Hello everyone, most especially the job hunters. It's been a while I dropped a post here and although I have dropped this piece on my personal blog earlier before now, but i feel this piece will be much more needed at this moment due to the pandemic the whole world is currently facing. We know that so many lives have been lost to this covid outbreak and in has much as we all don't want to admit the ugly truth, it translates to so numerous job opportunities when the covid storm is finally over.
On that note the piece was been adjusted to address everyone in different continents because the original piece was directly written to address just Nigerians. Today, we will be talking about CV i.e., curriculum vitae. This aspect is very vital as the CV is the first opportunity that one has to introduce his or herself to a potential employer and that is why a CV must be constructed in an orderly manner to entice the potential employers. As a job seeker, you must have it at heart that a great CV takes you close to securing a job.
Regardless of how qualified a person is for a job, if the CV is not spicy enough, such a person will not be called for an interview. At times, an employer sees a person with a substandard CV as an unserious being and won’t even offer such a person an opportunity even when superiorly qualified than the rest who applied for that role. That is why the CV should be taken with the upmost importance. As important as a CV is, a job seeker should note that one great CV is not a perfect match for all Job openings.
In line with this revelation, it is important that a CV should always be adjusted to meet the demands of a job description. Just because a CV suits perfectly for a sales job doesn’t translate that it would match perfectly for a Teaching job. The reason is that your career objectives might give you an edge for a sales job but not for a teaching role. Also, the work experiences and skills in that CV might not apply for the teaching role but it’s a great fit for a sales job.
That is just a scenario where a great CV is not perfect but with constant editing to meet potential employer demand for a job opening, the CV will stand out. With all this said, how can a CV be modelled to stand out? The first answer starts with the title a CV file is saved as. It is important to note that naming a CV file with titles such as “My CV” or “CV” is all wrong. It is unprofessional and when a potential employer comes across this, they may likely ignore the application. The right title in which a CV should be saved as is your name i.e., assuming your name is Adeosun Abiodun; your CV file should be named “ADEOSUN ABIODUN” or “ABIODUN ADEOSUN”.
With that out of the way, the content of the CV is the next course of action to be worked on. With so many CV templates flying around, it easy to complete one in record time but it might not contain all information needed by a potential employer. Most CVs’ lately doesn’t contain some vital profile information such as Age, Sex, State of origin and others even exclude School grades. In the defence of such CV templates,’ that information is rather becoming obsolete as most organizations believe that a male or female regardless of their age and where they come from could do exceedingly well in any role as far as they possess the required qualification and skills for the job.
This format does not apply to all job openings. Take, for instance, a government job will always require this basic profile information and if an employer cannot sight it on your submitted CV, it will be tossed aside even in scenarios when one is qualified for the role. Employers have tons of CV to review, so to be on the favourable side of the potential employer, a job seeker has to detail his CV to meet the demands of the employers. That is what makes no CV perfect but constant editing in line with job descriptions makes it superior to the rest.
Contents to be included in a CV
Just like I have said on countless occasions that there is no perfect CV but there is a right way of writing a CV. Below are in peripherals the Dos’ and Don’ts of a CV;
The CV should be started with a boldly written centralized full name of the owner.
Basic Information such as full house addresses, phone numbers and emails should follow but in cases where the employer states the age limit or sex needed for the post, then they should be included.
Career objectives should follow next.
Educational background comes next.
In cases where a job seeker does not have the relevant experience for the job, ‘key skills’ should be highlighted before their work experience. But in cases where the relevant experience for the job is possessed, then the work experience should come before the key skills.
Highlight your key achievements in place of job description while handling that role. Employers are more concerned with achievements rather than what was done.
Interests and hobbies are next.
No need of including referees unless being asked.
So that is pretty much everything I know regarding CV. Enjoy!!!. In closing stay home and stay safe till been told otherwise.
