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Writing CV or resume is an important step towards successful employment in the UK. Basically, before we discuss how to write a CV or resume in details, let us find out what a CV is and what the differences are between a CV and a resume is, if any.
CV stands for Curriculum Vitae – two Latin words, which can be translated as “course of life”. In other words, when you write a CV you give a short overview of your life, highlighting your educational profile, work experience, qualifications, additional skills and abilities. A resume usually contains the same information as a CV. The only difference between a CV and a resume is the length of the document. A resume is considered to be shorter (usually one page or two as the maximum), while CV writing starts from 2 pages and may be as long as dozens of pages for people with academic experience. However, there are some geographic variations in the use of CV or resume terms. While in the UK employers mostly require a written CV, in the USA a resume is more commonly used and a CV is required only when applying for academic or scientific positions.
So, a properly written resume or CV is the first thing you need to have before searching for jobs and applying for desired job opportunities. Basically, your CV creates the first impression on the employer or recruitment officer and defines whether or not you will be given a chance to proceed to the next stages of the employment process, such as interview. During CV writing, try to highlight all your advantages, showing all the important achievements and underlining additional skills, but do not overdue it. If you are applying for a managing position, it may not be the best idea to mention your first prize in the school drawing competition.
Though it may be time-consuming, try to write a customized CV for every job opening you apply for. Point out your educational preferences or previous work experience, which meet the job requirements and criteria as specified by the employer. Write your CV so that it explains to the employer why you are the right person for the open position.
Standard British CV is usually a two-page document, printed on A4 size paper. The peculiarity of the British style CV is the reversed chronological order for one’s education and previous work experience. Thus, to write your CV properly, start from your most recent job or educational institution and continue to the previous ones.
As with many other formal documents, there are certain rules or recommendations for CV writing. If you write a British style CV, bear in mind that your document should include the following sections (this can be used as the draft for your own CV):
Personal Details
Include your personal information, such as name, address, contact phone number and/or email on top of your CV. There is no need to indicate your gender or date of birth unless it is requested by an employer.
Personal Profile or Career Objective
This is a short paragraph in the form of impersonal statement, highlighting your key qualities and skills as well as defining your career objectives or preferences.
Education
Include a reverse chronological list of the educational institutions you have graduated from. Mentioning qualifications, grades or honours received is important and useful here.
Work Experience
Start from your most recent position and proceed to the previous ones. Do not forget to highlight your achievements in each role you performed, along with enumerating your duties and responsibilities.
Additional Skills
If you know some foreign languages, have a driving licence, or have other additional skills and abilities which you believe may empower your application, mention them here.
Hobbies and interests
This should be the final section in your CV writing project. Though it is optional, it may give additional information to your potential employers about your personality.
After you have written your CV, spend some time on formatting and proofreading it. Use bold or italic fonts to underline headers or sections, but do not overdo it. It goes without saying that a successful CV should be free of grammar mistakes, misspellings or punctuation errors. When your CV is ready, congratulate yourself on the successful completion of the first but not the only stage of the employment process.
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