Welcome! Register or Login
Writing a successful CV

You have probably been asking yourself thousands of times, what is it finally- CV or Resume? And what is the difference?

The primary differences between a resume and a curriculum vitae (CV) are the length, what is included and what each is used for. A Resume is a one or two page summary of your skills, experience and education. While a resume is brief and concise - no more than a page or two, a Curriculum Vitae is a longer (at least two page) and more detailed synopsis.

A Curriculum Vitae includes a summary of your educational and academic backgrounds as well as teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, awards, honors, affiliations and other details. In Europe, the Middle East, Africa, or Asia, employers expect to receive curriculum vitae. In the United States, curriculum vitae is used primarily when applying for academic, education, scientific or research positions. It is also applicable when applying for fellowships or grants.

Your resume at most time is the starting point when applying for a job. Employers receive hundreds of applications and they need to sort through all of them. Their narrowing down efforts is from the resumes they collected.



Tips Writing a successful Curriculum Vitae (CV)
To maximize your chances for an interview, your resume should capture a person’s attention in 30 seconds.
• Length: It is best to limit an entry-level resume to one typed page. Be as concise as possible in stating information in each section of your resume.

• Font: Avoid fonts smaller than 10 point and larger than 12 point.

• Paper: Use size A4 paper in Europe and size 8 1/2” x 11” paper in the Americas). Print your resume with a laser or high quality ink-jet printer.

• Find out 1. General job information 2. Desired qualifications and skills 3. Key values and words

let’s go down with the resume structure
• Identify your Personal information. Your name, address, phone number(s), and e-mail address shouldbe the first readable item on the first page. Usually it is placed after the header, in the top of the resume.

• Objective (optional). An objective statement should basically include what you want to get out of your job, while also suggesting what you can do for the company. It tells the employer concisely and quickly what is your goal in applying for a position. Objective statements are not required, but in general it is a good idea to include one.

• Key Qualifications. List here the main key qualifications and competences that put you up from other applicants, such as Project Management, Business Plan Writing etc.

• Education. The education section highlights your relevant education. This section may be placed before or after the work experience section of the resume, depending on the amount and quality of your work experience. If you have substantial work experience, you may include a relatively brief education section.

• Employment Experience. This section of the resume can go by various names, depending you’re your specific experiences and the job for which you are customizing the resume. Some names that you can use are: Work Experience, Employment History, Professional Experience, Qualifying Experience, and Related Experience. Sometimes people include both volunteer and paid positions in the work experience section; others divide these into two sections, such as “Volunteer Experience” and “Employment History.” Use Action verbs to describe your responsibilities.

• Activities and Honors. It is best if you limit your discussion of activities and honors to the most recent, most important, or most relevant ones to the position for which you are applying.

• Languages - list here all the languages you speak, with a one-word description of your knowledge of that language. We suggest the following scale: Native, fluent, advanced, and ntermediate. List any certificates and/or results like TOEFL scores, with date.

• Computer skills - write everything you know! List certificates and specialty studies as well.

• Skills and Competences. Include skills that make you unique, such as Leadership skills, Organizational skills, Presentation skills etc. You can introduce other headers that suit your needs. Some resumes, for example, have a summary heading that brings in front what the author considers to be the most important in his/her resume.