Writing a basic Curriculum Vitae

Eng 12

What is a Curriculum Vitae?

• “curriculum vitae” – Latin for “life story”• An “advertisement” to sell yourself to an

employer.• Purpose: to make you attractive, interesting,

worth considering by the company and get you invited to a job interview.

• Employers get hundreds of CVs; make yours stand out.

Writing the CV

• Should be word-processed, laid out well, and printed on quality paper and ink.

• Avoid using different font types and sizes.• Do use plenty of white space.• Spell check.• Use “bullets” for sub-sections and lists.

Difference between a CV and a Resume?

• Used interchangeably• Resume: an introduction and summary of

your skills and experience with respect to a specific field, industry, or job opening

• CV: an in-depth record of your academic performance, credentials as well as accomplishments to date

What to Include

• Personal details• Education• Work experience• Interests• Skills• References• Photo

Personal details

• Name• Home address• City address (if different)• Phone numbers• E-mail address/es• Date of birth• Indicate if you’re male or female, if it isn’t

obvious from your name

Education

• Most recent education first & degree• Include address • If applying abroad, don’t forget “Philippines”• Include year completed• If on-going, indicate year started – present• For new graduates, include high school• For older applicants, don’t include high school

Work experience

• Start with the most recent• Indicate name of employer, job title, and

duties.• Use the appropriate tense for duties.• Include part-time work.• Don’t include this section if there isn’t any.

Interests

• Activities where you have leadership or responsibility, or which involve you relating to others in a team.

• E.g. extra-curricular activities, student organizations

• Volunteer work

Skills

• Other languages (indicate proficiency; list both local & foreign languages)

• Computer skills (specify)• Driver’s license• Other skills that are job-related

References

• Usually two names• One from your place of study (e.g. a professor)• One from any work situation you may have

had• Or, an older family friend (your ninong, for

example)• But do not use relatives (at least, the obvious

ones)

References

• Include details (occupation, place of work, job title), & contact information (phone numbers & e-mail addresses)

• Make sure they’ve agreed to being your references and to share their contact info.

Photo

• Not required (may even be illegal) in other countries (e.g. USA)

• But standard in the Philippines• Make sure it’s recent• Make sure you’re decent (e.g. for males, avoid

spikey hair; for females, avoid bare shoulders)• Can be scanned in or stuck on.

Optional

• Start with a Career Objective or a Personal Profile

• Just 1-2 sentences• An overview of your skills, qualities, hopes,

and plans.• Should encourage the employer to read the

rest.

Lay-out and design

• Be business like. For girls, avoid looking cute (e.g. borders or lines consisting of tiny flowers or teddy bears)

• Keep it short; for new grads, 2 pages maximum, 3 pages for really, really special cases.

Any Questions?

Group Activity

Divide yourselves into groups of similar or allied majors.

Share with your group mates what you regard as your dream job.

Can be a real company or an imaginary one.

Can be one you’d be qualified for several years from now (e.g. a managerial position).

Try to list the duties & responsibilities of the job.

Homework

Write a CV of yourself today.

With the dream job that you had just formulated in mind, write another CV, this time an imaginary CV of yourself for that job.

You may be older by 15-20 years.

You may have worked at several previous jobs (i.e., describe your career track before your ideal job).You may have earned additional degrees or qualifications, learned new languages, etc.

Homework (cont’n)

The CVs should be word-processed (typewritten) or even laid out.

If you haven’t submitted a photo, include one in at least one of the CVs.

No need to include references.

Information supplied, e.g. addresses, contact info, for the current CV should be real. Info for the future CV can be imaginary as well.