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How to prepare an effective CV

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.

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