cv workshop slide 1

8/8/2019 CV Workshop Slide 1

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Your Weapon toMarket Yourself

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Kazi Mostak Gausul HoqAssista nt Professor

Depar tment of Information Sci ence& Library Management

University of D haka

CV: How to wri te,

orhow not to wri te

Provide s an ov erview of a p erson's life andqualifications. It i s usually th e first it em th at a

potential employer encounters regarding the job

seeker and is typically used to screen applicants,

often followed by an interview, when seekingemployment.

Differences between Resume and CV

The primary differences are the length, the content andthe purpose.

A resume is a one or two page summary of your skills,experience and education. A goal of resume writing is tobe brief and concise since, at best, the resume reader willspend aminute or so reviewing your quali fications.

A Curriculum Vitae is a longer (two ormore pages), moredetail ed synopsis. It includes a summary of youreducational and academic backgrounds as well asteaching and research experience, publications,presentations, awards, honors, affiliations and oth erdetails.

In the United Kingdom, a CV is sho rt(usually a maximu m of 2 sid es of A4 pap er),

and contains only a su mmary of the job

seeker's employment history, qualificationsand some personal information. In the United States and Canada, a CV is used

specifically in academic circles and medicalcareers and i s far more comprehensive; the termrsumis u sed for most recrui tment campaigns.A CV elaborates on education and is expected toinclude a comprehensive listing of professional

history including every term of employment,academic credential, publication, contribution or

significant achievement.


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In the European Union, astandardized CV formatknown as Europass has been developed which i s

being promoted by the EU to ease skilledmigration between member countries, although

this is not widely used in most contexts.

The Europass CV system is meant to be just ashelpful to employers and education providers as it

is to students and job seekers.

Reverse chronological

Functional

Combination

Describes a candidate's job experiences in reversechronological order, generally covering the last 10 to 1 5

years.

The main bo dy of the documen t is the Profe ssional

Experience se ction, starting from the most recent

exp erien ce going chronolog icall y backwa rds th rough asuccession of previous experien ce.

Not advi sabl e, if the candidat e has gaps in her/his

career t rajector y

lists work exp eri ence and skills sort ed by skill area orjob fun ction. Focuses on skills that are specifi c to the

type of position being sought

emph asiz es specific profes sional cap abilities and

utilizes exp eri ence summari es as its pri mary means ofcommunicating professional co mpet ency.

works w ell for those making a c areer chang e, having a

varied work his tory and with little work experi ence.

Combines the functional and chronologicalapproaches.

Usually leads with a f unctional list of job skills,followe d by a chronological list of employers.

Less widely used than the other two forms.

The CV is a tool with one specific

purpose: to win an i nterview. It is an

advertisement, nothing more, nothingless.

A great CV doesn 't just tell them

what you have done but makes th esame assertion that all good ads do:

If you buy this product, you will get

these specific, direct ben efits. Itconvinces the employer that you

have what it takes to be successful in

this new position or career.


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To establish you as a professional person with high standardsand excellent writing skil ls.

To help you clarify your direction, qu ali fications, and strength s,boost your confid ence, or to start the process of committing to ajob or career change.

To help you get your dream job.

MAJO R ELEMENTS OF A

Normally, these subheadings

appear in a CV

Personal Statement / Career Aim

Education & QualificationsWork Experience / Career History / Employment His tory

Key Skills / Other Skills / Additional Information Professional Traini ng / Professional Development Interests / Activities / Positions of Responsi bility

References / Referees

Personal Details

Make sure your name appears at the top

and is in a larger font than the rest ofyour CV so it stands out. Beneath,

include your home address and contactinformation.

Career Aim/Personal Statement

Demonstrate your career focus and perhapsevidence of two orthree main strengthsand where they were developed.

It should be tailored to therole and company you're applying to.instead of being written in either the first or the third person, itshould be an impersonal statement

Education and Qualifications

Start with your mo st rec ent educ ation your d egree or

postgradu ate qu alification.

Universit y qualifications will be of more interest to an

employ er th an what you did at school so devote morespace to this. Include the date s, name of university/s,

degree title, results, etc.

Include any modules you studied that are rel evant to thejob appl ication in addition to your thesis/dissert ation

research or project work. Tim e sp ent abro ad or work

placements attend ed as p art of you r degree course shouldbe mention ed.


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Work Experience

This is the mos t important part of your CV, becaus e this iswhere recruit ers will focus most of th eir attention.

Include the dates of you r employment, the job title you

held and the name of the employer.

Employers are realistic about the fact that stud ents and

recent gr aduates hav e mo stly done pa rt-ti me jobs or no

job at all. However, employers will still expect you to beable to show the respon sibilities and s kills you got o ut of

whatever work exp erien ce you have.

The most common w ay ofpres enting work exp erience is

to do it in reverse ch ronolo gic alorder (most rec ent f irst).

However, if you hav e very

relevant exper ience in t he

career fi eld you are applyi ng toe.g. an int ernship with a

company, you may wish to

inc lude this first under aseparate heading suc h as

Rel evant Work Experience

and list less r elev ant jobs un derOther Wor k Experi ence.

Read over the terminology used and theskills mentioned in the advert and

where appropriate, use these words inyour CV.

Avoid writing bland content; if you have

"good communication skills"demonstrate how you have used themeffectively to get something done.

Rather than j ust stating a list of duties you had,think about wa ys o f demonstrating success in a

particular role. Mention your achievements atwork and any concrete results you achieved (in

measurable terms if possible).

For instance, rather than writing, "designed

company's web site, " you could say, "designedcompany's web site, which increased compan y's

overall product sale by 50 percent."

When describing your jobresponsibilities, avoid

sounding monotonous in

your CV or Resume and use

a variety of action verbsand skills

Specialist Experience

List any sp eci alist expe rien ce

and or qualifications th at arerele vant to th e job role under

specially designed sections. For

exampl e, rese archers mayprovide the sections 'Resea rch '

or 'Rese arch Interest s,'


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Activities/Interests/Positionsof Responsibility

Positions of responsibil ity and a chievements c an be

ext ra- curricular, for example, signific ant involvement

in the Student Union, organising ev ents in a social orsporting club, spearheading charity fundraising, etc.

Stating your inte rests doesn 't mean just w riting a list.

Try to indi cat e your level of involv ement and what yougain from the acti vity.

LanguagesIndicate your mother language and any additional languagesyou know accompanied by your level of proficiency.

SkillsSkil ls in this section include anything vocational that has notappeared elsewhere on your CV, fo r example, IT skills anddrivers l icense. For IT skill s, list the software packages andapplications you use and your l evel of competency for each.Any certificates you have should be listed in this section.

Conferences

You may want to mention any conferences,

workshops or seminars you hav e attended.Give the name of the conference, date,

place and organizers.

References/Referees

Give the details of two refe rees: one academic

and one emplo yer. Give thei r name s, position,

address, phone numbers and email addresses.Always ask for their per mission fir st and

remember to keep them infor med of your ca reeraspir ations and achie vements to date.

Never lie: Lying on your CV is something you should never do; nomatter how much you want the job.

Dont be verbose: The most successful CVs and Resumes arewritten concisely and to the point you dont want your CV to readlike a novel or sound pretentious.

Don't use jargon or abbreviations: Avoid using in-houseabbreviations and very t echnical jargon. Assume the person whoinitially receives your CV doesnt have this knowledge


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Dont mix you r tenses: It doesnt matter if you use past or presenttense but pick one and stick to it.

Avoid writing in the first person: There's nothing worse thanreading a CV that's full of "I did this," "I did that - avoid writing inthe first person as much as you can.

Don't include a photo (unless asked): You may be attractive andthink this might increase your chances but it really isn't necessary.It is your skills and potential that needs to stand out without the aidof appearances.

Font

A st andard font lik e Times New Ro man, A rial or

Verd ana is best. The size of the text wil l depend

on the font you have chosen, ho wever, the sizeof normal te xt should be betwe en 10 and 12 -

any smaller and it st rain s the eye and any large r

looks crud e.

Subheadings

The heading or title of your CV or Re sume

should be your name, this should be largerand bolder than the rest of the text.

Subheadings need to be bold er and/or l arger

than the body of text.

The style and format of your CVshould remain the same

throughout. This includes fontused, heading size andarrangement of text. When using

tabs, keep the positioning of theseuniform throughout.

Tailor your CV or Resume to the role advertisedIf you are applying for more than one type of job, you shouldhave a different CV targeted to each career area,highlighting different aspects of your skills and experience.

Do your research

It sounds obvious but youmust research the

organisation and the job role

before you apply. Not only willthis give you a b etter

persp ective on the type of

applicant the employer islooking for but it demonstrates

that you are keen and have a

consci entious at titude.


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Check, ch eck, and check again!

Never underestimate how easy it is to

make simple grammatical andspelling errors and overlook them. If

you can, you should get friends or

family to proof- read you r CV be foreyou send it they are bound to notice

something you havent.

Account for gaps

Any unaccounted for gaps in

education or career history must beexplained or the reader may thinkyou're hiding something.

Wherever possible, use PAR strategy.

PAR stands for Problem-Action-Results - first you state the problemthat existed in your workplace, then you describe what you did aboutit, and finally you point out the beneficial results.

Example: "Transformed a disorganized, inefficient warehouse into asmooth-running operation by totally redesigning the layout; t his saved

the company thousands of dollars in recovered stock."

"Improved an engineering company's obsolete f iling syst em bydeveloping a simple but sophisticated functional-coding system. T hissaved time and money by recovering valuable, previously lost, projectrecords."

Don't include hobb ies in a CV unles s theacti vity is so mehow r elevant to your job

objective, or clearl y reveals a cha racteristic

that support s your job objective.

Make it future or presentoriented, suggesting that "I

am this kind of person, withthese abilities, as my past

record demonstrates."

Be consistent anduse the same

grammatical style

throughout.


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Avoid self-f lattering terms such as"highly skilled, outstanding, orexcellent." Describe your

accomplishments effectively andlet readers decide for themselvesthat you are well-qualified.

Be honest and

accurate, but notoverly modest.

Conv ey through the style and

content of your resume an

understanding of your

audiences needs, priorities,hiring criteria, and vocabulary.

Generally, it is a good ideato exclude data relevant tosalary expectations,religious or politicalaffiliations, and geographicdescriptions.

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