QPath: Curriculum Vitae

Recently one of our reader asked us a unique document, ‘Curriculum Vitae’. To be honest, when I started preparing it I could not figure out anything. How should I describe myself, what makes me ‘ME’, what characteristics I have which defines me? I never thought of myself as I spent time thinking about others. So I went to our guide, Internet and started a search for myself. Though this search may take a lifetime I tried to summarized curriculum vitae (CV).

Curriculum vitae (CV) are one of the most common documents prepared, shared and endorsed. It is one document through which a person expresses his/her worth and capabilities. It is reflection of one’s capabilities. However these capabilities are reflected through a clear and clean mirror and that mirror may be your CV. There is no standard for preparing a CV. It all depend upon the position requirement (job description, JD) and targeted industry, more innovative and artistic the industry, more innovative and artistic the CV.

Given an opportunity one can express himself in innovative ways to prove his worth. It is impossible to set a document in standard format through which a person expresses himself/herself. But a limitation is, you are judged by a document, a document to which you have not given any thought while preparing or have prepared in your own unique way which may not be comprehended by the recruiter. Remember that your CV generally goes to a recruitment firm and not directly to subject matter expert.

Thus a sensible approach is to provide information which recruitment firm needs to see.

It makes sense! Prepare a document to meet the requirement of a recruiter.

Don’t bother much about difference between CV and Resume. They both have same purpose and none of them have any specific rules for writing.

Following may be considered while preparing a CV or Resume.

Format

Length: Not more than 2 pages of A4 size

Academic or Technical CV shall be 4 to 5 pages maximum.

Page Setup shall be as follows:

Margins: Top: 0.6”, Bottom: 0.6”, Left: 0.6”, Right: 0.6”, Gutter: 0”, Gutter Position: Left

Orientation: Preferably Portrait

Font: Sans Fonts such as Lucida Sans, Verdana, Arial, Cambria, Tahoma, Calibri, Font Style: Regular,

Font Size: 20 for Name in Header and 12 to 10 for other details in header, 14 to 12 for headings and subheadings, 11 to 10 for body text

Font color: Automatic

Header: Header of all the pages shall be same and shall contain the following with formatting:

Header from top: 0.5”

Footer: The footer of the SOP shall contain the page number which is the number in Page 1 of 1 format with preferably aligned left.

Footer from Bottom: 0” if page border is used or else based on formatting.

Paragraph: Line Spacing: Give space between lines and paragraphs so that the document does not look cramped. Alignment: Text should be left aligned. Bullet and Numbering: Use bullet and numbering wherever required for separating different fields.

Contents

Customize as per you need.

Header

Name (do not use nicknames), Contact information (Web Page, Telephone number and email). Address and other personal details, if required may be provided at the end to the document under heading personal details.

Personal Statement or Objective or Career Summary

A short paragraph which explains your profile. Personal statement shall highlight your strengths relevant to the job applied for. If objective is used as a title, a short paragraph should describe your career goals and targets (short and long term represented equally). If career summary is used, give your career achievements relevant to the job applied.

It is recommended to give personal statement with objective.

Education and Qualification

In reverse chronological order. Only give professional qualification.

Skills

· Technical and Organizational (Technical/Specialist Skill, Technical writing, Presentation, Communication, Leadership, Analysis & Investigation, Planning & Organization, Decision Making, Innovation & Creativity, Relationship Building, Resilience, Sales & Marketing, Numeracy, other Interpersonal Skills and Social Skills)

· Computer Skills

· Languages

This section shall be used to emphasize your strengths for the position applied. For experience candidate technical and organizational skill can be given after educational qualification. However the list of skills shall not be more than 5 to 6. Computer and language skills can be given separately after work experience. However, if the job requires working with special software’s, the skill shall be listed upfront.

Work Experience

In reverse chronology. Use action words and relate skill to the job.

In academic CV Research and Teaching Experience can be separated.

Honors and Awards

In reverse chronology.

Interests and Achievements

Give is short, use bullets to separate different points.

Do not put passive and solitary hobbies (reading, watching TV, Stamp collection etc).

Any evidence of leadership is important to mention (captain, leader, coach etc.)

Professional Membership:

Membership of different organizations such as ISPE, PDA etc.

Publications

In reverse chronology. Use Council of Science Editors (CSE) citation system for references. Bold your name to stand out from other authors.

Research Papers followed by review articles and book chapters.

Presentations and Conferences

In reverse chronology. Details of papers presented at different level. Give international followed by national. Give list of conferences attended.

Personal Details

If required, gender (generally not required), date of birth, marital status, Nationality, Permanent address and correspondence address.

References

If required give two references. Give title and name, Designation/position held, mail ID, telephone number and address (if space allows). Ask your referees if it is OK to give their names before you include them?

Avoid writing, ‘References available on request’.

DO’s and Don’ts

DO’s

Use one font
Choose a sensible email address!
Prioritize information, it should be targeted on the specific job or career area and brings out the relevant skills you have to offer
Ensure it is carefully and clearly laid out: logically ordered, easy to read and not cramped
Use bullets
It should be informative but concise
Should be accurate in content, spelling and grammar.
Avoid using the word ‘I’
Use action/power words at the beginning of each statement
Write headings which suit you and your experience/history. The headings in the CV example are for guidelines only
Make sure it is two pages long – max!
Asked someone to proof read your CV before sending
Keep a hard copy
Use photographs if asked otherwise avoid.