How to make a Standard CV

Your Curriculum Vitae (CV) is the primary medium of presenting yourself as a candidate for a job to a prospective employer. But many of the job seekers do not give proper attention and care in preparing their CVs accurately. As a result, many potential job seekers do not get calls for job interviews to get the opportunity to present and prove their potential.

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Attention should be given to the following matters before preparing your CV:

• Generally an employer does not give more than 30 seconds time in looking at a CV briefly. So a CV should be precise and clear. Unnecessary and irrelevant information should be avoided.

• A CV of a fresher or an inexperienced candidate should not be over one or two pages.

• Your CV is the way to promote yourself. Therefore, it should be attractive. But color papers or color print should not be used for this purpose. In case of highlighting any information, you can Bold, italicize or underline it.

• Remember that any type of grammatical or spelling mistake in your CV will create a negative impact in the mind of the employer. It will give the impression that you cannot do any work correctly. So after preparing your CV, read it intensely and let it checked by somebody who knows correct English.

• When applying for a particular job announcement, try to customize your CV according to the job requirements. You need to read the job announcement carefully and make some research on it. For example, if you know the information that the employer can locate the job anywhere in Bangladesh, you may mention the places you have visited and stayed in Bangladesh. Again, when the employer is looking for an Organizer, you can mention the organizing activities you have done in your student life. It will create an additional value in your CV.

• It is very important that you should give true and correct information in your CV. You should not give any information that can appear as false the job interview.

Different Parts of a CV

The following information is to be presented in a CV in an organized way:

• Title

• Career Summary mostly applicable for the experienced persons.

• Career objective mostly applicable for the fresh applicants.

• Experience

• Education

• Additional Information

• Personal Information

• Reference

Title

Your name will come first in the title. It should be in 'bold' format and in a larger font (avoid using your nick name). Then write your address (your present address where you can receive mails by post), phone number and email address. This portion will be on the center of the page to draw the attention.

Career Summary

This is mostly applicable for the persons having experience more than 4-5 years. State the sectors of your experience in maximum 6 to 7 lines. State in short the achievements of your career (if any).

Career Objective

This section is generally applicable for the fresh candidates or the candidates with little experience (1- 2 years). Mention the immediate goal of your career in this part. Also mention how your experience and potential match with the position you are applying for. Bring up your positive skills for the position. It is important to write your career objective according to the criteria mentioned in the job announcement. Give emphasis on the ways you can make contribution for the company and what is your expectation from the company.

Experience

For the experienced candidates, this section should come before the 'Educational Qualification' section.Things that you should mention in your experience details are as follows:

• Organization name

• Designation

• Time Period From & To

• Job Responsibility

• Special Achievement

If you have working experience in different positions in a same organization, mention it in different phases.State your most recent experience first and then mention one by one your other experiences in the Resume following Chronological Order which is to end with your first experience.It is better not to mention experience of short and insignificant experience. Try not to have long gap of time between the jobs.

Education & Training

• Education & training part should come before experience part for a fresher. You will mention your degrees in education part with the following information.

• Name of degree (Such as SSC, HSC, B.Com)

• Duration of course

• Name of institutions and board.

• Year of Examination and date of publishing result (if necessary),

• Result and achievement (if any)

You should mention your most recent degree first like your experience part, then mention the other degrees by turn.Remember that you should mention 'appeared' if the final result is not yet published. Please mention 'ongoing' if you are continuing any program. You need not to mention the result of any degree if any of the result is a very poor one. Remember that, it looks odd if you mention the result of one degree and avoid another.If you participate in any particular training program that supports your work experience, you should mention it. Mention the training institution, topic and duration of training. You can place the list of training right after the education part.

Additional Information

The information that does not fall in the above mentioned parts but is related with the job must be shown in this part. For example:

• Professional Achievement

• Award

• Language Proficiency

• Computer skills

• License, government identity, publications and authorization.

• Voluntary work etc.

Personal information

You can mention your parent's name, present and permanent address, religion, traveling places (Country) if any, hobby etc. in this section.Reference - You should not mention the name of any close relative as referee in reference part. Referees should be the persons who have seen you closely in your student life or working life. You must mention the phone number, address and e-mail (if any) of your referee. It is better to mention two or three persons as referees. It is important to inform your referee that you have mentioned his name as referee in your CV.

Tips for Creating an Effective Resume

When an employer looks at your resume, you've got about 30 seconds to make a good impression. That's the average amount of time most employers spend reading a resume. To capture the reader's attention, you need to be clear and to-the-point. And, that's not all. Keep in mind the following guidelines to create an effective resume:

Be Concise and Omit Irrelevant Information

Employers don't want to read a long, drawn-out version of your life's accomplishments. They have stacks of resumes to read, and want to know quickly whether or not you would be a good fit for their company. So, be concise, and exhibit your skills and abilities.A resume should only include information that will help convince an employer to interview you. Descriptions of relevant skills and accomplishments should be concise and to the point. Including irrelevant experience and lengthy descriptions will bury the important information. Only include personal information where it demonstrates an important personal quality or qualification. A resume should represent what you can do on the job, not what you do in your personal life.

Don't Forget Your Objective

Before diving into writing your resume, plan out your career objective. Make it clear and focused. Remember to keep the message consistent throughout your resume as you summarize your skills and accentuate your strengths.

Write a Powerful Opening Statement

If you are a recent graduate or have limited experience in your career, you should include a Job Objective statement at the top of your resume, which will help focus the reader's attention and describe what type of position you are looking for.If you have experience in your career field, you want a powerful Summary statement that illustrates your best qualifications for the position at the top of the resume. A well-crafted opening statement should convince an employer to keep reading.

Use Industry Jargon

Use industry jargon and acronyms to reflect your familiarity with the employer's business, but not to the point where it makes your resume hard to read or understand. Spell out acronyms in parentheses if they are not obvious, such as TQM (Total Quality Management).

Customize It: Focus on Your Benefit to Employers

Describe your experience in a way that relates to the skills the employer is seeking. Focus on highlighting accomplishments that will arouse the interest of employers who read your resume. Answer the question: "How can this candidate fulfill the role and make a positive impact?" If a company is looking for a candidate who has leadership ability, highlight your experience in training new employees or in managing projects. Remember that the goal is to get the interview.

Include Keywords

Draw attention to your resume with keywords that describe your skills and experience. Inserting descriptive keywords in your resume is becoming more important as an increasing number of companies search for resumes in computer databases that find matches through keywords. These words should relate to the job you are applying for while highlighting your own skill set.

Use Action-Benefit statements: Avoid Boring List of Job Responsibilities

The best resumes describe experience using Action-Benefit statements, which describe an action you took in response to a challenge or opportunity, and explain how your action had a positive benefit for your company. This method brings your experience statements to life and demonstrates how you can achieve success and produce results.An Action-Benefit statement might read "Analyzed declining sales and developed campaign that increased orders by 30% in less than one month." This statement describes the situation or challenges you faced (declining sales), the Action you took (developed a campaign), and the Benefit of your actions (a 30% increase in orders).

Quantify Your Achievements

You need to give the reader an idea of what you have done throughout your career, but instead of focusing on the duties you were responsible for at your last jobs, list your accomplishments in action-benefit statements along with quantifiable facts to back up your claims. Use numbers, percentages and dollar amounts to show your success in achieving company goals. Instead of writing "Responsible for increasing sales in my territory," use "Increased sales in my territory 150% over 6 months. Managed 30 accounts increasing revenues from $1.5M to $2M annually."

Use Action Verbs

Portray yourself as active, accomplished, intelligent, and capable of contributing. Examples: Managed, Launched, Created, Directed, Established, Organized, and Supervised. Never use the same action word repeatedly. Instead of using a word like 'directed' over and over, use synonyms such as controlled, supervised, guided, or managed. Utilize a thesaurus, career advice Web sites and other sources if you are having problems coming up with new ways to say the same thing.

Be Professional, Not Personal

You do not have much room in a resume, so why take up valuable space with information unrelated to the position you are seeking? Focus on your work experiences and never refer to personal information such as race, religion, marital status, age, political party, or even personal views. In all but a few instances, it would be illegal for the employer to consider such issues. Also, avoid the use of humor and clichs in resumes and forget about mentioning the fact that you enjoy horror movies and surfing in your spare time.

Personal Traits

If you want to include personal traits in your resume, such as "Dependable, Highly-Organized, Self-Motivated, and Responsible," rather than just listing these traits, try demonstrating these characteristics using examples from your experience. For example, instead of writing "Dependable," write "Never missed an important deadline in five years as a project manager."

Keep a Positive Tone

Your resume should present you in the best possible light. If you don't possess every skill an employer is seeking, do not emphasize your shortcomings. Focus on what you can offer.

Be Honest

Lying or exaggerating about your skills and abilities will only come back to haunt you.

Be Organized and Logical

In addition to reviewing your experience, employers also use the resume to sense whether you are organized, logical, and concise. Make sure your resume is balanced, neat, visually appealing, and flows consistently. Clearly separate sections and emphasize section titles.

Just Communicate

Abandon the use of exorbitant, exquisite vocabulary. In other words, don't try to impress employers with the depth of your vocabulary. Use words everyone can understand.

Combine Sections When Possible

Try to combine any short sections together to make your resume more compact. For example, if you only have one entry under training, consider placing it under your education instead and change the section title to "Education and Training."

Use Common Section Headings

Use common section headings. Examples: Objective, Experience, Employment, Work History, Skills, Summary, Summary of Qualifications, Accomplishments, Achievements, Capabilities, Education, Professional Affiliations, Publications, Licenses and Certifications, and Honors.

Omit Salary Information

Never refer to salary in your resume. Save this information for the interview.

Avoid Writing in First Person ("me" or "I")

Your resume is not a personal correspondence, and should not include words such as "I," "my," or "me." Replace such personal pronouns with short action statements. Instead of saying, "I wrote several articles for the company newsletter," try, "Researched and wrote several articles for the company newsletter." Save the first person pronouns for your cover letter.

Placing Professional Titles

There are several places where it would be appropriate to put your professional title. You can place your title next to your name in the format "Ahmed Abdullah, FCA." You can include it in your Summary, Education, or Licenses/Certifications sections. If your title is an important qualification in your job search, be sure it appears at the top of your resume.

Including References in Your Resume

You do not have to include references on your resume. Most employers will assume you can provide references if they are requested.

Watch out for Exteriors of Resume

Resume Length

A resume should be as long as needed to list your best and most relevant qualifications for the job you are seeking. For recent graduates or those with only a few years of experience, you should be able to put all your relevant experience on a single page. If you have extensive experience in your field, you may require a two-page resume to list all or your relevant experience. Instead of considering the length of your resume, make sure that it is clear and concise, and that the information is relevant to the position you are seeking. The most important consideration for a resume is not length, but whether it sufficiently describes your best qualifications for the job.

Paper Size

Use standard A4 or letter (8�" x 11") size offset paper. Recruiters handle hundreds of resumes; if yours is on a smaller sheet, it is likely to be lost in the pile, and if it is oversized, it may get crumpled and have trouble fitting in a company's file.

Paper Color

White and ivory are the only Paper colors considered acceptable for resumes and cover letters.

Computers & Word Processing

The most flexible way to type your resume is on a computer or word processor. This allows you to make changes almost instantly, and to store different drafts on disk. Word processing systems also give you many different options such as bold facing for emphasis, different fonts or typefaces and justified margins.

Printing Your Resume

Find the best quality offset printing process available and do not make your copies on a photocopier. Only the personnel office may see the resume you mail; everyone else may see a copy of it. Copies of copies quickly become illegible.

Proofreading is Essential

Mistakes on resumes can be embarrassing and no doubt you are the only one who will lose if there is a mistake. So proofread your resume as carefully as possible and then have a friend do it. Make sure your spelling and grammar are perfect. Don't rely entirely on computer or word-processors built-in spell-check programs, because not all typos are misspellings and a spelling checker is not a substitute for proofreading for your resume. Words spelled correctly can still be used improperly. Bear in mind that a spelling checker cannot flag errors such as "to" for "two" or "bills" for "skills."

Utilize Bullet-Points

Use bullet points in the body of your resume instead of long paragraphs. Resumes are read rather quickly and anything you can do to draw the reader in will bring you one step closer to landing an interview.

Consistent Formatting

Choose easy-to-read fonts and use consistent formatting for headings and bullet points. Also, make sure you leave enough space between each section with boldface or capital lettering. Use bold, italics, and underlining to highlight the most relevant information on your resume. In the same respect, steer clear of flashy formatting or overly creative resumes with unconventional fonts or graphics, unless you are seeking a highly creative position. Keep your resume simple, bold and professional.

Avoid Overuse of Highlighting: Bold / Italics / Underline

Drawing attention to everything is the same as drawing attention to nothing. Use highlighting such as bold, italics, and underline sparingly for maximum effect on specific areas you want to draw attention to and be consistent in your highlighting technique.

The Best Way to Send A Resume

There are several ways to send your resume to an employer: fax, e-mail, regular mail, and express mail. When deciding which way to send your resume, it is always best to follow the instructions of the employer. If not mentioned in a job advertisement, then ask your potential employer which format they prefer, and then follow their instructions. In other cases, here are some things to consider: The advantage of postal mail is that you can ensure your resume will be seen in its best form, properly formatted and printed on quality paper. The advantage of e-mail and fax is that your resume can be seen immediately, usually the same day. Express or Courier mail is probably unnecessary since most resumes are removed from their envelopes before landing on the employer's desk so they won't be impressed by your extra effort.