| Job Hunting Tips #1 - Preparation of your CV |  |
A CV is a summary of experiences and skills that are related to your employment objective. It should support your employment interests and have a strong skills section. It should highlight your particular strengths.
What’s needed:
* Full name
* Permanent address
* Permanent telephone numbers
* Email address
What’s not needed:
* Date of birth or age ( in the UK a lot of weight is placed on this number )
* Marital status and number of dependents
* Height, weight and other physical characteristics
* Health status
* Photographs
What’s needed:
* Short, specific statement that defines the kind of work you want to do including occupation,
industry and level of responsibility
* Exclude pronouns
What’s not needed:
General statements that reflect personal interests or the desire to use your skills.
Example: "A position where I can grow with a company and use my skills".
Statements that tell the reader what you want from the company or position as opposed to reflecting your employment interests.
Example: A position where I can gain experience in marketing.
This section is suggested for individuals with 3 or more years of experience in an area where they are pursuing employment - not if a career switch is desired.
What’s needed:
* Highlights of relevant experience (no more than 3 or 4 lines)
* One or two outstanding skills or abilities
What’s needed:
* Name of institution, and city followed by degree and year; always put the most
recent degree first; if pursuing a dual degree, indicate first the degree that is most integral to
your employment search
* Major academic scholarships and awards
* Additional relevant training
* Examination grades or year marks.
* Certificates
* For doctoral candidates, dissertation title or topic and name of advisor
* Courses that support your employment interests or focus; omit course numbers and courses
commonly taken by all students in your major
What’s not needed:
* Infant & Primary school information
* An extensive listing of courses
What’s Needed:
* A listing of the marketable skills that are valued in your area of interest (such as accounting,
database management, web page design, teaching, technical writing, and sales
* Computer related skills
* Foreign languages (including degree of fluency)
What’s Not Needed:
* References to personal traits such as dependability, organized, and fast learner
* Outdated computer software skills, typing speed and knowledge of common office
equipment
What’s Needed
* Relevant, current or last positions with more recent experience listed first, moving back in
time
* Senior design projects or other classroom related experiences relevant to your employment
objective
* Describe experience with emphasis on accomplishments and contributions; also focus on
including experiences and tasks that support your objective and employment interests
* Highlight those tasks that would be of interest to an employer and related to your
employment objective
What’s Not Needed
* Extensive detail about positions not related to your employment objective Complete
employer addresses or telephone numbers
* Use phrases or clauses, not complete sentences; use the proper tense when describing the
position; avoid over use of same verbs; omit pronouns; spell out acronyms and
abbreviations. Avoid misrepresenting or exaggerating tasks or accomplishments!
What’s needed:
* Memberships in professional organizations, including offices held
* Listing of campus and community activities; include offices held and any accomplishments
* Extensive detail is not needed - this section should not exceed the space taken to detail
skills and experience!
This section can include personal information (as explained earlier), certification, security clearances, patents, special awards, foreign languages or any other information that may be of interest to an employer.
* Use 10 or 12pt font
* Avoid underlining
* Bold for emphasis but minimize the bolding
* Keep CV length to a minimum - 4 pages maximum
* CV wizard programs are not recommended since many are not compatible with optical
screening programs
* Graduate students should include publications and presentations
* If your related work experience is limited, emphasize your education experiences
* Never circulate your CV before having it reviewed by someone else