Essentials of CV Writing

How important is a CV?

A CV acts as a personification of your skills. It is a bridge between the job applicant and the recruiter. A CV that is organized, neat, and exact makes a good first impression by demonstrating professionalism and self-awareness. It sums up your accomplishments, talents, and qualifications and says a lot about you as a professional.

What is the difference between a CV and a Resume?

CVs are lengthier than resumes and include more information, particularly details related to one’s academic and research background. It also depends on the country you are applying for for example:

Most resumes in the United States are competency-based: they are personal marketing documents intended to showcase the candidate’s skills, notable achievements, and work experience to the greatest advantage. The firms in the UK prefer curriculum vitae, submitted for jobs in academia, scientific research, and medical fields, that are credential-based, providing a comprehensive (and often lengthy) listing of one’s education, certifications, research experience, and professional affiliations and memberships.

How do I write a CV with lasting impressions?

Research says that the typical hiring manager and recruiter spend around 6 seconds reading a resume. So you have only 6 seconds to leave a mark

A well-structured, clean, and precise resume shows self-awareness and professionalism—these things make for a great first impression. This document reaches the recruiter’s office before you, so it’d do half of the work for you

How do I write a CV If I am a fresh graduate with no experience?

Are you worried that you are a fresh graduate and how to write a CV? Well, the good news is most clinical jobs are open to fresh graduates. You can always include your academic achievements, paper presentations, extracurricular activities, training in other institutes, etc to give a glimpse of your skills.

How do I write a CV if I have an array of experience and publications?

It is very important to give more objective information like employment details including place of work, responsibility, duration of work, number of hours of classes taken, and chronologically with the most recent ones at the top. You may highlight an experience that is closer to the job profile you are applying for. Adding an orchid id or researcher id with all your work uploaded to your profile makes your CV concise and impressive for recruiters.

What do I do if I have a gap in employment?

Explain the situation clearly but briefly. They don’t need a ton of personal details. Just give them the core facts. Show that the situation has ended or is no longer a factor, so they won’t be worried you’ll have to take another break from working. If they hire you, they want to know you’re 100% ready to work for them.

How important are grammar, spell check, and formatting?

Data says that 43% of CVs are excluded because they’re written in the third person or have many spelling or grammatical mistakes. Although many a time the recruiters may be lenient considering your other skills it is always advisable to check with Microsoft Office or various tools available online.

How to get noticed by employers on social media?

Most recruiters use LinkedIn to seek job candidates. You may include optional information such as an online portfolio, LinkedIn URL, or social media in your CV for added information.

Should I elaborate on my Personal information?

One should ideally limit the details to your town, postcode, email id, and link to your LinkedIn profile. A shocking 88% of resumes are rejected because of a photo on the resume. Because the recruiters feel it distracts them from the main content. However, in European countries, more details about your background are expected.

Can I use a default CV for all jobs or do I need to tailor it every time?

Customizing by highlighting the skills to match your CV is an important step to show your interest and dedication but too much diversifying from the original content is also not a good idea.

Despite writing a comprehensive CV, I have been rejected many times.

Chances are that the recruiters felt that your CV might not be reflecting the necessary skill set or soft skills for the desired job. More than 40% of recruiters say that applicants who lack the necessary soft skills in their CVs get rejected for the job. Most recruiting companies use software and artificial intelligence to shortlist jobs. If you have not written your CV carefully and as per their requirement, chances are that it will be rejected before it reaches the recruiter also. Around 75% of companies use ATS (Applicant Tracking Software). So you need to impress the Employer and the software too!

      Happy Learning!