"CV/Resume: Your Forerunner"

It's already a week after the NYSC 2013 Batch A observed their POP. I marked that event with my "Are You Truly Good to Go" write-up. One week on, I'm wondering what most of you new-entrants into the labour market are spending your time on.

I'm imagining that some of you are still taking a break after the 1 year youth service experience. Some must be on course to acquire more academic/professional qualifications and certifications. Others might be working on their ingenuity and putting their entrepreneurship skills to use. And a few might have been retained in their place of primary assignment during the NYSC period.

Whatever category you fall in, you should possess one vital thing, and that's your Curriculum Vitae/Resume.

It would amaze most of you that most graduates have no clue what a CV is. Anyways, that shouldn't be surprising considering that most people wait until they are done with their 1st degree before they realize the need to have a CV. Maybe, if the concept of a CV is properly understood, we would realize that it's a tool worth possessing irrespective of whether you are a degree holder, you decide to seek white or blue collar employment, or decide to be an entrepreneur.

Your Curriculum Vitae (CV) simply provides an overview of your experience and qualifications. This includes work experience (student worker, industrial attachment, voluntary jobs, etc.), and academic and professional qualifications and certifications.  In some countries, a CV is typically the first item that a potential employer comes across regarding the job seeker and is typically used to screen applicants, often followed by an interview, when seeking employment. It is usually a job seekers first impression, hence, my reference to it as "your forerunner".

Curriculum Vitae, is a Latin expression which can be loosely translated as "the course of one's life". This necessitates the need for it to bear a summary of every relevant information regarding work experiences/accomplishments and academic qualifications.

A CV is expected to be short and concise (usually a maximum of two pages of A4 paper), and therefore contains only a summary of your employment history, qualifications and some personal information. It is often updated to change the emphasis of the information according to the particular position for which you as a job seeker is applying for. Many CVs contain keywords that potential employers might pick up on and display the content in the most flattering manner, brushing over information like poor grades. A CV can also be extended to include an extra page for the job-seekers’ publications if these are important for the job.

Your CV remains the most flexible and convenient way to make applications. It conveys your personal details in the way that presents you in the best possible light. A CV is a marketing document in which you are marketing something: yourself! You need to "sell" your skills, abilities, qualifications and experience to employers. Considering that it can be used to make multiple applications to employers in a specific career area, many large graduate recruiters now opt not to accept CVs, but rather use their own application forms (usually online), which are designed to elicit specific relevant information directly related to a job position, but might not be included on your CV.

The primary difference between a CV and a Resume are the length, the content and the purpose. A resume is a one or two page summary of your skills, experience and education. A goal of resume writing is to be brief and concise since, at best the resume reader will spend a minute or so reviewing your qualifications. A CV, is a longer (two or more pages), more detailed synopsis. It includes a summary of your educational and academic backgrounds as well as teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, awards, honors, affiliations and other details.

What to Include in Your CV?

There is no "one best way" to construct a CV. It is your document and can be structured as you wish. But, there are things that are definitely not expected to appear on a CV.

Your CV is expected to convey the following data:

Personal Information/Bio-data: Name, Contact details (mobile number, email address, and residential address), gender, and date of birth.

Education and Qualification: This should include your university degree(s) and area of concentration, name of institution you obtained them from, and the year you obtained them. Also include your secondary school certificates and the year you obtained them. Some websites advise that you mention your grades unless they are poor. I advice that you do no such thing considering that some organizations are no longer looking to employ candidates with 1st class degrees for the simple reason that financial resources get wasted in recruiting and training such fellows, only to lose them to other employers in under a year.

Work Experience: This should include every reasonable and legitimate employment you've held to get paid, or to acquire experience. Vacation Jobs, Industrial Attachments, Internships, Volunteer Work and NYSC all fall under this category, along with jobs got after NYSC. Even work in your mum's shop, bar or restaurant will involve working in a team, providing a quality service to customers, and dealing tactfully with complaints. Don't mention the routine, non-people tasks (cleaning the tables) unless you are applying for a casual holiday job in a restaurant or similar. Employ the use of action words such as "developed", "planned" and "organised".

Interests/Hobbies: This section is best kept brief and straight to the point. Show a range of interests to avoid coming of as narrow. Hobbies that are a little out of the ordinary can help you to stand out from the crowd. Interests relevant to the job are worth mentioning. Don't use the old boring clichés like: "socialising with friends".

As your career develops, your employment record will take precedence and interests will typically diminish greatly in length and importance. 

Skills: The usual ones you could mention are languages (good conversational French, basic Spanish), computing (e.g. "good working knowledge of MS Access and Excel, plus basic web page design skills") and driving ("full current clean driving licence"). But, also include "employability skills", e.g: adaptability, assertiveness, lateral thinking, decision making skills, etc.

Always try to relate the skills to the job. For instance, a finance job will involve numeracy, analytical and problem solving skills so focus on these whereas for a marketing role you would place a bit more emphasis on persuading and negotiating skills.

References: Many employers don’t check references at the application stage. So unless the vacancy specifically requests that you include referees, its fine to omit this section completely. Though you could simply add "References are available on request."

Where you choose to include references, normally just two referees are sufficient. One should be academic (perhaps your lecturer or a project supervisor) and one from an employer (perhaps your last part-time or summer job). If you must add a third, it should be someone with an upright character in your immediate environment who knows you socially.

When should a CV be used?

As a job seeker, you should know when to let your CV go ahead to pave the way for you, and such occasions include:

• When an employer asks for applications to be received in this format
• When an employer simply states "apply to ..." without specifying the format
• When making speculative applications (when writing to an employer who has not advertised a vacancy but who you hope my have one). 

It is pertinent to bear in mind that CVs are not only used by job seekers. Entrepreneurs use them too as an accompanying document to their content notes when seeking grants and sponsorship.

Finally, when honouring invitations by employers to send in your CVs for a recruitment exercise, it is VERY WRONG to attach your CV to a blank mail, or a poorly constructed informal mail. Your CV needs to be accompanied by a well-worded Cover Letter.

Thanks for reading through.

PS: Next week, I will be writing on "Cover Letter: Stating Your Claim".
  
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