What is a CV for a job application? and How to make a CV?

‘What is a CV for a Job application?’, is almost a common question for everyone searching for a job. The CV is a very important document as you put all your Good Works specially skill, education, experience and achievements in one place along with your contact details.

In this article, I will share with you what a CV is for a job application,  as I’m in the field of education for more than 8 years, I have pretty much understanding about this, so let us proceed.

Preparing a good CV for a job application is a vital part in preparation for the job. Your CV provides all the valuable information about your contact details, academic achievements, acquired skills and certifications, practical experiences, your professional achievements and awards  to the employer in a summary form.

TABLE OF CONTENT

1. What is a CV?
2. What is a CV for a job application?
3. What is the difference between CV and Resume (CV vs. Resume)?
4. What is the importance of CV for a job application?
5. purpose of a CV when applying for a job
6. What does CV include for a job application?
7. How to write a CV for a job application?
8. How to write a CV as a fresher?
9. Format of a CV
10. Common mistakes in CV to avoid

1. What is a CV?

CV is an abbreviation of Curriculum Vitae, It is derived from Latin,  which means “course of life”. 

So basically, in a CV you provide detailed information about yourself, so that someone else, especially the employer can get a clear picture about you and to decide whether you are fit for the  required job or not.

In CV,  you need to provide detailed yet important information, regarding yourself that an employer is looking for.

2. What is a CV for a job application?

CV for a job application is a document that you provide to the employer in order to provide details about yourself.

In the world of job and professionalism, CV plays an important role to portray yourself to the employer. 

Different job requires a different set of skills and experience, this is the reason the CV also differs according to the job application. 

Almost each and every industry asks for your CV or resume, to identify that either you are  fit to handle the job or not.  remember every employer seeks for the best candidate for performing the job in the most effective and efficient manner.

3. What is the difference between CV and Resume (CV vs. Resume)?

Even though in most of the cases, CV and resume Considered as interchangeable words, remember in the USA and Europe, CV and resume are not interchangeable. Even though, in countries like Australia, South Africa, India, CV and resume are the interchangeable words.

CV or Curriculum Vitae means ‘course of life’  this word is derived from Latin. In cv, basically you write the more details about yourself,  it can be more than one page up to 3 pages long or more based on need. Here you offer detailed information about your experience, achievement and skills,  in order to to display the course of your life.

Whereas resume meaning ‘summary’ this word is derived from French word. Basically a resume provides summary information about your education, skills, experience, previous employment, achievement etc  while you are applying for a new job. A resume is commonly one or two pages long in length.

So a CV provides additional information about yourself and a resume provides a short, precise information about yourself. 

4. What is the importance of CV for a job application?

CV is very important for job application, as it provides the necessary and required data about yourself to the employer In an organisation or company, in order to decide either to take you for the job or not.

This is the reason, when you are preparing your CV for the job application, you must be serious about it, and  follow all the good practices for creating a powerful CV. 

If you want to display a good image of you before your employer, you must be sincere enough to create a robust CV that stands out in the crowd. Remember, Employees do not look for colourful or long pieces of document as CV,  rather write a CV with providing the really necessary information and keeping  them in the right order along with cleanliness.

Without doubt, the strength of the  CV is your skill and work experience but displaying them in the right order and in an effective manner  makes your CV special. 

5. Purpose of a CV when applying for a job

Never forget the purpose of the CV while you are applying for a job, the main purpose of the CV is to let the employer know who you are and you are capable of doing the job you are  applying for. 

You might be very skilled and experienced in a certain field, but if you do not know how to display it properly and professionally, it will never convince the employer to take you for the job.

You must provide the right information about yourself that the employer is looking for  rather than writing a bunch of unnecessary information which will make your employed  bored. 

6. What does CV include for a job application?

Almost all the CVs include the information regarding your contact details, your academic record, certifications and degrees,  skill that you  learnt, your work experience, any awards or achievements etc. You can mention your hobbies and interests, but they are optional.

In your contact information, you provide the data of your address, contact number and email address,  so that the employer can contact you back. 

In the academic information part, You need to write about your academic records, details about the certifications and the degrees you have achieved.

You also need to mention the skills that you have learnt and where you have applied all those skills in practical working scenarios.

Mention your work experience in the professional world, mentioning the field and the organisation or company you worked with, also provide the details about the duration of  work. 

All your achievements or any Award that you received from the previous organisation or company must be displayed in your CV, In order to prove your potential to your future employer.

7. How to write a CV for a job application?

In order to write a CV for a job application, you need to consider certain areas, they are:

First of all you must gather a clear understanding about the job requirement, go through the job profile thoroughly and try to understand what kind of skill they are expecting. 

Secondly, You need to gather as much information as possible from online or offline resources regarding the company or organization you are applying to, as examples, you can visit the website of the organization or company and read about their works process, goals and priorities etc. or you can also talk to a staff of the company or organization and gather data.

Next, once you  gather all the data from the job profile and company’s website or staff,  now is the time to sit and analyse their intent for taking you in the job.

Atlast, after analysing, prepare the CV customized as per their need and requirement, provide first, all the skills and qualities that you have to meet their need and highlight them to attract the eyes of the employer. 

Prepare a CV that is clean yet filled with all sorts of necessary things adjusted with the requirement of the employer. 

8. How to write a CV as a fresher?

Many times freshers may find it difficult to write a CV, as they do not have proper experience to display. In this case, you must display all the skills that you have learnt, and how you used them practically. Your personal experiments and helping others with the skills can also be counted as valuable in the CV. 

This is the reason, while you practice your skills practically, make sure you keep a record of them, so that you can showcase them in your CV to add extra strength to it.  

Remember, you may have a lot of theoretical knowledge but practical work on the skills make a tremendous  difference as  every employer seeks for a person who has practically worked along with theoretical knowledge. So,never forget to keep a record of all your practical works, it doesn’t matter where and for whom you did that. 

9. Format of a CV

Format your CV wisely, so that it will look professional and provide the  necessary data valuable to the employer.  Ignore all the things that are valuable to you but are not valuable to the employer.

Commonly,  the CV is formatted with the following  information :

• Details of your Contact information
• Record of your Academic history
• Display of your Professional experience
• Qualifications and skills,  you have learnt and achieved
• Awards and honors  that you have gathered
• Information of Publications
• Display of Licenses and certificates
• Volunteer work that you have done

10. Common mistakes in CV to avoid

Some of the common mistake that you must avoid while you are writing your CV are:

1.  Make sure your contact information, educational details, skills, experience and achievement are eye catchy. 
2. Do not make your CV too long or else it will be boring.  The employee must get an overall understanding about your knowledge, skill and experience within a few minutes as they read your CV. 
3. There must not be any grammatical and spelling mistakes in your CV.  Take time and prepare a CV that is accurate in providing data.
4. Do not exaggerate or  lie about your capability in the CV.  Once you are caught in dishonesty, you will lose the trust which is a  severe damage for your job application.
5. Display professionalism in your CV. Do not use too much colour or designs in your CV. 

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