CV & Job Application

Today's
lecture
This book was used to
prepare today's lecture
It’s a best seller and
over 100,000 copies
have been sold
WHAT IS A CV?
What is a CV?

CV stands for Curriculum Vitae

It is a summary of your career history, and the
skills and experience you have gained during
the course of it
A good CV should
 Attract attention
 Create a good impression
 Present your relevant skills and qualities clearly and
concisely
AIM OF CV
Aim of CV

To show a prospective employer that you

have the necessary qualities and
qualifications to do the job you are applying
for
The aim is to get you an interview with that
employer, so it needs to demonstrate clearly
that you have:
 The specific skills needed for the job
Aim of CV

The right sort of experience for the job

The personal qualities for the position
An understanding of the specific requirements of the
job
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Keep it Simple

The easier a CV is to read, the better

An advertized job vacancy will often attract
hundreds of replies, and even the most
conscientious employers have very little time to
digest every CV that crosses their desk
The best way to make sure that yours gets read
is to:
Keep it short: no more that 2 A4 pages
Keep it Simple

Keep it clear: A CV should always be printed and well

laid out with wide margins, clear section headings,
the information organized in a logical, easy to follow
way
Keep it relevant: an employer has two main questions
in mind:
Is this person able to do the job?
Will this person fit in with the rest of us?
CREATE AN IMPRESSION
Create an impression

As well as keeping your CV short, clear and

relevant, make it look businesslike and
professional too
Use:
Plain white or cream A4 size paper
Good quality paper
A good clear typeface
Plain black ink
Create an impression

Avoid:
Gimmicks
Sending photocopies
Spelling & grammar mistakes
Alterations & amendments- always print off a
fresh, correct copy
PROBLEM AREAS IN A CV?
Problem areas in a CV?

In a survey of the 500 largest corporations in

the US, as listed in the Fortune directory, chief
personnel officers of those corporations listed
these problem areas as showing too often in
resumes:
 Applicants fail to list career objectives and specific job
objectives
 They have no knowledge of the company to which they
are applying
Problem areas in a CV?

 They oversell themselves and are vague instead of specific

about how their qualifications fit job requirements
 Their spelling, grammar and writing ability are poor
Include

√ Your skills and experience, knowledge &

capabilities: these are the most
important in your CV. Match them as
closely as possible to those required by
the job
√ Skills & qualifications that feature in the
job advertisement
√ Your achievements
√ Put the most important information on
the first page & highlight your key points
Leave out

× Fussy unnatural language

× Anything that sounds desperate
× Unnecessary personal detail:
Marital status Religious affiliation
Nos. of children Political affiliation
Previous salary Reason for leaving last job
Gender Partner’s salary
× Out-of-date & irrelevant information
× References: they will be taken later
Checklist

Your finished CV should:

Be easy to read
Be easy to understand
Be attractive
Present your skills, strengths and achievements
clearly
Encourage the reader to want to interview you
Checklist

The layout of your CV, the way it is

actually arranged on the page, is
important:
Wide margins
Clear spacing
Discreetly used capital letters & bullet points to
emphasize information
Short, clearly headed, easy to read sections
Finally
 When you send your CV, remember the
following:
 Always send your CV to a named individual
within the company, not just The Personnel
Department
 Include a covering letter written specifically
to match the requirements of that job
 The letter should be as well prepared as your
CV and typed on good quality paper
 If there is a closing date, make sure your
application is sent off in good time as after
deadlines, applications are rarely considered
PARTS OF A CV
Parts of a CV

 Information is easier to digest when it’s sorted into small,

clearly labeled portions
 Career Profile
 Key Strengths
 Key Skills
 Career History
 Education & Training
 Personal Details
Section 1- Career Profile
Section 1- Career Profile
 A resume objective is a short statement
that tells employers how you will be an
asset to their companies
 Employers scan a new resume quickly in
order to decide if they will read it more
closely
 A good objective can grab an
employer’s attention and encourage
him or her to continue reading for more
information about your suitability for the
advertised job
Section 1- Career Profile

Bad example:
“To work for a company with a
friendly environment and
excellent benefits.”
The above objective discusses
what the applicant wants, but it
does not mention what the
applicant can do
Section 1- Career Profile

You will customize this section so that

each CV is tailor-made for the job you
want
Section 2- Key Strengths
Section 2- Key Strengths

A section which highlights the most important

skills, experience and personal qualities that
make you the right person for the job

You will customize this section so that each

CV is tailor-made for the job you want
Section 3- Key Skills
Section 3- Key Skills

The key skills section can be used to

summarize and emphasize your:
Key skills & abilities or capabilities
Key qualifications
Key achievements
The main skills you have developed particularly those
appropriate to the job you are applying for
Section 3- Key Skills

Key Qualifications
Type writing
Computer Literacy Certificate:
MS Office (Word, Excel & PowerPoint)
Computer Programming Language
C++
Section 3- Key Skills

Key Achievements
Prepared and designed research project
Supervised staff
Interviewed high-risk groups
Section 4- Your Career History
Section 4- Your Career History

Your career history tells a prospective

employer what you have done and where
and when you have done it:
The name of the company
The dates you worked there
Your job title or position
The main responsibilities of that position
Your key achievements during your time there
Section 5- Your Education &
Training
Section 5- Your Education & Training

If you have just left university, this section will

probably take a higher priority and include
more detailed information
If however, you have more than two years
experience of working, your career details will
be of more interest to a prospective employer
Section 6- Your Personal Details
Section 6- Your Personal Details

Personal details:
 Date of birth
 Possession of a clean driving license
 Nationality- if relevant
 Special details such as a registered disability
Section 6- Your Personal Details

Interests:
 These can show evidence of suitability through reference to the
skills you have learnt
 Being involved in sports can demonstrate team working ability,
or travel can show your adaptability and independence
 Don't give a long list of interests but concentrate on two or three
and write about what you have learnt from them
Section 6- Your Personal Details

References
Usually covered by ‘available on request’
It is normal to include two of these, unless more are
requested
One should be an academic referee, probably your
tutor, and the other someone who can comment on
you from a different perspective such as an employer
or long-standing family acquaintance
Do not use family or people whose relationship to you
is not clear and always get their permission first
COVERING LETTER
What is a Covering Letter?

It briefly summarizes the most important

points of your CV- your Achievements,
Skills & Experience
Keep in mind that what appears on the
screen if doesn’t impress, the rest of your
email probably wont be read
TIPS
Tips

The job advertisement will tell you a lot about

what to put in your CV
The company website & job description will
also help
Use standard formats especially when
Emailing your CVs. If you use a font the
recipient does not have, your CV could be
unreadable
Check the spelling & grammar thoroughly
Tips

Present it as attractively and as clearly as

possible
Find out who can make the decision and
send it to that person
Send CV to one person, resist the
temptation of copying it to a dozen other
people at the same time
Tips

 If you are sending your CV as an attached file,

remember to include your own name in the file
name, such as YameenKhanCv.doc. An
organization could receive several dozen files just
called CV.doc
 Your email address should be as businesslike as
the rest of your presentation. If your email is more
like cutepinky@live.com or
partyanimal@yahoo.com, either change it or set
up a separate address just for business
STARTING OUT
Tips- Personal Statement

If you are just out of University and are

without career history, tell them what sort of
interests and aptitudes you have
It can be quite useful to know what you feel
your positive qualities are, what you see as
your main strengths at this early stage, and
also an idea of the direction you hope your
career will take
Tips- Qualifications

At this stage in your career, Education

and training is probably going to be one
of the important sections, so cover it fully-
especially the courses closely related to
the sort of work that you want to do
Tips- Achievements

Highlight any special duties or

responsibilities you have undertaken at
school or college
Tips- Work Experience

A prospective employer will be interested in

any work experience you’ve had
It doesn’t matter if your experience is
different from the sort of work you are
applying for, it will still demonstrate that you
are familiar with a working environment
You can show that you appreciate the
importance of punctuality, following
instructions, being responsible etc
Updating your CV

Ensure that you keep updating your CV as

soon as you gain new accomplishments
and skills.
The End 