How to prepare a CV for students and undergraduates
Equipping yourself with the knowledge of how to prepare a CV is an invaluable skill that every person needs to get especially when they see themselves as future employees. Whether you are working for a local company or multinational, how good your CV is determines your entry into the institution. Usually, the hiring team of any company has a lot on their table such that they will dismiss any poorly done CV regardless of how skilled or experienced the candidate is. A good presentation of the qualifications in a CV will win you half the battle. Here is how to write a CV that will definitely get you invited to interviews.
How to Prepare a CV for a job
Most people prepare their CVs so that they can have a better chance at securing a dream job that probably attracted a lot of competition. Apart from writing a good application, how well a CV is written can improve your chances of standing out among the many competitors. More often than not a resume and CV are confused The difference however is that a CV is more detailed compared to a resume and is often used when applying for academic, research, Educational, academic and scientific positions just to mention a few.
The following is a step by step guide on how to prepare a good CV for a job application. You can never go wrong with these suggestions.
- The basic structure of a good CV starts with the personal details section. In this part you need to include your full name, phone number, email address and physical address. These details must be clearly presented at the top of your CV.
- A personal statement should follow next. This should be explored as a chance to shine and convince the potential employer from the start. Your personal statement should shout about your career aspirations and achievements made so far. A secret to getting this right is to tailor your personal statement to the specific role you are supposed to play.
- The third part is the work experience section. While it is true that you may have a variety of work experiences from the many tasks you have handled before, be careful only to write these that are truly relevant to the job you are applying for. Your CV should be able to put you in a position that portrays you as the strongest candidate available. Consider the many transferable skills that you may have from either previously held work positions or volunteer work. Se examples of the positions previously held to emphasize your diligence and hard work.
- Education summary. This is where you provide a brief of your education history with dates that you attended the institution. You can include the grades attained at each level
- Skills and qualification. This section is where you include all other experiences either work of education based as long as they are relevant to the job. Pick the crucial skills you may have gained from the qualification.
- Interest and hobbies. These can be mentioned as additional information but not a necessity. However, you need to remember that mentioning unique hobbies could help you stand out from the other applicants especially if the post is highly competitive.
- References. These may be included in your CV. However always seek permission from the referee before passing on contact details.
How to prepare a simple cv - tip that will help you get it right
Just like many people search he internet for report writing examples, understanding how to write a good CV is one of the most searched topics. This goes to show the number of people seeking new opportunities every passing day. There may be different styles of writing a CV but certain aspects remain constant. The following tips will come in handy when writing a simple but effective CV.
- Use active verbs every chance you get. A good example would be describing yourself using verbs such as devised, analyzed or create to describe your initiative nature.
- Be careful about grammatical and spelling errors. Run the CV by someone else or use a checker to make sure it is perfect
- Keep off generic statements and try to be real and different. Works such as hardworking, team player and self-driven can minimize your chances of being considered as they portray you as not being authentic
- Always counter check with the company’s website to ensure that your CV matches the role you are applying for
- Do not put CV on top of the document
- Use a professional email address if you want to be taken seriously
- Be real and truthful. Exaggerates and half-truths or lies on your CV Will get you in trouble. Be careful with your personal address especially when posting the CV online. The last thing you want is to be targeted by fraudsters.
READ ALSO:How to write an application letter for employment
How to prepare a CV for a student - How to prepare CV for undergraduate
The only difference with a student’s CV and an employed individual is that the students has experience in as a student and less track record on the job compared to the worker. Nonetheless, you can still come up with a great CV that could land you meaningful internships and even dream job opportunities. Here is how to.
- Your CV should be headed with your contact information. This should include your full legal name, school address, home address, phone number, school email and department.
- Education sector beginning with the current degree you are earning. You should mention the expected dates. Point out your average grade and the date it was arrived at especially if it is not the final grade. Also mention the areas you intend to specialize in the future. Mention the title of your thesis if one exists.
- Have an awards section. This is where you will get to mention all the honors and awards you have received over the period of your studies.
- Create a professional experience section and list all the jobs you have had in a while. Even so focus on the experience that is most relevant to your career. You need to include careers that show your maturity and organization skills.
- List any publications that you may have authored or co-authored. This will come at the professional experience section. If you have made any presentations outside your course work this would be a good time to mention it.
- List professional societies and industry societies where you have membership in. Mention any relevant certifications from these. These should also fall under professional experience.
- List references once you have obtained permission to divulge their contact information and details.
READ ALSO: How to Write a Romantic Love Letter to My Wife?
How to prepare a CV for work experience
The procedure for writing a CV has been discussed extensively above. However, if you are to win the hiring team’s attention then the work experience section has to market you. Knowing how to write this section effectively is what will boost your chances of getting employed. Make it compelling and relevant to job you are applying for. This is the section that gives a detailed brief of your professional history and achievements that would be useful for the position you are seeking. Here is how to go about it.
- Your focus should be on professional career. Choose to focus on positions you held for the past ten years including both permanent and temporary basis
- Create a work experience section. Format this very important section in an easy to read manner. List your work experiences starting with the most recent. Consider the following tips to get this done appropriately.
- Be organized. Start with position, name of employer, company and period of employment
- Give details. Use bulleted lists to give an overview of responsibilities held and emphasize on outstanding performances and achievements
- Use the right words. Be clear in your description of responsibilities held before
- Use the right verb tense to maintain consistency
- Use a variety of verbs to describe different positions to avoid repetition
- Keep reasonable length. Give enough information but maintain a maximum of two pages for a CV
- Ensure your specifics are measurable. Indicate the durations you have worked, number of people you were in charge of and size of tasks you handle at a time.
- Make sure your experience targets the job you want. You can write your CV with an industry target in mind.
READ ALSO: How to write a proposal letter to a business
If you have been wondering how to prepare a CV online, then the procedure is similar to what has been mentioned earlier in this article. The only difference is that one needs to exercise some caution especially with regard to the physical address that you reveal. The internet is full of scammers and fraudsters that could use these to your disadvantage.
Source: YEN.com.gh
