Andy Warhol said everybody gets their “15 minutes of fame”. Yes true for everyone, it’s your CV which gives you this opportunity to be in spotlight. It is always a good question to ask yourself “Am I making best use of this golden opportunity?” In today’s world it is a well known fact that given the high-volume of the application received per position, the life time of most of the CV is 2 minute or less. It is only a lucky few who cross this so-called “acid-test” and move on ahead to the next stage.
The objective of this post is to investigate this common phenomenon and suggest esteemed readers of GSG some approaches which they need to undertake and which could be helpful for creating a impressive CV.
Checklist prelude to sending a CV:
1. You must satisfy the minimum eligibility criteria which is mostly, educational qualification, age restrictions, and mandatory experience if mentioned specifically.
2. Ensure the information you have provided is correct and authentic else you may land up into Integrity Issues.
3. Your CV should have relevance to the job you are applying for.
Generally most organizations look for a 2-3 pages CV. However some may prefer a detailed CV. In case you are an experienced candidate sometimes you may find yourself unable to cover all about you in 2-3 pages. In such cases it is always better to prioritize your information and cover all of them with more focus on the prioritized ones which may be best suitable for the particular job.
Key Elements of the CV
1. Statement of Purpose: Recruiters generally look for alignment with your vision and the organizations vision so it’s important that you have a clear vision.
2. Main Skills Summary: This gives recruiter with the key words they are looking for the job. Articulate your Key Skills or Core Competency as much clearly as possible.
3. Current Experience Details covering the following a) Role b) Function c) Duration d) Role e) Job Description. Start with the current organization and slowly briefly covering past organizations details of the 5 sub points.
4. Academic Qualifications/ Certifications: Start with the highest qualification first and cover all your relevant experiences with College/Universities and year of passing.
5. Extra Curricular Activities/Achievements: This should cover all other aspects of your life, your hobbies, Awards/Prizes/received by you.
6. Strengths: This should cover your significant strengths in order of priority, 4-5 bullet points.
7. Declaration of authenticity of Information with Signature and Date.
**Note: For Fresher the recommended CV sequence will be as follows: 1.Statement of Purpose 2.Main Skills Summary 3.Academic Qualifications/ Certifications 4.College Project Details 5.Extra Curricular Activities/Achievements 6.Strengths 7.Declaration of authenticity of Information with Signature and Date.
Tips in Resume writing:
1. The formatting should be simple yet attractive.The font size matters, so keep an eye on that, it should be optimum aligning with the layout.
2. Do not make it colorful.
3. Use short sentences, avoid long ones.
4. Start building a positive atmosphere in your CV from the first paragraph and let your CV speak for itself.
5. Be vocal, do not hesitate in letting know the world the good things you have done, I know it may sound like beating one’s own drum, but rather than over-beating, we should let the Interviewer know all of them. So capturing them in the CV suitably is equally important.
Video CV and Online CV.
These days with the advent of Internet and technology Video CV/Online CV has begun quite popular. Shooting for a Video CV is quite common in the Western countries; in India it is slowly gaining popularity. But remember to do a professional one it may cost you lots!
Online CVs are mostly used by individuals to post it on the personal webpage and blog and link it with potential recruiters’ traffic, search engines.
Mapping the Job Needs.
| Knowledge | The experience needed to do the job |
| Skills | The skills needed to do the job |
| Abilities | The ability to cope up with changing job expectation, to learn new skills |
| Attitude | The attitude required to be successful and to be accepted by the co-workers and clients |
Knowing your Own potential. Do you fit the job?
It usually pays to know your own potential, Try evaluating your score in the Johari Window. Ask yourself the three related questions:
a) Am I ready to take up the changes in my life this job will demand?
b) Am I flexible enough to accommodate newer ideas better than me and be a good team player?
c) Does thinking about this job and the ability to work in this organization really excite me?
Go ahead only if you are positive about the three responses above.
Top 9 Competencies Recruiters look most in individual CVs and later during interviews:
1. Tenacity 2. Energy 3. Motivation 4. Market Knowledge 5. Numerical Skills 6. Problem Solving 7. Achievement Orientation 8.Communication Skills and 9. Planning and Organizing skill.
Things one should not miss:
1. Understanding the key terminologies relevant for the job
2. Following the norms for “Equal Opportunities provider” if you are applying for differently-able positions.
3. Compliance to the legal framework
4. Studying the organization structure, laws and recruitment policy of the organization and its associates if any.
5. Don’t forget to ask questions if you are in doubt.
6. It always helps if you are providing a suitable covering letter. It’s better to be professional in your letter and state your purpose clearly.
7. Be ready with one or two well acquainted referees /references for your CV. Today many organizations look for one or two. But only provide them if you are asked specifically for it.
To conclude you must remember that getting the “Right CV is not the only criteria”, yes, as you know there are various other factors as well; but remember the most important fact is to put forward your best effort and apply for one position and then move on for the next job application. Remember: “You may not get the job or be happy per se in that job which you are applying for, but more important is that you’re working toward a goal and all it matters now is to work towards that and put forward your best effort,” says Reiter-Palmon.
Some freshers resume templates Reume_sample1 Resume_sample2. You can use this to start working.
For professional resume templates you can visit here
Do let us know if you have any query and we will be happy to respond. You can post your comment here or write to us at info@getsetgrow.org
Thanks for providng such a nice information about cv, i need some other information about cv information, if we write something in cv can we should speak about everything in cv
Hi Srinivas,
No need to mention everything but starting from educational level(from lower to higher) you can express yourself with the achievements you have done during your each level of your education and don’t forget to mention about the achievements that you have done that will symbolise your strengths and leadership qualities(which every organisation look in a candidate)
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thanks u providing such a nice information
Thank you Srikanth.
Keep visiting GSG.