If you are applying for a job, should you use a resume or a curriculum vitae (CV)?

First, what is a CV?

A curriculum vitae, or a CV, is a longer synopsis of your background, education, skills, and publishing credits. While a resume is usually held to no more than two pages, a CV can be much longer as it covers your entire career. Many European employers actually prefer a CV to a resume.

In the U.S., a curriculum vitae is expected if you are applying for a job in education, science, or research. It is particularly expected in academic institutions like colleges and universities.

So what kind of information does it include and what is the format?

The format is different than a resume. At the top of your CV you should have your name and the title. It should look something like this:

CURRICULUM VITAE
Your Name

1. Next, include a personal statement of 4-8 sentences. This should sell your skills, personality, and goals. You should tailor it to each specific job you are applying to.
2. Include your contact information. This should be at the top of the CV and easily readable.
3. List your qualifications with the most recent at the top. Show dates and the name of your position along with your most significant achievements.
4. Run through your educational background. If you are early in your career you’ll want to include more detail.
5. Next, list foreign languages you know, training courses you’ve taken, and additional skills that qualify you for the job you are seeking.
6. If you have publications, presentations, research, assets or anything else you want to add, add it.
7. Finally, go through your employment history in reverse chronological order.

As you progress through your career, you’ll update your CV or resume periodically. Remember, if you are establishing yourself in an academic, research, or scientific career you will likely focus on a CV. If you are in business, you’ll use a resume.

Many college students join the Greek systems on their campus for housing, a meal plan and a place to socialize. Some also realize that it is a great way to build a professional network before they have to start the job search process at the end of their college years. Even if you are long out of school and in what career development theorists call the “maintenance stage” of your career, you should still put your Greek affiliation on your resume.

Fraternity and sorority membership benefits go way beyond building a professional network. Your affiliation helps reach out to hiring managers who have either been a member themselves or who know the value of participation in the Greek system. This could be the tipping point in your favor for getting that first interview. The Greek bond of fraternity brothers or sorority sisters may be enough to get a hiring manager to want to help you.

Greek system participation on your resume is a plus because it demonstrates that you know about teamwork. Many Greek organizations also participate in public service projects or what is known as philanthropic work. This shows your willingness to volunteer and give back to your community.

Get involved with the alumni group associated with your Greek chapter. Look for all of the places your alumni group may have networks set-up-your alumni association, Facebook or even on  LinkedIn.  People often feel uncomfortable networking with friends and colleagues with whom they have not spoken in many years. However, these types of alumni groups are set up to make networking easy. They also give an opportunity to help the active student chapters on campus, giving you more public service points on your resume.

What you need to remember is that when you come to apply for a job application your resume is their first impression of you. You might be the best person for the job but if your resume doesn’t showcase this in the right way, then you will seriously dent your chances of being successful.

One of the main things that you need to avoid is spelling mistakes and grammatical errors throughout your resume. You need to check and double check your resume to make sure that everything in it is correct. You will often find that even the simplest of mistakes will rule you out of the running for a job. Remember that it is likely a number of people will be applying for the same job so the person in charge of applications will be looking for reasons to take people out of the running – you want to make sure you don’t give them one!

Also make sure that your resume is precise when it comes to job experience and skills. You don’t want to be too general. You need to give them a reason to hire you so selling yourself is a must when it comes to your resume. Include information of previous jobs and the skills that these positions have taught you.

It can be tricky but try not to make your resume too general, or ‘one size fits all.’ If you are applying for different jobs, then you may need to tweak each version of your resume slightly to sell yourself for each of the different job types that you are trying. That way you can be sure that when you are applying for different job positions you know that your resume is as relevant as possible and gives you the best chance of success.

The presentation of your resume is also important. Along with it reading well and including the right information, you need to make sure that it is pleasing on the eye. Remember that they will be reading many different resumes so you need to make sure that yours stands out for all the right reasons. Keeping your resume clean and tidy, you want it to include all of the information that is needed without it being too cluttered and busy. Add a little color or  a graph of your recent sales numbers, etc. You need to give them a reason to read your resume and by making it look like hard work to read you are ruining your chances before you even start.

Ask most employers which type of resume they like to see and you’ll get a lot of them telling you they prefer to see a chronological resume format. Do you know why?

The chronological resume is the preferred type because it shows how your career history has progressed from the beginning to present day. Employers want to be able to quickly see how many jobs you’ve had, as well as your tenure at each company. Employers want stable employees-after all, they are investing in you.

If a stable work history is important to the company interviewing you for your next job, then presenting a chronological resume will put you in the running for the position. Hiring managers want to see how you’ve advanced in your career, as well as the new skills acquired and accomplishments achieved in each position to see if your credentials are a good match for their company.

The chronological resume is a great format to use to show promotions and a steady career progression, whether within the same company or a new one. It’s the preferred resume format among the majority of the employers around the world.

With all of the new ways people are looking for jobs (online job boards, social networking sites, etc.), many people forget that job fairs are just as popular as ever in today’s employment market.

Job fairs normally offer employment opportunities at companies in your local community. They are full of small companies and large corporations looking to recruit new candidates. Thinking about relocating to a new area? Larger corporations may also be willing to discuss opportunities at other locations, as well.

Job seekers are just as likely to be able to secure an interview at a job fair as they are posting their resume online. Better yet, some job fairs offer on-site interviews during the job fair. A good candidate is a prepared candidate. Research in advance which companies are at the job fair and decide which ones you need to spend time with. Have plenty of copies of your resume with you and dress in professional attire. If you have business cards, pass those out as well. Networking is key in any job search!

The next time you see a job fair advertised in your area, take the time to attend. Being active in your job search does not mean just sitting by your computer or phone waiting for someone to reach out to you. Check your local news stations, newspapers, and professional organizations to find job fairs in your area. You never know where your next employment opportunity may come from.

Many people feel that consulting job hunting resources and looking for a new job are things that only people who are unemployed should be doing. It is often assumed that the only time you need to be aware of what jobs are on the market and the opportunities that are available for you when you don’t already have a job.

Quite the contrary. Experts agree that it is a good practice to always keep an eye out for job opportunities, as well as the average rate of pay for jobs you may be interested in. Of course this isn’t something that you’ll want to do every day, but staying in the loop with jobs and salary changes in your industry could eventually help you move up the corporate ladder.

By keeping apprised of trends in job openings and salaries in your industry, you can ensure that you’re getting the best salary for your value, and that you are aware of changes in skills and experience needed for certain jobs. In addition, this knowledge could also give you great bargaining power when the time comes to negotiate your next salary increase!

While you may be happily employed today, we all know that with our country’s current economic situation, people are still continuing to lose their jobs everyday and are finding themselves actively searching for a new job. Job hunting doesn’t have to consume a lot of time, you just need to keep your resume current with your most recent employment history and achievements, know the best job search resources for your industry, and be willing to network with colleagues and friends in other companies who may know of opportunities for someone with your skills and expertise.

Being prepared for your job search will result in a a more effective, targeted search, and ultimately success!

 

You’ve likely heard of social media. You probably have a Facebook account and you may even use Twitter on a regular basis. If you’re really social media savvy, then you might have bought into the Pinterest craze as well. But do you know which social media website you should be on if you want to land a professional job that leads to a rewarding career?

If you said LinkedIn, kudos to you. You’re ahead of the game.

LinkedIn is the social media website for professionals. It’s where professionals go to network with each other, discuss business around the water cooler, secure their next position with a new company, and to close sales if they want to do business with other professionals.

Creating your LinkedIn profile is the first step. Your LinkedIn profile is your social media resume. It’s not a traditional resume in the traditional resume format. But it does contain all the same information that a traditional resume contains – or it should.

Your LinkedIn profile should have, at a minimum, the following information:

• Name of present employer and your position/title
• Previous employers and your positions/titles to at least 5-10 years back
• Your contact information
• Links to websites you own,  manage, or contribute to
• Links to online portfolios if you are a creative person
• A well-written summary of your professional experience geared toward the position that you want to obtain
• A list of associations and other organizations you are member of
• Use of keywords that are searchable and that brand you within your niche

This is just a start. Think of your social media profiles as online calling cards. Other professionals will look at your profiles to get a glimpse of who you are and what you have to offer. Make it easy for them.

While most of us recognize the need for our resume to showcase our talents when it comes to applying for jobs, not many of us know the right way to go about really selling ourselves. You have to remember that job vacancies are sparse, which means that when one does pop up more people are likely to apply! This means you really have to try and make sure that yours stands out from a crowd and encourages them to contact you for an interview.

It is very easy to find hits and tips from websites that claim to be able to help you put together the perfect resume, but what you will find is that everyone has used these same websites so your resume doesn’t stand out. Instead, you need to use a little imagination to create something that really sells yourself.

This means that you need to think about what you can really offer a company. Look at your experience and how this can help to improve a workplace. You should always strive to use your resume to sell yourself as much as possible – so tell them what your experiences are and the ways that you feel this helps you to be a welcome addition to any workforce.

Don’t be afraid to change your resume slightly when you are applying for a job. I usually suggest to my clients to have a few different versions of their resume, or at least be able to tweak it a little for each job so it looks more targeted. Remember, employers want a ‘specialist’ or an ‘expert’, not a ‘generalist’ or an “I will do anything, I just want a job!’

Many people think that simply submitting their resume to as many job vacancies as possible is the perfect way to go about job hunting. While it is great if you can apply for as many jobs as possible, this isn’t always the best way to go about being successful on a job hunt.

If you are submitting your resume to job vacancies and aren’t hearing back from people, then you really need to re-evaluate what you are doing and what you are going wrong. Quite simply, if you are not even getting as far as the job interview stage, then you need to change something to increase your chances of success.

One of the best ways to do this is to re-do your resume and make sure that it is as well-written as possible. It may even be worth contacting a professional resume company for their advice; after all, they are the experts.

It is important to remember that first impressions count! The resume and job application that you submit is your prospective employer’s first impression of you, so you need to make sure that the impression they have of you is a good one! They will read over your resume and cover letter and use this to decide whether or not to progress you to the next stage.

There are likely to be a number of people applying for job roles so you need to stand out from the crowd and give them a reason to pick you above anyone else. This means making sure your resume is well written, pleasing to the eye, sells you, and is professionally laid out. If you aren’t confident in doing all of this yourself, then get a professional on board to help you and give yourself the best chance of success when it comes to hunting for a job.

When applying for a job it can be easy to assume that your resume is the most important part of your job application. While your resume is vital and helps to list your skills and experience in order to match you to a job, it isn’t the only thing that you need to include in your application.

When submitting your application for a job, you must include a cover letter in order for your application to be taken seriously. This means that you really need to pay as much attention to your cover letter as you would your resume.

Your cover letter needs to be tailored to the job that you are applying for. When you are typing your letter, link it to your resume and expand on what is mentioned and how that could be linked to the job in question. Mention your past experience and how that could help you do the job advertised perfectly and use it as an example of why they should hire you for the position above anyone else.

Keep in mind that on most occasions the cover letter is the first impression of your application that a prospective employer will get so you need to make sure that the impression is a good one. This means laying out the letter so it looks fantastic and professional, with no spelling or grammar mistakes in any of the text.

Use the letter to promote yourself and tell people why they should hire you but don’t go over the top. Simply tell them what they need to know and why they should employ you and leave it at that. Wrap the letter up with thanking them for their time and inviting them to contact you should they have any further questions.

For the perfect cover letter, check out our services and get back to us.