Without a CV, it is hard to imagine applying for any kind of job today. To stand out from the competition, you should take your CV seriously. Which elements should you include, and which should you leave out, in order to present yourself to your future employer in the best possible light? Some valuable tips can be found in the guide below, or maybe you should contact a CV editing service.
First of all: Reliability
You need to put a lot of effort into writing a good CV. In a time when the most popular way to communicate with a company is electronically, a CV is the first (and in many cases the last) document an employer has to deal with. A competently written curriculum vitae is a pass to the further stages of the recruitment and interview process, where we can present ourselves to the recruiter in all our glory.
Second: The choice of information
When writing your resume, remember to include the most important information about your education, skills and previous jobs. A well-structured resume should be written for a specific position and job offer. Based on this assumption, we only include information about previous jobs that match our current job plans in terms of their nature and profile.
In situations where our professional experience is extensive, we should only mention jobs that demonstrate that we can cope with the commitments of a future employer.
Third: Photos
Although opinions are divided about including a photo on a CV, a professionally taken photo increases the chances that we’ll hold the recruiter’s attention longer. Each of us intuitively prefers to know what the candidate we will invite to an interview looks like. It’s worth remembering that a photo for a CV should be of good quality and be formal in nature. It is important to highlight the face correctly and also to observe moderation in make-up (in the case of women).
Interests in resumes. What to write about and what to ignore?
The “Interests” section, which was briefly mentioned in the paragraph above, is a kind of double-edged weapon in the fight for the desired position. On the one hand, it can reinforce positively by highlighting the candidate’s predisposition for the job and genuine passion. Interesting preferences allow you to stand out from the group of average candidates who like “good books, movies and music”.
On the other hand, mentioning your interests in the context of a CV should be within the bounds of common sense and good taste. It is better to remain silent about preferences that may be misleading or ambiguous in the eyes of an employer.
Lies don’t pay off
Don’t lie on your CV. It’s not just about your abilities and skills, it’s also about your interests – and not just because lying is unethical. This advice is also purely practical. It may happen that at a job interview the recruiter brings up, for example, the subject of personal hobbies, especially if they are original and intriguing. After a short conversation, it’s easy to check if the candidate is really interested in what he or she has introduced, or if he or she is just babbling to make things better.
Education. What information is relevant?
The education section should contain information in chronological order. This means that when you enter school names, the most recently graduated or current school should be at the top of the column, and at the end, the school you attended in the past. Enter the start and end dates of the individual stages of your studies. If we have completed a specialisation which coincides with the position we are applying for, we should state the name of this specialisation in the CV.
