Curriculum Vitae (CV): Everything You Need to Know

Curriculum Vitae (CV): Everything You Need to Know

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One thing that you can’t forget when you’re hunting for a job is to bring your profile and experiences with yourself. The company that you applied for needs to know what you’re bringing to the table.

But, it’s impossible to bring all of your experiences in your hand. That’s why you need to put all of this information into something. That’s what Curriculum Vitae (CV) is all about.

Before we talk further about CV, first we need to understand what actually its part in job hunting is. Most importantly, how it could help you get the job you desire.

The explanation below will help you understand what a CV is, how to make one, and why making your CV is important.

After that, we hope this article will help you to create a good CV and get you the job you want.

What is Curriculum Vitae (CV)?

Curriculum Vitae originated from the Latin that means “course of life”. It’s often known as CV.

In a professional world, a CV is a summary of a person’s detailed information that’ll be used to apply for a job. It contains your personal information.

Information such as your profile, your experiences, your achievement, and many other things that could sell your name.

This is a marketing strategy to promote yourself to companies you applied for. That is to say, what is written on your CV is purposefully written in order to sell your quality as a person and a future employee.

Nowadays, a CV is needed to apply for a job anywhere. CV could simplify the sorting process by the company. As the result, they can choose who will be the best person to be hired for the job.

Usually, CV consists of one up to eight pages. This pages will be filled with every information that is needed to apply for a job. Because of the limited pages, you need to choose what kind of information is the most important.

How to make a CV?

The one thing that you need to remember in making a CV is to make it presentable. Make sure you create your CV as attractive as possible. This would be the first thing that the hiring manager will see.

A good CV will attract companies’ attention to look further into you. Consequently, you need to decide what things that will be your selling points.

Oftentimes, companies will give you an extra point if you write your CV in English. Therefore, you need to consider writing your CV in English.

Lastly, make sure to wrap it out with a nice bow: a good template.

You cannot put everything in your CV. Since normally it only consists of one to eight pages. So, you need to decide what kind of information that is important for the company to know.

What will be interesting and will attract the companies’ attention?

These are several things that is important to be included in your CV:

1.  Profile

Make sure you include your complete profile. Starting from your name and your contact information.

It is important that you include any information about your contact. Information such as your phone number, email, address, and any social media.

This important information will be needed for the company to contact you.

Make sure any of this information is accurate and contactable.

In addition, it’ll also help if you include your LinkedIn account. It’ll help to portray yourself through your LinkedIn account. The company will be able to know you better as a person which can be a bonus point for you.

2.  Objectives

In this section, you’ll need to write about your personality. What things that you are committed to? What makes yourself preferable to the other candidates?

Make sure you are being honest and open. Tell the company your quality as a person and as an employee.

You’re free to describe yourself and your personality in a paragraph. Don’t write something long and unclear. Stick to detail that you feel important for the company to consider.

Mention your specific characteristic that you think will benefit you as an employee.

This section is a good way for you to persuade the company into hiring you.

To add some bonus points for your CV, write your goals in this section. For example, state what you desire in the long run of your career. It may not be necessary to your CV, but it could emit your passion.

If you write this section well, it would easily attract people to hire you.

3.  Education Background

Some job vacancies need certain people with certain qualifications.

One of the required qualifications is your education background. So, it’s important to include your education history in your CV.

Write your education background in detail. From which educational institution did you study, what year, and what were you studying.

Sometimes companies also ask for your GPA and your concentration. So, it’s better to cover every detail about your education.

4.  Experience

Your education background can’t be your sole priority to write in your CV. Including your experience would be really beneficial.

When you have experience in a certain field, it could help convince your choice of company to hire you. The more experience you have, the more likely the company will choose you.

Write your experience in detail. What was your job description? In what position? What changes you made? How long have you worked for?

It would be helpful to paint a picture of your experience and what you can actually do.

Certainly, companies will seek people with more experience than others. That’s because people with experience have some valuable perspective.

As Albert Einstein said, “Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience. You need experience to gain wisdom”

If you don’t have much experience, yet, don’t worry. That doesn’t mean that you have to skip this section. You can put any experience that you have.

For instance, you can put your experience when you participate in an organizational activity or any volunteer work. Volunteer work will really help make your CV become more attractive.

5.  Other achievement 

It’s not necessary to put your achievement on your CV. However, it could be a bonus point for you.

Sometimes, what you achieved will imply your other qualities. Let’s say you put your achievement about winning a gold medal in sport. It may imply that you are a good athlete.

Sometimes people will associate athletes with discipline and hard work. It would imply that you are a hard worker and you are very disciplined.

Subsequently, this little fact will give you a head start because companies like people who work hard and discipline.

Other achievements like a certificate of an event you joined or a webinar you participated in could be beneficial for you. These will give them the impression that you’re an active person that likes to participate and learn.

All of this information is really beneficial for your CV. It would be best if you input all of these into your CV.

6.  Skill

Showing your skill could also gain your chance in getting an interview. People with a special skill set would be very attractive for a company. Companies will always need people with an added skill set.

For example, people with language capability and people with advanced computer skills.

Show off your skills that you can understand 3 international languages. It would be your secret weapon in a job.

Tell your company that you are an expert in using Microsoft and other computer software.

Boast your skill in drawing, designing concepts, and editing.

With all of these added skills, you’ll definitely be recognized by the company you applied to.

Learn more: All the Tips You Need in Building the Best CV

Why is CV Important?

A CV is you. It represents you as a person. It consists of your life and your experience. All of the information you put on your CV would be really important to attract the company you applied for.

It would be the one who fights for you in this job hunting. In other words, making your CV is really important. With the right method and the right instruction, you’ll make a really good and attractive CV.

The saying goes, “Don’t judge the book by its cover.” Unfortunately in this case, the company will judge you by your cover. That’s why creating your CV will be really important.

Your CV will be the first thing that they’ll see. The first thing they check before calling you and continue for further steps.

They will see your CV first and see if you’re compatible for the work offered.

Like meeting another person for the first time, first impressions are really important. In job hunting, your first impression will be your CV.

The first struggle of your job hunting is to make your profile irresistible. Your goal in making a CV is to make yourself a good person and a future employee on a piece of paper.

Conclusion

Creating your own CV is sometimes difficult and confusing. The placement of the detailed information has to be precise to be able to attract companies.

You can’t overwhelm them with information they don’t need. But, you also can’t make them less informed.

The right amount of information will benefit you in the long run. However, the lack of information on your CV can result in mistrust towards you.[14]

That’s to say, what you write in your CV is really important and you can’t take it lightly. With the right guide, you’ll create the best CV you’ll need. The next thing you know, you’ll be called for a job interview.

UrbanCV is a platform that will help you build your perfect CV. With its help, you can eliminate one worry: deciding the best CV templates.

Templates on a CV will help you the placement of your detailed information. Certainly, templates will also help you to make your CV become more attractive.  

UrbanCV provides hundreds of templates that you can choose to be yours. With UrbanCV your CV will look like a professional made.