Your CV is your entry ticket into a potential interview.
It's both your professional introduction
and the asset of your application
that gets you in the door with an employer.
I'm Jenn, a career coach at Indeed.
In this video, I'm going to explain
the ins and outs of a CV, or a Curriculum Vitae,
and give you an in-depth guide to formatting and structuring
your CV as well as the best approach for each section.
Make sure to stick around until the end, where I'll give you
some quick advice on how to tailor your CV to maximize
its impact for each employer!
So what are the key differences between a CV (also called
a Curriculum Vitae) and a resume?
In the US, the major difference between a CV
and a traditional resume is length and format.
Both serve as a job application document.
But while a resume is a brief one-page asset that
only includes the most relevant information about your career,
a CV can be 2-3 pages and aims to emphasize
the depth of your academic and work experience.
As a result, a CV can include sections
that you won't find in resumes, like awards and honors,
professional associations, scholarships, grants,
and publications.
In the US, CVs are typically requested
for job applicants in education, science, or research.
Unless an employer specifically asked you for a CV
or you work in a field where CVs are standard,
it's best to submit a resume over a CV.
Outside of the US, it is more common for employers
to ask job seekers for a CV or to use the term interchangeably
with resume.
But both refer to a professional document
that's similar to the US version of a resume.
It's just slightly more lengthy.
The tips I'll share today focus on the US CV lens
but are adaptable for both purposes.
Next up, I'll dive into how to create a winning CV.
But if you've watched this far, please take a second
to like this video, subscribe to our channel,
and hit the notification bell.
Step #1: Conduct company research to develop your angle.
Conducting company research is a critical part
of creating your CV.
And it's something you should do with every job
application you submit.
Now, this isn't necessarily intuitive.
After all, your experience doesn't change from one job
application to another.
So why would company research impact your CV?
Well, company research is critical to developing
your angle or your strategy for appealing
to the specific employer.
Your angle is based on what you have to offer
and how you can best present that to an employer, given
their unique needs.
All of that is to say, of course,
your own experience doesn't change, but what you include,
what you emphasize, and how you describe things can and should.
If you don't conduct this research, all you're doing
is trying to market yourself to a generic audience, which
rarely succeeds.
So what's the best way to research?
Take a three-pronged approach.
Start small by looking at the job description.
What skills and qualifications are they looking for?
This will most directly inform what you
choose to put on your resume.
Then research the company based on its own website,
social media, third-party news, and any personal connection
you may have with it.
Think about how the company describes itself and its goals,
plus how you could support the mission.
Finally, consider the big picture of the industry.
How is this company tracking within its field?
What are its strengths and weaknesses?
And what unique perspective can you
bring to help the company's trajectory?
Step #2: Create a clear and consistent format.
As for clarity, there's no need for colorful fonts, graphics,
photos, or even more than two font styles or sizes.
Instead, stick to one font, and do something
to distinguish your headings, whether it's increasing size,
bolding or all of the above.
In regards to consistency, everyone
knows to proofread for spelling or grammar errors.
But make sure that you're looking
for formatting deviations.
Are you adding punctuation after each bullet point?
Are you bolding the names of each employer?
Is your spacing a certain way for your dates?
Now, there's no right answer here.
But what's important is to make one decision
and stick to it in every case.
These inconsistencies easily slip by us
when we're looking for content errors.
But they can jump off the page as unprofessional
when new eyes first look at a CV.
Step #3: Structure your CV to make your accomplishments
shine.
Before I get into this, I do want
to say that there's no one right way to do a CV.
I'm going to provide a format that's
standard for the academic, scientific, and research focus
use of the CV that's common in the US.
But if you're watching this from elsewhere
or you've been asked for a CV that's
for a job that's not one of these fields,
know that this format is flexible
and should be changed based on your situation.
The goal in all cases is to highlight
what's most relevant to the job at hand.
And that may involve exclusion, adding,
or reordering certain sections.
As we go through each component of the CV,
I'll provide some tips on how to best approach
each section along the way.
Header and contact information: At the top of the CV,
you'll always begin with your full name and contact
information.
Make sure that your name is big enough
to catch the recruiters attention
and your contact information includes
your phone number, email, and the city of residence.
Now, note that it's not wise to include your street
address for privacy reasons.
And also if you have a professional profile, website,
or portfolio, go ahead and provide a shortened link here.
Professional summary: The standard length
of a professional summary varies based on country and industry.
But in the US, it's typically two to three sentences
or a really short paragraph.
When writing a professional summary,
ask yourself, if the employer were
to read nothing else about my application,
what are the most important things
they should know about me?
Then concisely and persuasively share your key accomplishments.
It also never hurts to end by explaining
how you're the best position to help this company meet
its goals.
For more specific information on how
to write a professional summary, check out
this video right here.
Education: We're covering education first
over work experience because in the US,
it's standard for CVs to focus more
on the educational background.
But if you're watching from somewhere else in the world,
list the section that's most relevant to your application.
And that very well may be your work experience.
With your education section, list
all of your degree-granting institutions
as well as any thesis titles or highly relevant coursework.
You can also list any continuing education programs
or professional certificates.
And note here, if you're worried about age bias,
there's no need to include graduation dates
in this section.
Optional section: Honors and awards.
If you have many academic honors and awards to include,
you can add that in a separate section underneath education.
And include any relevant awards going back to undergrad.
Provide the award name and date received.
And scholarships can be included here too.
No descriptions are necessary.
This section is standard for academic applications.
Professional experience: In the next section,
you should add your professional history.
Use reverse chronological order to place your most recent work
experience first.
Include your company, position title, time of employment,
and at least 3 detailed bullet points
describing your responsibilities and impact.
Generally, I cap bullet points off at 5 max
and use that only for the most recent or current employer.
But the CV does have the ability to be long enough
to fit the content.
So use your best discretion on what's necessary
and what's excessive.
For academia, it's standard to only list academic-related work
experience and to include research
history in its own section below work history.
For all other fields, feel free to draw
from any relevant past history, including
internships and part-time work.
Here's a Pro tip: To write a great bullet point, start
with a strong action verb, like "drove," "developed,"
or "acquired."
And describe what you did.
And then look for ways to show impact
by either adding numbers or tying into a business goal.
Publications and presentations: If relevant to the role,
list all the publications are presentations in order
of their publication date.
And know that it's acceptable to include
anything that's pending.
They don't have to be long works.
But they should be worth talking about if you're asked.
Added qualifications or skills: It's best here to list
five skills that prepare you for success
for this particular role.
Prioritize hard skills, specifically the skills
that enable you to perform a task needed for the job,
like coding or language fluency.
And note, if you're applying for a highly technical role,
move this below your professional profile
so that the recruiter can easily identify
that you're able to perform the key functions of the job.
For more information on how to approach skills
on the job application, check out this video right here.
Additional sections: In these sections,
a job seeker can tailor their experiences
for the position, company, industry
they're striving towards.
Additional sections might include
professional affiliations, volunteer experience,
interests, or any other relevant professional experience
that you want to include.
However, just remember that the goal here
is to support, not obscure, the best parts
of your professional offerings.
So make sure you have a real reason for including one
of these additional sections.
Now that we know how to approach each section,
I'll share the extra tip I promised at the beginning:
How to maximize the overall impact of your CV.
Step #4: Tailor your CV to appeal to two key audiences.
Audience 1) Eliminators: Whether it's
an HR representative, external recruiter, or applicant
tracking system, the first reviewer of your resume
has one primary aim--
to sift through the high volume of potential hires
and make a large baseline cut of candidates
that aren't qualified.
The goal here is to make it as easy as possible for them
to see that you fully meet the requirements of the role
and should not be eliminated, especially
if the role is being reviewed by an applicant tracking
system or a software that employers use
for high-volume online hiring.
Consider including potential keywords based on the jobs
needs that the eliminator is scanning for.
Review the job description for any relevant keywords
they may be looking for.
These tend to be drawn from the skills
and the preferred or required qualification sections.
Then use that EXACT wording on your application
to describe any of those same skills that you have.
The less they have to think about
if you have the needed qualifications, the better.
Audience 2) Selectors: Your CV also
has to impress a more discerning audience, the hiring manager.
While eliminators are looking for a reason to say no,
hiring managers are selectors.
And they're looking for a reason to say YES to you
over everyone else.
So you need to appeal to the human mind and heart.
To make your best case, you need to explain to them
why you and your offering would be the best for the company.
Consider your professional summary,
the phrasing of your bullet points,
and every other aspect of your CV as an opportunity to do so.
And this ties back to the tip about company research
and your angle.
If you don't take these steps, you're
simply explaining what you've done in the past
without making it clear why you're the best
person for this future role.
Now, that was a lot of information.
So let's go over what we've covered on how to write a CV.
We now know that in the US, a CV is
longer, more detailed, and more academically focused
than a resume.
To write a great one, take the following steps.
#1: Conduct company research to develop your angle.
Think about how to position your offering as a solution
for the company's needs.
#2: Create a clear and consistent format.
Be sure to look out for formatting deviations
when you proofread.
#3: Use our recommended structure.
But adapt as needed for your circumstances.
Remember, the goal is to make your accomplishments shine
for the role at hand.
#4: Tailor your resume to 2 key audiences.
Escape the eliminator by adding obvious keywords.
And impressive the selector by weaving a compelling angle
into all aspects of your CV.
Now, if you found this video helpful,
make sure to give it a like and subscribe to our channel.
For more CV and resume tips, I recommend checking out
this playlist right here.
And for advice on how to write a winning resume,
be sure to check out this video.
Best of luck, and we'll see you in our next video!