Advice & Resources

How to Design a Winning CV and Cover Letter?
by Firingarr - 2015-02-24

C.V short for Curriculum Vitae is a brief description of your education, personal and professional details. The American equivalent for C.V is Resume.

What is a C.V?

Basically, a C.V or resume should highlight the potentials of an individual, offer a framework for the interview and give a peak into your achievements as a professional and also, as a student. This way, the organization will know what to expect when they hire you. Though a C.V is not a guarantee for placement, it is the key to raise the interest of a potential employer.

Template / Layout / Pattern

In most cases, you send your C.V through mail or a job site, before receiving an interview call. Of course, there are walk-ins too, but C.V is often the first impression. So, the layout should appeal the potential employer and offer a crisp, interesting and concise account of your achievements. In short, it should create the best first impression.

Remember to leave adequate margins, choose a professional font like Times New Roman or Arial and the size should be 10 ? 12 pt. Emphasis should be laid where relevant and skills that can improve your chances of landing a job should be highlighted. If you have to tweak the C.V to suit a job, feel free to do it, as long as it does not change information drastically.

Important Pointers to Include

Personal Details ? Name (Full Name, Age, D.O.B (Depends), Gender, Address, Contact Number and ID. Unless you have major health condition or disability, you don?t have to include your health condition in the resume or can state healthy, if probed. Personal hobbies and interests aren?t needed, though can be added if they?re relevant to your firm.

Professional / Education Details ? It is a good idea to create a table and list the examinations, along with year cleared and comments if any ? like class topper, etc. It should be in descending order. Followed by your main education qualification, you can add your additional qualifications, certifications, internships, etc.

If you are an experienced candidate, you can add your work experience. Career outline is very important part of your resume and not only declares your experience, but also your expertise and capabilities. It should include the companies you have worked for, duration and a brief about your job responsibility. This should be followed by achievements, if any.

References & Expectation

Finally, add your expected salary and complete the C.V with references. References are usually past employers or associates or key personalities from the institute you studied, etc. However, make sure to get prior permission before listing anyone?s details in your C.V. It is a good idea to give references if asked for and mention, ?references will be provided upon request? in the C.V.

The difference between the resume of an experienced professional and a fresher is that ? the former should lay emphasis on the work experience and achievements and the latter should lay emphasis on the qualifications and skills.

Cover Letter

This is not needed unless you are applying for jobs by email or through a job site. Ideally, they should be customized according to the position you are applying and clearly take cues from the job description and explain how you would fill in the void.

Hope these tips are helpful. All the best for a bright and successful career ahead of you!

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