How to prepare an effective CV
Lal Fonseka Productivity Consultant, Brandix Lanka
Limited
Curriculum vitae (CV) is the most important document one has to
prepare if he wants to get an employment from any organisation in
anywhere in the world.Your future employer will see your CV before they
see you, so it must represent the best you have to offer. Your CV should
change for every job you apply for, adapting it to include relevant
information required for the position. Some people define it as the
‘story of the life’.
Preparing a CV |
There is some sense in the above definition as you will never be the
only person applying for the job, often there will be hundreds of other
applicants.
A majority of organisations in the globe do not short list CVs by
themselves. Instead someone who may not know much about the job does the
short listings and has merely been given a list of key words to look for
which is the reason I say preparation of CVs is utmost important.
Reading through CVs can become very tiresome so the faster the person is
able to find the relevant information and keywords, the better.
Putting together good CV may not be too difficult, and yet it goes a
long way in creating that much needed first impression. Here are a few
helpful tips:
Adapt your CV for the position you are applying to be first point you
must take into consideration and aim to keep your CV to two pages. If
your CV is too lengthy, most employers do not wish to go through it.
Hence it should be precised, short and crispy even if you have got three
or more years’ experience and quite a number of interesting things to
state in your CV.
Stating your purpose well in the beginning is extremely important.
Your objective for applying has to be clearly stated. What are your
aspirations from the job? What is your target? All this should be clear
to your new employer when he or she reads your CV.
It is a good idea to highlight your achievements in your current job
without hiding any facts. Ideally, this should be one of the first
components on the CV. It is the perfect way to generate interest in your
prospective employer.
The first step in editing information and including the relevant bits
is to look through your credentials properly and compare it with what
you are headed for. For instance you might have been a national level
soccer player but it does not really help your case when you are looking
for a finance manager’s position in an organisation.
Use bullet points, they help keep sentences shorter which is very
vital. Essay forms CVs are nuisance to the employers. Being an officer
who hold a big position in the organisation I hate to go through essays.
The Other important point I would like to highlight is that your CV
should not bound, as it is not a book!
Word processing your CV is a must, using the spell check. If you make
a one single mistake in spelling, it will go against you.Employer will
detect it at once. Hence do not allow spelling mistakes to disqualify
you from the competition.
Use quality paper, white or cream and always remember to include a
covering letter, which is relevant to the job. Do not repeat your CV;
instead try to incorporate key words from the job ad into your covering
letter. At a glance the person checking the CVs will see that you have
the skills necessary and will hopefully give you the chance to have an
interview.
Avoid acronyms
Include information about any kind of work experience that you might
have had in the social, non-government sector. Companies have corporate
social responsibilities and your worth just goes up a notch higher if
you have engaged in such activities in the past.
More often than not, you end up with a slack period when you are
switching jobs. Your employer will always be interested in knowing what
you did when you were in between jobs. Be careful and smart about what
you write in there. You will most likely be questioned about it.
Everything else set aside, your CV has to be visually neat and
contemporary. Things like page alignments bullets and font should be
decided wisely.
Mention date, place of birth and current residence at the end of the
CV. Personal information does not rally have to include father’s name,
mother’s name and such like or you will end up making it look more like
a passport application form.
Getting a job these days is highly difficult and if your CV comes
with these howlers, then you chances of getting a job are almost
negligible.
Most of the job candidates forget the followings, but the prospective
employer is very particular about the followings.
You have to be extremely loyal to my present firm, so please do not
let the new employer know of your immediate availability which will be a
total disqualification in front of a person like my caliber.
Qualifications: As stated above, do not say that you are a man filled
with passion and integrity, and you can act on short notice. What you
have got to show that you are a class act and not prepared to come
cheap.
Please do not misconstrue your previous jobs as ‘job hopping’. You
should not give any slightest idea that you prefer quitting jobs.
Finally, you need to write a CV to differentiate you from the pack. A
CV demands you not only to think about your future, but also think about
your past. Does it sound confusing?Your resume should answer a lot of
questions namely: What have been the turning points inyour career? What
have you really contributed? What will each organisation remember you
for? What new experience did you gain in each role? Remember your CV
needs to be a good list.
The best way to judge your own CV is to read the whole document and
ask yourself. Is this an honestly written document that will grab
attention and immediately compel the reader to call me? If your answer
is in the affirmative you have a winner. If not, you need to re-look at
ways in which you can make it more appealing. |