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.
Contact
Information
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
Objective
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.
Statements
that tell the reader what you want from the company or position
as opposed to reflecting your employment interests.
Summary of Qualifications (Optional but suggested
for experienced personnel)
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
Education
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
Skills
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* Outdated computer software skills, typing speed and knowledge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
Experience
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!
Activities
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!
Personal
Information (optional)
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.
Additional
Notes
* 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
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