The abbreviation CV stands for Curriculum Vitae, which literally means Life List.

The purpose of writing a CV is to sell you and your unique skills to get an interview. It refers to what you have done in your career till date and specifics regarding your qualifications.

The purpose of writing a CV is to sell you and your unique skills to get an interview. It refers to what you have done in your career till date and specifics regarding your qualifications. It aims at providing enough evidence of your skills to whet the employer's appetite; don't write your life story.

It covers essential information about you as a person; stating your hobbies/interests, your personal profile and your life objectives, all of which should be covered in the document. A good CV will add value to your job-searching plan. It's the quality of your CV, which will determine whether or not you get an opportunity to present your case at the interview.

Remember that a CV is an organized document. You need to work from a specific template or draft every time you send it over to a prospective employer. You will only really use your standard CV when you write to an employer on spec, which means that an application to a company that hasn't necessarily posted any vacancies but which you would like to apply to.

Let's go through writing your personal CV step-by-step and we will give you some tips along the way too.

Getting Started

Before you sit down to write your CV, compile all your information and sort it within the sections we have suggested as a CV layout.

Q. Write down every qualification that you have
Q. List all the jobs you have had
Q. What additional training have you acquired over the years?
Q. Write a list of your hobbies and interests.
Q. What are your personal attributes and assets? What are you good at? Are you organized, dynamic, a good team-worker etc
Q. Write down every qualification that you have

Make sure you have access to a computer or a typewriter and a printer, a handwritten CV doesn't make the required impact. Use a disk to store your CV on for future use. It is always a good idea to have more than one copy of your CV on a couple of disks, just in case you lose one or something goes wrong with it. This way you won't have to start from scratch every time you want to send out your CV for an application.

Your CV is the first impression a prospective employer gets of you 'Don't make it the last!

According to statistics, 85% of CVs go in the bin; talk about being read, they don't even get as much as a glance. So make sure yours catches enough interest and does not get over looked 'you are the receiving end after all!

CV Layout

The following are the sections that should be displayed in your CV, typically in the order suggested although some variations can be incorporated, these are mentioned later in the article series, for now look at this layout:

Name:
Address:
Telephone No:
Mobile No "optional":
E-mail "optional":

Make sure you make no error in this section, as the employer needs to know where and how to get hold of you. Give those contact details where you will be available at most times. If you don't have a telephone number ask a friend or a family member to take messages for you, but remember to include that information in your covering letter. "A separate template on how to write a covering letter can also be availed"

Specify your full name and include the post-code, to make sure that any mail they may send, reaches you promptly.

You can place your name at the left hand corner like above or - On the right hand corner as such or - In the middle on the top of the first page'

However, starting from the right or in the middle is the most preferred option today. It's at your discretion how do you want it to look, as long as it is displayed before anything else.

You can make your name stand out by making the font larger and bold and then have your address and the rest of the information in smaller writing than the rest of your CV.

Make sure it's clear and in legible font of an ideal size, and that it's readable without a magnifying glass.

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