Let’s look at a scenario:

You found a job which perfectly fits you, it also feels like a perfect opportunity. You send your CV to apply for the job and start waiting eagerly, but the interview call never came. Sounds relatable? Well it happens to most of use.

The sole reason is that your CV was never read by the employer as it wasn’t good enough.

Well don’t be worried any more as this type of scenario will never occur again, as you are going to have a brief information of designing a great CV via this page.

CV designing is not a simple process, you have to have a proper knowledge about CV designs and you must follow these main 4 steps for a good CV.

The steps are as follows:

Proper CV format.

Contact Information.

Educational information.

Experience.

CV is short for Curriculum Vitae, it is a Latin word and it is stand for Course of life. If we talk about Canada, US and Australia, there CV is a document used for academic purposes. As it contains every details of your scholarly career. In other countries CV is considered to be equivalent of American resume and you can use it to apply for a job. In few English speaking countries CV is considered to be equivalent to resume.

If we talk about today’s hiring industry, there is no formal distance between a resume and a CV. Its mainly a same thing in modern era which Brits call CV and Americans call resume.
It’s just like same as football and soccer, French fries and chips etc.
If you are planning to apply in a European company then you should plan to design a CV, and if the company is US based then you should make resume.
A miss conception is that the CV is considered a cover letter but no it is not.
A curriculum vitae contains your work history, education and skills, while a cover letter is a full-blown marketing campaign.
Now if you are comfortable and confident about CV, let’s get the guide line started.

Let’s talk about a reality, whenever you apply for a job, you are competing with more than 250 other candidates. Yes you read that right.
Now, think that you are the recruiter. Will you read all the 250 job applications? I don’t think so. Recruiters just spend approximately 5 to 7 seconds in scanning the CV and if it is not right you are out.
If your CV is a properly formatted one, then it will get you through this first process.
Now let’s start with the format.

CV order:

Contact information in header.

CV objective in personal profile.

Work experience.

Education.

Skills.

Choose clear and readable thoughts:

Always go for the simple and commonly used standard typefaces like: Arial, Tahoma, or Helvetica.
For section title pick 14 to 16 font size and for other choose 11 to 12 font size.

Be consistent with your CV layout:

Set only one inch margin for all sides and make sure all the headings are uniform, you would want to make them bold and larger but with simple italics and underlining. Always stick to single date format like: 12-2023 or December 2023.

Don’t complicate your CV

In case of CV less designs are prefer, always know that less is more in CV. Most of the time when you send your CV it will be printed in black ink and too much graphics can make it unreadable.
Also, the recruiter needs some place to breath.

Get photos off of your CV:

Unless you’re asked to provide a photograph don’t put it on your CV, if you are asked then only add a simple professional looking photo but not like the one on your identification card.

Make your CV relevant:

In modern era CV’s are designed differently so, don’t put every single detail of your life on the CV.

If your qualifications, skills, education all is up to the mark and the recruiter wants to contact you but there is no contact info. How will he contact you? You are giving the CV to be hired but how will he get back to you?
This section is a must in every CV, and what you should mention in this section are as follows:

• Your full name.

• Email address

• Phone number

• LinkedIn profile

• Home address

This section is extremely useful in your CV, as it will be the section on which recruiter will focus the most so it will provide you the highest eye time.
If you are thinking to go easy on this section then think again, as the recruiter already know what you did in the past but he wants to know how well you did it and what benefits you can bring to his organization. So, explain each previous experience briefly.

Here’s how to make your work experience section presentable and attractive:

Always focus on your relevant achievements, not on your duties.

Use attractive action verbs such as: created, analysed, implemented.

Always mention the experiences which are related to the job you are applying for.

Leave those experiences which are totally opposite to the applied job description.

Good thing is that putting your qualifications on the CV is relevantly simpler process. Keep in mind that if you have any post-secondary education, include only it on your CV. Don’t mention your high school, until and unless it’s your highest degree of education.

How to list it:

Your graduation year (if you’re still studying, enter expected graduation date).

Your degree which you studied/studying.

Full name of institution.

Honours (if applicable).