Writing the perfect CV

By Sindija Veisa

• What are the five most significant parts of a CV?

• What is the intention of each section?​

• ​What are the most common mistakes maade in each section?

• ​After each section, there will be questions.

• ​Editing CV's and identifying errors. (pair work)

Lesson outcome

1. Certification and awards

2. Languages

3. Personal projects

4. Volunteer experience​

Good to have:

1. Contact information

2. CV summary

3. Work experience

4. Skills

5. Education​

Must-have:

Curriculum vitae sections

• First name, Last name;

• Phone number;

• Email address;

• Title

• Location

​

Additional information can be included if it is relevant.

​Contact information

​

• ​Incorrect phone number or the country code is not provided.

• Not a professional e-mail.​

• ​The included social media channel is irrelevant.

• Having spelling errors and bad grammar.​

​Most common mistakes​

• Jobs and years of work experience.

• Relevant achievements and responsibilities.

• What you look for, your goal.

​CV summary​

• Not tailoring your CV to the specific role.

• Previous experience or knowledge is not linked.

• ​No emphasis on motivation for applying for the specific job.

• Not concise - longer than 2 or 3 sentences.

​Most common mistakes​

• ​Job title/position.

• Company name, location, description.

• Achievements and responsibilities.

• Date employed.

• Reverse-chronological order, with the most recent job first.

​Work experience​

• Not giving the hiring manager an idea of contribution to the previous company.

• Exceeding 2 pages of descriptive.

• Details are not backed up by numbers and percentages.

​Most common mistakes​

Hard skills (technical skills that can be measured)​

• ​Proficiency in standard UX soft

• ​MS Office

• ​Understanding of front-end web development

Skills​

Soft skills​ (learned skills such as your personal attributes)

• Teamwork

• Leadership

• Analytical thinking

• Time management​

• Exaggerating the truth, overselling yourself.

• Not mentioning qualities that will be useful in the desired workplace.

• Mentioning household skills or other irrelevant to job skills.

• Mentioning the lacking skills.

​Most common mistakes​

• Program name

• University or highschool name

• Year attended

  ​

Education​

Optional:

• ​Academic achievements

• ​Minor

• Mentioning GPA score if it is not notable.

• Mentioning all educational institutions attended.

• Referencing old academic accomplishments.

​Most common mistakes​

Bonus questions​