How to write a professional curriculum vitae for Job Application and the likes
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Have been looking for a way to writ a professional Cv? In this article you will learn how to write one. Writing a professional curriculum vitae CV is a hard task for many. In this article you will learn how to write one that stands out from the many CVs human resource managers and recruiters receive when recruiting? An ultimate rule for CV writing is – be different and show your selling-point.
It’s worthy to note there’s is no one right format to write a CV. One rule you should note, however, is that your CV should be able to put you in the spotlight for the role you’re applying for, this will inform the HR manager or recruiters decision to invite you to an interview.
What is a Curriculum Vitae CV?
A curriculum vitae (CV), is derived from a Latin word which stands for “course of life,” is a detailed professional document highlighting a person's education, experience and accomplishments. A CV may also include professional references, as well as coursework, fieldwork, hobbies and interests relevant to your profession.
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There are 2 types of CVs – the educational CV and the experience focused type. The former focuses on educational/professional qualification and academic work and is usually for applicants who have no work experience while the latter focuses on professional experience, skills and achievements.
Listing either educational or professional experience is best done by starting with them from most recent to oldest. It’s Important to always adapt your CV to a job industry and consistently tweak them for advertised job roles.
What a Professional Curriculum Vitae Should Contain
A CV can only be described professional if it encompasses the following.
Contact information: a valid contact information should be provided on your CV to enable your employer reach you at anytime. This Include your full name, address, phone number and email address.
Carrier Objective: describe your carrier objectives, your personality and you ability to work wih team.
Academic history: Your academic history i.e academic qualifications. List all schooling from high school through postdoctoral (if applicable). Include the title of the degree you earned, the year you graduated and the name of the school.
Professional experience: Include the organization where you worked before, the job title, the dates you were employed and a summary of your experience and achievements.
Qualifications and skills: List a combination of hard and soft skills you’ve developed throughout your career e.g Data Analysis, Digital Marketee, Computer proficiency, Leadership experience, Communication skills, Organizational know-how, People skills, Collaboration talent, Problem-solving abilities etc.
Awards and honors: For each award, add the name, year received, the organization that gave you the award and any pertinent details (such as how often it’s presented).
Publications and presentations: For publications, provide a full citation including your co-authors, date, summary, volume, page, DOI number. For presentations, provide the title, date and venue where you presented.
Professional associations: List the organization’s name, location or chapter and the dates of active membership.
Grants and scholarships: Provide the name of the grant or scholarship, date awarded and the institution that provided the award (if available).
Licenses and certifications: Include the name of the license or certificate, the date you earned it and the institution that awarded it
Format for writing a professional CV for job application
Choose the right format.
CV writing are of three formats: common formats—chronological, functional and combination. The most effective format is combination. This CV format is a hybrid of the chronological and functional formats and allows adequate space for details about both your professional and educational history, as well as your skills and accomplishments. The elements you place first depend on your experience, career goals and what you believe is most relevant to the types of positions you’re seeking.
- Chronological CV Format: For candidates with rich, consistent professional experience. Start with your most recent experience and work your way backwards. Feel free to briefly list out experiences that aren’t relevant to the position you are applying for in the company or organization.
- Functional CV Format: For candidates with several gaps or changes in their career. If you have experienced career transitions and gaps, then you might want to list your experience in order of relevance rather than the most recent.
- Combination CV Format: For candidates with a diverse background of experience or when skills and abilities are more relevant than work experience. This format works for fresh graduates or individuals that have been unemployed for a while, it puts more emphasis on your transferable skills and abilities may be more beneficial to potential employers. In this format, you focus on highlighting your skills rather than any actual work experience.
Tailor/Edit your CV for each application.
Each section of your CV should be tailored to the position in order to make it through an ATS and pique the interest of a recruiter. Use the job or company description or goals or objectives as your guide to identify the key skills the company is looking for that you have. Instead of abbreviating, spell out requirements like skills and certifications that you and mention throughout your CV in your skills, professional experience and education sections.
Make your CV ATS-friendly
An applicant tracking system is a common tool used by companies and employers to quickly and efficiently identify qualified candidates. CVs built with both the ATS and role-specific keywords in mind rank higher than others even though your CV will likely be scanned with ATS software, you can use this to your advantage when you know strategies to ensure your CV is ranked higher:
Incorporate ATS keywords.
ATS keywords are specific words or phrases employers identify as requirements for a specific position. These can include words that identify qualified candidates based on education, skills, experience and the industry or position.
Avoid Too Much formatting
Formating like, Tables, columns, headers and footers might seem like great methods of organizing complex information on a CV, but not all applicant tracking systems (ATS) can parse this information correctly. When an ATS translates this type of formatting, the information within such complex formatting can get scattered or lost and can result in missing some of your most critical information.
Save your CV in the right file format.
While a PDF format might seem like the best format for your CV to save your formatting, not all ATSs can parse this format correctly. To ensure that all of the information on your CV is able to be scanned correctly, choose a .docx format. This is very important. Don't save your CV in .doc format but .docx so as to keep it intact.
Conclusion
With this outline of ours, you will be able to write a well structured and a Professional CV. If you find this article helpful you can leave a comment.
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