In modern English, the curriculum vitae concept might be better translated as “the course of one’s professional education and career.” In short, institutions that request these documents are most interested in a person’s well-rounded qualifications for the job (as expressed through training and subsequent career experience). This is in contrast to standard resumes, which place a greater emphasis on competencies.
Writing a good curriculum vitae is one of the fundamental skills required for employment. Curriculum Vitae, abbreviated as CV, is a Latin word that means “course of life.” A curriculum vitae is a document that contains basic information about you and the career path you want to take.
Here are some general guidelines for writing a CV:
- Determine the appropriate personal information to include. Learn what to include and exclude, such as whether to include your marital status or nickname.
- Include a personal statement. Learn what it is and how to use it to draw a potential employer’s attention to your strongest qualities.
- Understand what to include in the skills section. Learn how to bring your skills to the forefront and distinguish between transferable, job-related, and adaptive skills.
- Mention previous jobs. Refresh your memory on the best ways to present previous or current employment in the best light.
- Don’t forget to include your credentials. Learn what to include, how to choose relevant qualifications for a specific CV, and why it’s important not to list everything exhaustively.
- Make it specific to the application. To achieve the best results, learn how to write a CV that is tailored to a specific employer or industry sector.
- Keep it updated. Learn how to keep your CV up to date so that it is ready to go at a moment’s notice.
