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You are Building Your CV Wrong: 10 Essential Tips to Fix It

Author: M. Mehdi

featured image of Blog: You are Building Your CV Wrong: 10 Essential Tips to Fix It

CV stands for Curriculum Vitae.

Most of the time, you have heared people mentioned that "I applied for multiple jobs but never received an interview call". Do you know the reason behind this? You'II be surprized to learn that they will never recived call because their CV is actually their enemy. What does this mean? A wrong CV! Remember your CV is the first door to getting a job. The first document recruiters look at is your CV.

"A great CV won't get you the job, but a bad one will lose it for you."
— Richard N. Bolles

CV vs. Resume - What's the Difference?

Before starting the guide, I think it is important to understand the difference between the CV Both CV and Resume are used when applying for jobs but the only difference is about the length and content. A CV is a detailed document that contains your personal information, projects you have worked on, achievements, skills, interests, and hobbies. Its length can be more than one, two, or even three pages. On the other hand, a resume is a concise document that contains only one or two pages. So, the advicsed is to keep the resume to only one page

Elements of CV

For elements follow the ordered list below:

  • Name
  • Contact Information
  • Work Experience
  • Education
  • Skills
  • Co-curricular Activities/Achievements
  • Hobbies
  • Interests
  • Certifications
  • Projects

How to Craft Each Component

While creating you CV, you should design as explained below:

1. Name

  • Keep it centered and bold.
  • You can mention your current job title in brackets.
  • Example: Barack Obama (Former President)

2. Contact Information

The next to your name is contact information and it should include following:

  • Email --enter your official active email address
  • Cell Number --your mobile number with proper country code
  • Address --enter the city you are living and country
  • Online Profile -- include the any professional profile link like LinkedIn
  • Portfolio -- don't forget to add the link of your portfolio

Here's an example: person_abc@gmail.com, +1 xxx-xxx-xxxx, New York, USA,LinkedIn , Github

3. Work Experience

This is one of the main sections that recruiters glance at to determine whether the candidate is the best fit for the applied job or not. --Keep it in reverse chronological order (list the most recent experience first, followed by previous experiences).

Each experience should include the following:

  • Job Title
  • Company Name
  • City or Remote/Hybrid
  • Start Date --format should be like "Feb 2025"
  • End Date --or "Present" if you are still working there
  • List of Duties --use action verbs for better impact

Note: The start and end date should be mentioned like Feb 2023 - Feb 2024. If you are currently working there then replace Feb 2024 by Present.

4. Education

Next to work experience is Education. In this section, only include degrees such as graduation, master's, or higher. However, if you have only completed intermediate, you can include that as well. Just like work experience, follow reverse chronological order when listing education in your CV.

Each education entry should include the following:

  • Degree title --like Bachelor in Computer Science
  • Institute title --where you completed your education
  • Start date
  • End date

Note: The start and end date should be mentioned like Feb 2023 - Feb 2025.

5. Skill

In this section, you need to list your skills and categorize each under a subheading.

Let's take an example: A person named Bob is a software engineer, and he has skills such as MS Word, hardware languages, programming languages (including Python), and frameworks like React, Angular, and Node.js.

His skills section should be as follows:

Programming Languages: Python

Frameworks: React, Angular, Node Js

Other: MS Word

This representation will make your skills section stand out, making it easier for the recruiter to read and understand the skills you have.

6. Co-Curricular Activities/Achievements

This section makes a positive impact on your CV by showcasing activities you have participated in, such as events in your school, college, or university. You can also include your volunteer experience. For this, just include each activity as a bullet point with the activity name, followed by a brief description. You can also include your achievements instead of Co-Curricular Activities, such as winning a gold medal in a competition or any other game medal.

7. Hobbies

The Hobbies section is also impactful because it shows how you utilize your free time. For example, if you enjoy hiking, table tennis, or any other game, list them as bullet points as shown below:

  • Hockey
  • Hiking
  • Table Tennis

8. Interests

This section is optional; however, its purpose is to show which field you are interested in working in. For example, in web development, you might prefer to be a front-end developer or back-end developer, while in quality assurance, you may be interested in automation testing.

Just list your interests in bullet points, similar to the Hobbies section.

9. Certifications

You may add the certifications you have achieved, such as any online course or exam. List each certificate title as a bullet point with a brief description. If you have hosted your certificates online, include the links so that others can view them.

10. Projects

The last section contains the projects you have worked on. List each project title with a description below it. If the project is public, you can mention the company where you completed it; otherwise, there is no need to mention a company if it is your own project.

What are Hyperlinks?

These are clickable links that direct to external sites when clicked. For example, you can add a hyperlink to your GitHub profile for your portfolio. Similarly, for your LinkedIn profile or certifications, you can include the link where your online certificate is hosted. For example,

Common Mistakes In CV/Resume

Most common mistakes are people applied for a particular job with a cv not specialized for that job title. like you have specialized in web develper and you are applying for a Machine Learning engineer but your CV contains more than 50 percent about the web developer than the chances of CV selection for interview are much lower. Another is a fresher makes a CV a fresher should use resume raher than a CV.

Another mistake candidates make is mentioning useless information, like marital status in their CV. Why? Because you're not looking for a life partner; you're looking for an employer. Other mistakes include a lack of understanding of the CV norms in the country you are applying to. For example, in Europe, you can mention your date of birth, but it is not required in India. It is also a very big mistake that some people forget to mention their cell number (although very few do this).

Conclusion

  • Your CV is the first thing that creates a space for you in an interview.
  • Understand the difference between a CV and a resume:
    • If you are an experienced person, create a CV.
    • If you are a fresher, choose a resume.
  • Maintain consistency in headings, subheadings, bullet points, and lists.
  • Do not include sensitive information:
    • Avoid adding your image, date of birth, and marital status.
  • CV formats may vary by country, so ensure it aligns with the country you are applying to.
  • Make your CV relevant to the job:
    • Avoid applying for a web developer job with a CV designed for a quality assurance engineer.
  • For freshers:
    • Place education before work experience.
    • If you have an internship, include it under work experience; otherwise, skip this section.

💡 Pro Tip: Tailor your CV for each job application. Highlight relevant skills and experiences to increase your chances of getting noticed!

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