How to write a good CV

What is a curriculum vitae (CV)?

A CV is a document which summarizes information about someone’s education, training and work experience. You use it when applying for jobs to give employers an idea of your background, relevant skills and experience.

Benefits of writing a good CV

The essential element of a good CV is its content. But this alone isn’t enough. It’s also crucial to format your CV properly so it’s attractive and easy to read. And managing to write a good CV has numerous benefits, including:

1. Standing out from the crowd: if other candidates have similar experience to you, the design of your CV may help differentiate you from the competition.
2. Reflecting aspects of your personality and the way you do things: this is what a well-designed CV can do. It doesn’t just allow you to stand out, but also shows your prospective employer that you are someone who pays attention to detail, are careful and likes to do things properly.
3. Grabbing your reader’s attention and making them want to know more: an attractive CV is more pleasing to the eye than a page crammed full of text which may look cluttered and dull.

Top tips for writing a good CV

Now you know the benefits of a good CV, here are a series of tips to help you write it:

• Tip 1: Highlight your skills and experience
  It’s essential to stress your main skills, knowledge and work experience, and order the activities chronologically. Use subtitles for the name of each position you have held and use bold or a different colour to make them stand out. The information you include must be accurate and relevant to the post you are applying for.
• Tip 2: Have a CV which differentiates you
  Our second tip for writing a good CV is that your CV must be unique, simple, original and, above all, it must represent you. You could present all your skills in a different way, for example, by choosing an attractive format or including links to your LinkedIn profile. The more quality content you include in your CV, the greater your chance of getting the job you’re applying for.
• Tip 3: Keep your CV to one page
  Ideally, you will be able to summarize all the information on one page. This is particularly the case if you don’t yet have a lot of work experience. This tip is being followed increasingly by job seekers of all kinds.
• Tip 4: Specify the tasks you carried out in each job
  This is another key tip when it comes to writing a good CV because it gives the recruiter an idea about the skills and knowledge you acquired in each post. Each of these skills and the knowledge you gained must be specified directly and briefly, making sure to include those which are most relevant to the job you are applying for. You can go into more detail about them in an interview.
• Tip 5: Be honest
  A recruiter can question you in an interview about everything you mention on your CV, so don’t use your CV to lie or exaggerate. Sooner or later you’ll have to use all your skills and knowledge, so we recommend you are 100% honest.
• Tip 6: Make your CV stand out by using differentiating details
  Some ideas to make your CV stand out from the competition by using differentiating elements include adding a link to your LinkedIn profile, portfolio, an introductory video or including a QR code. Add anything you consider necessary as long as the content remains within an orderly structure which is easy to read.
• Tip 7: Indicate your skill levels
  To give the recruiter a clearer idea of your abilities, it’s important to tell them your skill level when it comes to using computer programs, languages, etc. This will also help differentiate your CV from those of other candidates applying for the same job as you.

CV writing tools

Although you can use common tools like Word or Canva, here are a list of online alternatives you can use to write your CV:

• Kickresume
• Cvmaker
• My Perfect Resume
• CV Compiler
• Zety CV Maker Online
• CraftCV CV Maker

At micampus Residencias we want to stress the importance of having a CV which stands out from the crowd. That’s why we encourage you to take note of these tips and use them to write an attractive CV.