How To Write A Curriculum Vitae (CV) That Gets Jobs (Part 1)

A Curriculum Vitae (CV) is an important document.
 It should be prepared properly with an expert knowledge and every job seeker and applicant must learn to prepare one professionally, because it tells prospective employers about your ability, education, experience, interests and attitudes etc. Employers want to know you better.  

 They want to know what you can do and how they can help you in case of inefficiencies in some skills, so that they can offer you a job. 
It is therefore advisable to keep employers in mind when preparing your documents.

Your CV is your weapon to use to win yourself a job and face the challenges of employers. 

It is important to know your CV in a detailed manner and be able to defend it during Interviews.
 Prospective employers may ask you detailed questions about things you have listed on your CV.

Presenting your CV in a good format makes a difference.   

This often determines whether you will get a job or not.  It also tells the employer areas you will need training in before you are allowed to touch their tools.

The reason many people do not get as far as a job interview is because of a poor letter of application or a carelessly written CV.  They also need to know how to conduct themselves during the interview.

Writing a CV well, writing a winning cover letter, and good interview techniques are the main weapons every job seeker should be equipped with before leaving an institution of learning. 
With these three things one has an excellent chance to get a job. 

We can summarize the qualities of a good C.V in three words:

Brevity         Simplicity         Clarity     

The quality of your CV wins you a job. It is therefore important to make it brief, easy and readable, well written and arranged in a comprehensive manner.

Some curriculum vitae have a paragraph at the beginning.  It summarizes how one views himself or herself.
 For example:  “I am a dedicated lawyer who works equally well as part of a team or by using my independent initiative.  
 My strengths include:  attention to detail, results driven, creative thinking, and effective organization skills.”

The above summarizing paragraph should be written with lots of care.
This is because you want your prospective employer to appreciate your skills and yet not think you are a proud and boastful, or someone who exaggerates their abilities.

The CV should contain a lot of information relevant to a job application.
It should give a prospective employer a comprehensive look at the skills of the applicant.

Update your CV every time you apply for a job, keeping in mind the required skills stated in the job advertised.

The prospective employer should see what he wants in your CV.  It should not be an overly colorful
presentation that you are not able to substantiate and defend if you are offered a job.

There is no permanently prepared CV. 
 Your document should be updated according to the requirement of each new job applied for, newly achieved status, title and certification or roles you have gained so far.
 I personally recommend job seekers to learn how to prepare their own CV.  

 Hire a professional to teach you how to prepare one so that you are able to update it every time you apply for a job. 
 If it is too expensive to hire a professional to update your CV every time you apply for a new job, learn to prepare your own. 
A CV is your personal selling document for a job and therefore you must to learn how to produce one.

Applying for a job means you prepare and submit a standard CV and a letter of application. 
Never send a CV alone.
The letter of application, or cover letter, should be extracted from the content of the curriculum vitae.

The CV should be comprehensive and should not be too short.
 The maximum length would be less than three pages. 
Remember readers of your CV are very busy people. 
They need to grasp the content of your CV as quickly as possible.
Bear in mind that you are not the only job seeker; you need to make your CV outstanding.

Every Job seeker should remember the following creed:  “When others are seated, remain standing. When others are standing, become outstanding. 
When all are outstanding, become the measure of standards.”   This is the only way one can survive the competitive world we live in. 
Your CV should keep the reader involved with you in order to qualify you for the next stage, which is the Interview. I give details on how to go about an interview here.