Thread by @greaterbayo

The Ten Major Components of A Successful Interview- 3

3. Your CV- Your Course of Life

Curriculum Vitae has its root meaning from a Latin word which means ‘course of life’.

Your CV is a snapshot of who you are and what you have done- a summary of your background, experience, education, achievements, awards and other activities that may be taken into consideration when looking for a job.

Many people use CV and resume interchangeably however, resume is a French word which translates to ‘abstract’ or ‘summary’. In other words, a resume is a shorter version which provides a brief or summary of your experience, education, skills and roles.

Consequently, a CV is a longer and well detailed document.

A well-laid our CV should contain the following information:

1. Contact Information
This should include full name, email and phone number. A CV usually starts with this information. The name is usually at the top of the CV. Make it bold, capitalize it and let it stand out.

The font size for the name is bigger than the other parts of the CV. Your email address should be professional. I saw a CV a while ago where the email address of the candidate started with the word ‘sexy’. That is very unprofessional.

I have left out the contact address because of the realities of the times we live in. Security consideration and data confidentiality have made the requirement to include the contact address on the CV more and more unnecessary.

When hired, the needed information can be supplied in case a physical verification is required.

2. Academic History
All the institutions attended with dates should be stated including primary, post-primary and tertiary institutions.

3. Professional Experience
List your experience from the institutions you have worked for. The names of the organizations should be clearly stated including the job roles and dates employed.
If there are achievements that will help your job search, please include them.

4. Qualifications and Skills
A candidate should list his/her qualifications. Also include the relevant skills that may be of interest to the employer.

5. Awards and Honours
Include awards and honours especially relating to the job role being applied for. The name of the award, organization that gave it and year given should be included.

For instance, my CV always include the commendation letters I received over the course of my career. If it will position you as a prime candidate for the role, include it.

6. Publications and Presentations
If you have books, research publications, articles, presentations or other publications , you can include them in your CV. Such publications or books should include the title, date published and name of the publisher.

I always include the books I authored as part of my CV.

7. Professional Associations
Include the name of the association and year joined. This can also include social clubs and community forums. You can state if you hold any position in those associations.

8. Certifications
Apart from the qualifications, a candidate may have certifications in some other areas awarded by special or chartered institutes. Indicate them on the CV.

9. References
The inclusion of references is quite debatable but I encourage its use if the referees are known names in the industry or sector the candidate is applying to. Otherwise, they should not be included unless asked for specifically.

A prominent referee however can be a good addition to a CV. Where this is done, a minimum of two references should be included containing their full names, designation, contact address, telephone and email addresses.

It’s not advisable to write ‘references will be supplied upon request’. I’d rather there are no references at all.

In the next article, I’ll share about CV formats and look at some critical issues around writing a good CV.

Bayo Adeyinka

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