“Interested applicants
should send their application letters and CVs to the following address...”
You may have seen this
advertisement, at least, once in your life, if you have ever been on a search
for a job. But what is this CV that almost every Employer requests from job
seekers?
A CV is “a written
account of one's life comprising one's education, accomplishments, work
experience, publications, etc.; especially, one used to apply for a job.”
Everyone deserves to own
a well-prepared Curriculum Vitae (CV). It doesn't matter if you are not ready
to apply for a job. A CV primarily helps keep track of your academic and work
experiences, before it secondarily helps market oneself to a recruiting agency
or any employer. So how do I prepare my CV? What goes into it? Are there types
of CV?
There are, at least, two
types of CV; namely, Academic CV and Job CV.
The Academic CV is used
to apply for advanced studies, say, Master's degree or Doctor of Philosophy
(PhD), and sometimes, for scholarships and graduate assistantships. It usually
contains the courses you read in your previous school, degrees and certificates,
project work, academic goals, research works, awards, etc.
The Job CV is mainly used
to apply for a job. It may not contain all the features that were listed under
the Academic CV.
Depending on the type of
job one is applying for, it is possible to have a blend of the two types of CV
listed above. It behoves you to know what is expected of you as a job seeker or
as a student applying for advanced studies.
In almost every CV, you
would find some of the following areas:
1. Personal details/Personality
Profile
2. Career/Academic
objective
3. Education
4. Professional/Work
Experience
5. Skills set/Other
skills
6. Leadership
Achievements
7. Extra-Curricular
activities
8. Hobbies/Interests
9.
Associations/Membership
10. Awards
11. Project and Research
Experience
12. Seminars, Workshops,
and Conferences attended
13. Referees/Recommenders
Note: Not every area listed
above has to be in your CV. Life is too short to be writing lengthy CVs. Life
is equally too short for employers to be reading never-ending CVs.
Disclaimer: Whatever you put in
your CV, you must be ready to defend it because you found it necessary to put
it out, but also remember that whatever you intentionally leave out in your CV
may become a subject of discussion during your interview. Be guided.
Areas to consider in your
CV
1. Personal
details/Personality Profile
Under this, you may want
to provide some of the following details:
Name
Date of Birth
Gender
Postal Address
Languages spoken
Marital Status
Religion
Phone number
Email address
Not all these are
important and/or compulsory. Areas such as "religion", "marital
status", "languages spoken", etc. have become grounds for
discrimination, so unless you are so sure providing them would not harm your
application, you can leave them out.
2. Career Objective
It may sound difficult to
summarise your entire career goals in just one sentence or two, but use these
questions as a guide: Why do you want to work in that company? What do you
bring on board? What do you seek to achieve in the short term or long term?
Note that career objectives may differ from job to job.
The following is an
example of a career objective:
"I am a young
enthusiastic graduate of Human Resource looking for a firm that works in a
highly competitive environment, where I can utilise my skills in customer
service and human resource development."
3. Education
This is an important
aspect of your CV. You want to prove to your would-be employer that you have
the necessary educational qualifications to get you the job.
It is always important to
list your current qualifications first before the older ones follow. As you
climb higher on the educational ladder, most of your lower qualifications
become less relevant so you could leave them out. For each qualification, you
may want to indicate the following:
Example
Name of Institution: Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi
Name of Programme/Course: Bachelor of Arts in
English
Year Started to Year
completed:
August 2009 to June 2013.
If the programme was not
completed, you can indicate "abandoned"; if you have left it for a
while, you can indicate "deferred"; if it hasn't ended yet, you can
indicate "in progress" or you can write the start date and indicate
"to present".)
4. Professional/Work
Experience
This is where you
indicate the work or jobs that you have done in your life so far. In many parts
of the world, internships, voluntary works, and national service are included.
As much as it is possible, focus more on the experiences that have a direct
relationship with the work you are currently applying for.
If you don't have any
work experience, you may run into few problems, but don't worry, indicate
strongly how quick you learn and put it into practical use what you learn.
5. Skill set/Other skills
This refers to the
knowledge, abilities, and experience necessary to perform a job. We can
distinguish between hard and soft skills.
Hard skills are
"teachable abilities or skill sets that are easy to quantify. Typically,
you'll learn hard skills in the classroom, through books or other training
materials, or on the job." Examples of hard skills are proficiency in a
foreign language; typing speed; machine operation; computer programming,
photography, editing, etc.
Soft skills are also
known as "people skills" or "interpersonal skills". Soft
skills relate to the way you relate to and interact with other people. Examples
of soft skills are communication; ability to work under pressure;
decision-making; time management; self-motivation; team work; conflict
resolution; leadership; adaptability, etc.
6. Leadership Achievements
This is one of the
optional areas in a CV. Have you held any leadership position? If you have,
this is the time to show it. If you haven't, you don't have to lie about it.
Some stringent interviewers would ask for certificates to prove that you have
indeed held such positions.
Most employers have a
strong liking for people who can lead so as much as it is possible, learn to
take up leadership roles at school and at work.
Apart from the rich
experiences and knowledge you acquire, your leadership achievements give you
some leverage over equally competent applicants. On a lighter note, they
beautify your CV as well.
7. Extra-curricular activities
These activities include
anything (profitable or non-profitable) you do aside your work or school. You
could be a volunteer, a philanthropist, a peer counsellor, an online teacher, a
freelance poet/writer, a social commentator, a seamstress, a photographer, a
regular guest on a TV/Radio show, a home teacher, etc.
Again, this is one of the
optional areas in a CV, but it could win you the job you are applying for. Get
something extra doing today!
8. Hobbies and Interests
A hobby is an activity
that someone does for pleasure when he or she is not working. Examples of
hobbies include fishing, watching movies, writing, singing, sound
mixing, listening to music, etc.
An applicant should be
mindful of what he or she writes as hobbies and interests. Some of them may
inadvertently tell the employer what you would be using their internet to do at
your leisure at the office.
9.
Associations/Membership
Do you belong to any
professional body, association, a voluntary club/group? You could indicate them
here if you do. Once you have completed a school, you belong to the school's
alumni, at least. Where membership numbers are given by your association, you
could indicate them.
10. Awards
If you have received any
award in the course of your education, work, voluntarism, etc., you could
indicate them under "Awards". For example, we could have awards such
as, "Best Graduating Student in Mathematics", "Best Student
Blogger/Leader/Activist/Politician/Writer", "Best Worker/Employer of
the Month/Year", etc.
11. Project and
Research Experience
If you have conducted any
research or undertaken a project which you think can increase your chances of
getting the job, you can include it. "Project and research
experience" is necessary when preparing an academic CV, where you indicate
your thesis/dissertation/final year project. It informs the school that you
have the requisite foundation or background for higher studies and
research.
12. Seminars, Workshops,
and Conferences Attended
Knowledge is not only
acquired in the classroom or at the workplace. Sometimes, you learn invaluable
lessons at trainings, workshops, seminars and conferences. If you have attended
any of these, you could list them (including the themes/topics of the seminars
and the dates you attended them) under this heading.
For all intents and
purposes, you need to attend conferences, not only for the knowledge you would
acquire but also for the certificates and mentorship opportunities that would
be provided.
13. Referees/Recommenders
A "referee" or
"reference" is a person who knows you and who is willing to describe
and, usually, praise you, in order to support you when you are trying
to get a job, etc. Referees give credence to your application that you are
suitable for the job. Always make sure that you inform whoever you choose as a
referee so that he or she won't be caught unawares by random calls from your
would-be employer.
While the reputation of
some referees can get you the job, the names of some referees alone can
jeopardise your chances. When you are in such a fix, you could just write,
Referee to be provided upon request.
Features of a Good
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Your CV should have the
following features:
1. It should be well
typed and arranged beautifully. (Most people use "Times New Romans fonts,
size 12")
2. It should be free from
spelling and grammatical errors. Get a trusted editor/proofreader to go through
it for you; it is worth it.
3. It should be brief and
straight to the point: quality over quantity.
4. The printout should be
legible, devoid of ink spillage, crumpling, mutilation, oil soiling, dirtying,
etc.
5. If it is possible,
embolden only headings and subheadings.
6. The Table Format and
Descriptive Format are both appropriate.
Note: It is preferable and
secure to send your CV in Portable Document Format (PDF).