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CV General
Points
Personal details
Name (If your name doesn’t
indicate if you are male or female, include
this), home address, phone number, email address.
Summary
A single sentence which summarizes
who you are and what your goals
are - this is your marketing statement.
Key Skills
A bulleted
list (6 - 8points). The most important thing here is to
include any skills mentioned in the job advert (only if
you have them)! Don’t
include anything that could lead to prejudice against
you.
Education
List the training or educational
institutions where you studies. Start with the
most recent education first. Include specialist subject
options taken in each year of your course or your majors.
Schooling should then be included,
including subjects. If you have completed a degree or diploma
there is no need to include the grades for your school
years. It is only necessary if you have no formal
tertiary education.
Work experience
List your most recent experience first. Give the name of
your employer, location,
starting and ending dates of employment, job
title, and very important, what you actually did and
achieved in that job. Part-time work should be
included. The importance here is to show the depth and
breadth of responsibility and that you actually made a
difference to the company you worked for.
Avoid long boring job history lists. If
everyone does filing in the specific job, why list
filing? Rather indicate how you have accomplished
something with the filing. For instance, having been
responsible for filing of country reports, you designed
a system to make expedite the process. That is something
to include. Everything you did should be portrayed in
the same light.
Other Relevant Experience
They will be particularly interested in activities
which included leadership
or responsibility, or which involved
you in relating to others in a team. If you have been
involved in any type of volunteer work,
provide details. Again,
set out
your responsibilities and achievements.
Computer Skills
Unless you are applying for a technical job a short
sentence summarizing your ability is all that is needed.
If however, certain software and hardware skills are
required for the specific job, you should list
related experience or knowledge.
References
These don’t have to be
included in
CV
- they take up valuable space. If necessary include
them in your covering letter. You can state
that references are available upon request.
Length
Maybe all you need to say will fit onto one sheet of A4.
But don’t crowd it - you will probably need two sheets.
Try to
limit your CV to a maximum of 3 pages unless you apply
for an academic or medical related job. In these cases,
you can go up to 5 or 6 pages if you have to list
membership of professional organizations, publications
etc. Rather attach this however to your CV than include
it as part of the CV.
Presentation and Layout
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Try to keep to two pages of A4.
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Use standard headings in bold and
keep main text in a standard font. Don't go
overboard with italics or other formatting.
-
Make sure indented sections are all
indented to the same tab position.
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Use space between each section and
keep the overall appearance easy to read and
uncluttered.
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Use good quality paper in reasonable
weight. Stick to either white or cream.
CV tips
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Keep it simple:
The idea is to convince the employer that you should be
interviewed not to bore them with overly descriptive
details. You can expand on points on your CV at
the interview.
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Keep it focused:
Make sure your CV is targeted to the job for which
you are applying. If you have an information pack
about the job, try to use similar phrases/language.
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Use active verbs:
Achieved, initiated, set up, managed,
responsible for, led etc.
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Be honest:
Don't be tempted to turn
a grade C into a grade A,
as it may backfire on you. You could lose your job
if you are caught.
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Include relevant experience:
If you don't have a wealth of work
experience to include remember that there are other
types of experience that will look good - membership
of school/college clubs, student union or course
representative etc.
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Spelling and grammar:
Very important. Your CV must not contain any
mistakes. Use the spell checker, proofread it and
ask a friend to do the same.
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References:
Always check with the persons before you use their names on your
covering letter.
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