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CV tips

Attach sufficient importance to the content of your CV

Putting together your CV

Your curriculum vitae is the key to a first introduction, one which can serve as the basis for a major step in your career. It is therefore especially important that, in your preparation, you attach sufficient importance to the content of your CV.

Chances are great that a candidate who draws up a standard curriculum vitae and sends it to 50 companies will miss opportunities or have less success than one who drafts his CV in a more targeted manner. So first of all think carefully about your ambitions and choose to focus on a limited number of job openings. Depending on the opening, write out the relevant experiences and results in greater detail. Use very concrete examples.

Thus, always write as a function of the opening for which you are applying. Giving more details on relevant matters allows a recruitment consultant or potential employer to quickly see points in common and invite you for an initial interview. A good start is already half the job!

Make sure that your CV always contains the following sections:

Personal details

Mention your first name, last name, date and place of birth, address, nationality, civil status, telephone and/or mobile phone number and your e-mail address. Mention several telephone numbers, specify at what times you can be reached at the office or at home. Alongside your date of birth also give your age.

Education

Set forth all of your educational experiences, both secondary and post-secondary. Indicate when and where you received the education or training. You can also mention the title of your final-year thesis, possibly with a brief description.

Language knowledge

Languages are important – but be honest, because your language knowledge will be tested. In your overview, use gradations such as native language, bilingual, very good, good or basic.

Experience

This is the most important part of your curriculum vitae. Although there are many theories about how you should prepare a CV, the clearest and most understandable CV is still structured chronologically. You can choose: either begin with your first work experience, or begin with your most recent work experience and thus proceed in reverse chronological order. We recommend using the latter method, thus putting your most recent work experience first. After all, the likelihood is that responsibilities from your last work experiences will more closely match the experiences your potential employer is looking for. If that isn´t the case, you can simply proceed chronologically.
Along with the indispensable information, such as the date, the term of the contract and the position held, mention what you did substantively within the company and what you achieved. If you have just graduated, mention your traineeships and vacation jobs that relate to the requirements from the advertisement.

Note carefully!
Make sure that your CV is well-organised. Use spaces and bullet points. Put important things in bold or underline them. Avoid long run-on texts: they are tiring to read and don´t immediately draw attention to the relevant topics of your CV.

In any event, make sure that the work experiences which come closest to the opening get more attention. Although it must be clear what your position was, work experiences which are not relevant should receive a minimum amount of detail. It is the experience which is most interesting for the opening that must draw the reader´s attention and arouse interest in inviting you for a personal interview.

Other activities and interests

If you think that your activities and interests work to your advantage, you definitely should say something about them. Activities and interests say something about your personality and can make you an interesting individual who stands out from the rest.

References

You don´t have to immediately mention references in your CV, but you can indicate that you will provide them on request. After all, it is important that you can inform the people that references will be taken. Always give name, position and telephone number, and don´t forget to mention at what time the reference persons can be reached.

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