HOW TO WRITE A CV
Institutional writing
Topic: Functional Writing
Form 4
Objectives
By the end of the lesson, the learner should be able to:
- Identify features of a good CV
- Write a CV
Writing a CV for job application
A curriculum vitae is a brief account of your education
qualification and previous occupation usually sent with your job application.
It is basically a summary of your education and professional
history.
The CV should be updated from time to time to meet the
employer's needs.
Keep a hard copy (printed) and a soft copy (in a flash disk,
email, phone storage etc.) of your CV.
The curriculum vitaé accompanies an application letter when
you’re applying for a job.
Curriculum vitae format
Features of a good CV
- Personal details/contact information
- CV personal profile
- Work experiences
- Education
- Skills
- Additional sections
- References
There are different CV formats for a job but the features
above typically should appear in your résumé in order to give the employer
enough details at a glance.
Personal details/contact information
- Full name
- Professional title
- Email address
- Telephone numbers
- Relevant social media channels
- Some CV formats may include nationality, date of birth, gender and marital status in personal details sections.
- These are optional and can be left out.
CV Personal profile
This is a brief statement that spells out exactly what you
can offer.
There are 2 types of CV personal profiles:
- CV objective
- CV summary
CV objective
- It should match the kind of job/post you are seeking.
- It is suitable for people with little or no work experience e.g. students
- State any relevant skills you’ve gained
- How can you apply your skills?
- State any work experience you have
- State your education level and qualification
- What is your motivation for applying?
- The type of responsibilities you can help out with
- What is it you hope to achieve?
- Keep it 2-3 sentences at most
CV summary
- Suitable for seasoned professionals
- It is super-specific
- State your previous jobs, years of experience, career progress and relevant achievements
- State your goal
Guidelines for
writing your CV personal profile
- How can you help the company/organization/institution?
- How will your previous experience help fit in the company's current circumstance?
- How can you help the company/organization grow while maintaining your personal goals?
In brief, give your personal skills, qualification, experience and career ambitions. Avoid vague statements.
Work experiences
- Give your job title/position you held previously
- Mention the name of the company you worked for previously and its location
- Give the date you were employed
- Mention your relevant, measurable achievements
- Do NOT simply list duties
- Make it clear how you took your previous company from point A to B
- Use action verbs like “achieved”, “increased”, “implemented” etc. instead of “responsible for implementing”
- Give your achievements in numerals not general statements e.g. “sales increased by 20%” not “sales increased significantly”
- Back your achievements with numbers and percentages
- Use the Problem-Action-Result approach to give your achievement
- What problems was the company facing?
- What action did you take?
- What was the favourable result?
Education
- Mention where and when you pursued academic and professional courses and outcomes of the courses
- Programme name, name of institution, location, year attended (graduation date)
- Academic achievements (Honors, if applicable)
- Degrees and certificates you have earned
Skills
- Put the relevant skills that fit the job opening
- Include both hard skills (technical skills) and soft skills (learned skills and personal attributes e.g. leadership, communication etc.)
Additional sections-Give details
of training & professional development
- Publications
- Conferences attended
- Additional training
Additional sections for student CV
- Volunteer experience
- Hobbies and interests (relevant to the post)
- Projects
- Freelance work experience
- Academic achievements
- Personal blog
References
- List names and contact details of 2-3 referees
- Give details of people who are willing to give potential employer information about you if called upon to do so
- Information requested may include details about your character, attitude and professionalism.
- Pick persons who can speak about you objectively; not peers or relatives
- Referees may include teachers, supervisors etc.
CV best practices
- Organize information well
- Everywhere should be easy to find at a glance
- Keep your CV one page in length
- Write clear consistent heading sections
- Use the same format for dates throughout the sections
- Leave out irrelevant skills, achievements, qualifications etc.
- Your CV must be neat and presentable. Never handwritten
A CV typically accompanies a letter of appication.
- citizens of Kenya
- 16 years and above
- in possession of a national identity card
- fluent in English and Kiswahili
- able to demonstrate knowledge and experience on issues of healthy eating
- creative and innovative
- citizens of Kenya
- 18 years and above
- in possession of a national identification card
- fluent in English and Kiswahili
- in possession of a KCSE grade C- and above
- computer literate
- able to work with little or no supervision
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