How to write a good and professional CV?

Your resume (also called CV) is the most important tool for applying for a job. No matter how qualified or experienced you are, if you write your resume in a bad and inappropriate way, you can lose the jobs you want to find or interview.

A CV or resume is a concise document that demonstrates your past, existing professional skills, proficiency and experiences in an organized and structured way. It is important to take the time to work on your resume; this section provides some tips to learn how to prepare your resume in the best possible way.

Your resume is a marketing tool showing you are now working, how you meet the organization’s work and needs, you are qualified and highly educated, you have appropriate experiences and skills and you have the professional level to do that job.

Length of a CV

There is no set limit for the length of writing a resume; it’s important that a CV has all the relevant information without being too long. The length depends on your career history and the job that you are applying for and the amount of your experience and training. If you haven’t worked before, you’ve probably been told not to exceed two pages, but if you have a lot of educational and work experiences, three pages are fine. If your resume is only one page, as long as it is well presented, the results may be better than a two-page resume full of unnecessary information.

Structure

Each resume has a specific structure and format. This means that the contents of the resume must be written in separate and sequential sections. It is important that you separate the title of each section with a headline from the rest of the content before explaining each section. This makes it easy for the reader to find the desired content. The following is an overview of the resume structure:

• Personal details

This section contains your basic information and is included as the first part of the resume. Full name, ID number, National Identification number, nationality, gender, marital status, phone number, email, date of birth and address are included in this section.

• Professional Interests

This part of the resume provides a brief explanation of the professional interests and aspirations of the job seeker. Include hobbies, interests, and achievements that are relevant to the job. Please note that this part of the resume is optional and will include personal information. The content in this section should be clear and concise, something in about two or three lines. Explain the areas in which you are interested in. Note that your interest is something other than your ability and in this section, you do not need to mention your ability and skills. Make sure that there is a connection between your interests and the job you are applying for, otherwise, the employer may think that you do not have a clear understanding of the job requirements or responsibilities.

• Educational background

This section serves as a means of providing a more complete image of your education from your most recent qualifications back to the ones you got at school. Names of universities, colleges, schools, the title of a doctoral dissertation, master’s thesis, or an undergraduate thesis, degree, diplomas, certificates are among the items that might be included in this section.

• Work background

This section is one of the most important and essential parts of a job seeker’s resume and is of special focus and interest for many employers. To complete this section, make a list of your past work and positions, and list them from the most recent ones to the old ones. Each of the items listed in this section should include the following details:

1. Position and job title
2. Name of the company, institution or workplace
3. Duration of activity
4. Responsibilities and important tasks performed

• Skills

You should include this section after work and educational backgrounds explaining your skills. This part includes your abilities that are related to the jobs you are applying for. In this section of your CV, you should list skills relevant to the position, job or career field that you are interested in, including computer skills, software skills, and/or language skills as well as your personal skills such as teamwork, responsibility, creativity, discipline and the like.

• Additional information

You can add anything else that’s relevant in this section if you need to explain for example a gap in your employment history, due to traveling, family reasons, etc. It may also include civic activities, volunteering, awards, and recognitions, or cultural skills like language or travel. It is important to mention here your different experiences of attending scientific and professional conferences, seminar or other events.

• References

In this section, you introduce referees who can testify about your personality, skills, and abilities to future employers. They are in fact your personal advocates or ambassadors, and any employee can call them to request in writing some information about you.