought: outliners, whether stand-alone or in word processors can provide checklists, along with appropriate indentations. If the content fits the checklist format, an outliner may help you create one quickly and easily.