Your Curriculum Vitae
1.1 Your C.V. is your Brochure
For that’s exactly what it is. It’s a document that must sell you at a glance as will any good brochure for any product. Examine any brochure for example, a hotel brochure and what will you see is a nice picture of the restaurant, a buffet table with the obligatory cooked lobster in the foreground, a beautiful bedroom with a view of the mountains out the window, the golf course, the gym, etc. Examine the text and you will find there is surprisingly little and what they do say, they say well. This brochure will sell at a glance. What the hotel brochure will not show is a picture of the swill bins or the linen cupboard. Why? Very simply because you’re not in the slightest bit interested where they keep the bins, you just want that nice big lobster on the buffet table.
Your C.V. is no different. While there are no pictures on your C.V. it still must sell you at a glance just like the hotel brochure. Using the hotel brochure as an example, ask yourself what makes it work so well? It works because it is nicely laid out, it shows the key points of interest in a concise and interesting fashion, and it describes the venue in an enticing fashion and in a professional format lets you know how all the facilities can be available to you.
1.2 You’re the Product
When you view this brochure you are not conscious of the fact that it is just selling a product in a skilful and professional fashion but in just a few moments you will unconsciously think; “I would love to take a weekend break there”. SOLD! JOB DONE! After this you will probably write down the e-mail or phone number and contact them to find out availability, the cost and then make a booking. More likely than not, you will never look at the brochure again. So the brochure just sold the concept and tempted you to enquire for further details.
1.3 Tempt the Employer
Your C.V. should do exactly the same only this time you are the product. An employer somewhere has a need for someone with particular experience and skills and so they advertise or go to a recruiter. Like the hotel brochure example, your C.V. must tempt the buyer/employer to want to know more. It should not tell too much, just enough to get them to want to know more. The only way they can do that is to invite you for interview. Once again, SOLD! JOB DONE!
Your C.V. should document your experience in a very concise manner relating the key points so the
‘buyer’ or employer in this case will want to know more. Remember the lobster and the swill bins. Give them lobster.
1.4 Your C.V. is a Selling Document
Never forget that your C.V. is a selling document. It must be informative, tell the reader all the key points of your career relevant to the position on offer. It must be easy to read, nicely presented and professional in its content and layout. It must SELL YOU AT A GLANCE. On the following pages I will go over all the elements of a well laid out C.V. Follow the suggestions given and use the examples shown as ideas to follow. Alter them, turn them around to suit but don’t copy and
paste. That is a seriously bad idea and do not be tempted to do so. Your C.V. must be yours in content
and style. Copy another persons C.V. and it’s no longer yours. It’s half someone else’s. A well experienced recruiter will spot this in a moment. They will see the change of writing style, or syntax which is always glaringly obvious. So compose all your own information but use all the ideas given.
Having said all that I might add that despite what’s said there is no fixed or correct format for a C.V.
What looks good, is easy to read, easy to absorb and understand and provides the right information
is fine. Even the most unusual C.V. layout can sometimes work well provided it does the above. Lastly, ensure your C.V. has ‘eye’ appeal. Think about that. More about eye appeal later.
1.5 A C.V. or A Resume?
The main differences between a Resumé and a Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) are the length of the documents and the amount of detail provided.
Typically, a Curriculum Vitae includes is a summary of your educational and academic backgrounds as well as work experience, skill sets, special achievements, presentations, awards, affiliations and any other details that an employer might want to know in order to make a judgement as to whether they wish to speak to you or call you for interview. Generally this format stands most certainly in Europe also in the Middle East, Africa, or Asia. In other words most of the world outside of the U.S.
There is no absolute rule but my view is regardless where you live a two page document will cover all eventualities. And yes, despite what you think a two page document will suffice for most people and even those with a long and complex career history. In some exceptional cases three pages. As I take you through the business of C.V. construction you will see why I say this.
The Resumé is a term used more frequently in the US, and the like the C.V. it too is about two pages.
However in the US they have a tolerance for a shorter document rather than the longer traditional C.V. as it is known. So a one page Resumé is not uncommon. Where a candidate has extensive background information to impart such as technical information that is relevant, details on research work and so on, a longer document is accepted and probably necessary. In these situations they refer to the document as a C.V.
So call it what you like, a C.V. or Resume, unless you fall into the technical category, two pages will be perfectly acceptable so long as the information is informative, well written, clear and concise.
Despite what I have said so far about a C.V. being your ‘brochure’ from here on I am going to refer to it as your C.V. If I keep talking about brochures it will be confusing so from here on it’s C.V. only!
--Mufid
For that’s exactly what it is. It’s a document that must sell you at a glance as will any good brochure for any product. Examine any brochure for example, a hotel brochure and what will you see is a nice picture of the restaurant, a buffet table with the obligatory cooked lobster in the foreground, a beautiful bedroom with a view of the mountains out the window, the golf course, the gym, etc. Examine the text and you will find there is surprisingly little and what they do say, they say well. This brochure will sell at a glance. What the hotel brochure will not show is a picture of the swill bins or the linen cupboard. Why? Very simply because you’re not in the slightest bit interested where they keep the bins, you just want that nice big lobster on the buffet table.
Your C.V. is no different. While there are no pictures on your C.V. it still must sell you at a glance just like the hotel brochure. Using the hotel brochure as an example, ask yourself what makes it work so well? It works because it is nicely laid out, it shows the key points of interest in a concise and interesting fashion, and it describes the venue in an enticing fashion and in a professional format lets you know how all the facilities can be available to you.
1.2 You’re the Product
When you view this brochure you are not conscious of the fact that it is just selling a product in a skilful and professional fashion but in just a few moments you will unconsciously think; “I would love to take a weekend break there”. SOLD! JOB DONE! After this you will probably write down the e-mail or phone number and contact them to find out availability, the cost and then make a booking. More likely than not, you will never look at the brochure again. So the brochure just sold the concept and tempted you to enquire for further details.
1.3 Tempt the Employer
Your C.V. should do exactly the same only this time you are the product. An employer somewhere has a need for someone with particular experience and skills and so they advertise or go to a recruiter. Like the hotel brochure example, your C.V. must tempt the buyer/employer to want to know more. It should not tell too much, just enough to get them to want to know more. The only way they can do that is to invite you for interview. Once again, SOLD! JOB DONE!
Your C.V. should document your experience in a very concise manner relating the key points so the
‘buyer’ or employer in this case will want to know more. Remember the lobster and the swill bins. Give them lobster.
1.4 Your C.V. is a Selling Document
Never forget that your C.V. is a selling document. It must be informative, tell the reader all the key points of your career relevant to the position on offer. It must be easy to read, nicely presented and professional in its content and layout. It must SELL YOU AT A GLANCE. On the following pages I will go over all the elements of a well laid out C.V. Follow the suggestions given and use the examples shown as ideas to follow. Alter them, turn them around to suit but don’t copy and
paste. That is a seriously bad idea and do not be tempted to do so. Your C.V. must be yours in content
and style. Copy another persons C.V. and it’s no longer yours. It’s half someone else’s. A well experienced recruiter will spot this in a moment. They will see the change of writing style, or syntax which is always glaringly obvious. So compose all your own information but use all the ideas given.
Having said all that I might add that despite what’s said there is no fixed or correct format for a C.V.
What looks good, is easy to read, easy to absorb and understand and provides the right information
is fine. Even the most unusual C.V. layout can sometimes work well provided it does the above. Lastly, ensure your C.V. has ‘eye’ appeal. Think about that. More about eye appeal later.
1.5 A C.V. or A Resume?
The main differences between a Resumé and a Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) are the length of the documents and the amount of detail provided.
Typically, a Curriculum Vitae includes is a summary of your educational and academic backgrounds as well as work experience, skill sets, special achievements, presentations, awards, affiliations and any other details that an employer might want to know in order to make a judgement as to whether they wish to speak to you or call you for interview. Generally this format stands most certainly in Europe also in the Middle East, Africa, or Asia. In other words most of the world outside of the U.S.
There is no absolute rule but my view is regardless where you live a two page document will cover all eventualities. And yes, despite what you think a two page document will suffice for most people and even those with a long and complex career history. In some exceptional cases three pages. As I take you through the business of C.V. construction you will see why I say this.
The Resumé is a term used more frequently in the US, and the like the C.V. it too is about two pages.
However in the US they have a tolerance for a shorter document rather than the longer traditional C.V. as it is known. So a one page Resumé is not uncommon. Where a candidate has extensive background information to impart such as technical information that is relevant, details on research work and so on, a longer document is accepted and probably necessary. In these situations they refer to the document as a C.V.
So call it what you like, a C.V. or Resume, unless you fall into the technical category, two pages will be perfectly acceptable so long as the information is informative, well written, clear and concise.
Despite what I have said so far about a C.V. being your ‘brochure’ from here on I am going to refer to it as your C.V. If I keep talking about brochures it will be confusing so from here on it’s C.V. only!
--Mufid
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