Make Sure that You Know When to Use a CV
Let’s start with the basics to make CV writing easy:
What is a CV?
In its full form, CV stands for curriculum vitae (latin for: course of life). In the India, US, Canada, and Australia, a CV is a document you use for academic purposes. The US academic CV outlines every detail of your scholarly career. In other countries, CV is an equivalent of an American resume. You use it when you apply for jobs.Because this document is named differently across different countries, a lot of folks keep asking:
What is the difference between a CV and a resume?
Let’s get this straight:
In the hiring industry, nowadays there’s almost no formal difference between a CV and a resume. It’s the same thing that Brits call a CV and Americans—a resume.
Just like they do with chips and french fries, football and soccer, or Queen Elizabeth and Queen Bey.
So, if you're applying to a European company, you should create a CV. But if you're applying to a US-based employer, you should make a resume.
And no, a CV is not a cover letter. A curriculum vita is a detailed list of specifications, while a cover letter is a full-blown marketing campaign.
When filling in the sections, always keep in mind the gold CV formatting rules:
1. Choose clear, legible fonts
Go for one of the standard CV typefaces: Arial, Tahoma, or Helvetica if you prefer sans-serif fonts, and Times New Roman or Bookman Old Style if serif fonts are your usual pick.
Use 11 to 12 pt font size and single spacing. For your name and section titles, pick 14 to 16 pt font size.
2. Be consistent with your CV layout
Set one-inch margins for all four sides.
Make sure your CV headings are uniform—make them larger and in bold but go easy on italics and underlining.Stick to a single dates format on your CV: for example 11-2017, or November 2017.
3. Don’t cram your CV with gimmicky graphics
Less is more.
White space is your friend—recruiters need some breathing room!
Plus, most of the time, after you send out your CV, it’s going to be printed in black ink on white paper. Too many graphics might make it illegible.
4. Get photos off of your CV
Unless you’re explicitly asked to include your photograph in the job ad.
If so—make sure to use a professional looking picture, but not as stiff as an ID photo.
5. Make your CV brief and relevant
Don’t be one of those candidates stuck in the nineties who think they have to include every single detail about their lives on their CVs.
Hiring, nowadays, is one hell of a hectic business. Nobody’s got the time to care for what high school you’ve attended or to read 10+ bullet point descriptions of past jobs. We’ll get to that later on.
In the contact information section, enter your:
• Full name
• Professional title
• Email address
• Telephone number
• LinkedIn profile
• Home address
The contact information section seems fairly straightforward, but here’s the one reason it might be tricky:
Recruiters will use it to research you online. If your social media profiles are unprofessional, or if your LinkedIn profile information doesn’t match that on your CV, you’re immediately out of the race.