A curriculum vitae, or CV, is a complete overview of your educational and professional credentials.
In Nigeria, writing a decent curriculum vitae (CV) can boost your likelihood of landing a great job. You’ll learn how to craft an excellent and professional CV in Nigeria that will qualify you for an interview in this post.
The question remains, how do you craft out a professional CV that stands as the best among the thousands of CVs the job recruiters receive daily when recruiting workers for available job openings? Continue reading to get answers to all your puzzles on professional Cv writing.
The best CV writing requirement is unique and demonstrates your selling point. It’s vital to understand that there is no single approach to writing a curriculum vitae.
One rule to remember at all times is that your CV should be able to place you in the limelight for the position you’re seeking; this will help the human resource manager or recruiter decide whether or not to invite you for an interview.
It’s important to remember that the world we live in is changing swiftly every day, particularly in the labor market. Individuals are acquiring skillsets that can boost their CV daily. When it comes to remote hiring, the competition is getting harder, professionals are acquiring more skills, and recruiters are paying closer attention to the finer points.
However things aren’t as ‘simple’ as they once were, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get beyond these hiring stumbling blocks. Let me guide you on how your CV can attract a call for an interview. ready? Let’s take this ride together.
Table of Contents
How Should a CV Look
When writing your professional CV , here is the current pattern it should follow. You must follow it section by section.
- Contact information
- Your Bio or personal statement
- Past work experience
- Educational qualifications
- Hobbies and don’t forget to include your interests
I know you might be wondering why personal data and the applicant’s photograph aren’t mentioned on the list above. The reason for this is that, to minimize hiring discrimination, it’s not all organizations and companies that need you to include your place of birth, age, or a photograph of yourself. This can lead to prejudice or biases, and the hiring manager may not even realize it
Now here is how to structure them section by section.
Your Contact Information
Your full official name(no nickname. Strictly official), the Address of your home, phone number, a working email address, and all your social media handles address.
Curriculum Vitae Summary
A curriculum vitae (CV) personal statement is a synopsis of your professional experience from when you started to date.
Outline your highest level of achievements and accomplishments in not more than 100 words and explain why you’re the ideal candidate for the listed position. Talk more about what you can offer if employed than what you stand to gain.
Past Work Experience
Recruiters are highly interested in your past work experience. In reverse chronological order, relate your previous positions, duties, and capacities. It is recommended that you start with your most recent work experience and expertise. Use short sentences to enable easy readability and also utilize bullet points, and paragraphs to your advantage.
Your Academics Qualifications
Start Writing by using a reverse chronological order of writing, and outline your academic qualifications and when you attended them. You can decide to begin with school and then proceed to your qualifications and grades.
A lot of industry specialists and career counselors advise tailoring your CV to match the job posting’s wording and keywords.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ATTENDED WITH DATES
2014-2015: University of Yales, lome, Jigawa State.
B.Sc.Biophysics (second class honours, upper division)
2003-2008: Pretty International College, Cole street, Lai-mohammed, Togo.
Senior Secondary School Certificate
1993-2001: Nigeria Staff Primary School, Gwanam, Abuja.
First Leaving School Certificate
Personal Hobbies and Interests
The reason for writing your hobbies and interests is to provide the recruiters with a more complete picture of you and strengthen your job application. Have this in mind businesses make a lot of human investments. As a result, interests such as sports activities communicate to them that you are physically eligible, healthy, fit, and can carry out any task notwithstanding how tough it might be.
What are The 5 Main Things Your CV Should Include?
For your professional CV to stand out in Nigeria right now, there are 5 main things you should include. These five things are crucial in your writing and they are as follows:
Contact Information
correct contact information should be detailed here. For example your email address, social media address like LinkedIn address, and phone number.
Personal statement
This section should appear at the top after your contact information. Introduce yourself. Note that here is your selling point: sell yourself well. Tell the job recruiter or HR manager about your goals and the reasons you’re the best fit for the job.
Experience
Here in this section, you are to write down all your past work experiences. However, it’s optional for a fresh school leaver who hasn’t worked anywhere in the past.
Education
Every detail about your academic achievements is to be written under this section.
Skills
All the skills you’ve acquired should be written in this section. Your skills can land you your dream job in the era we’re into.
How Do You Make Your CV Stand Out?
For your CV to stand out, both from start to finish, it have to be written with boldness. Keep reading to know how?
Begin With a Short Profile Information About You
When a recruiter sees Your CV, the first place he/she looks is at the top of the page. Of course, that’s the first place a hiring manager will check. Ensure to start up your writing with something memorable and brief that offers them a good sense of who you are. The ideal way to do this is to study how experts in this field did there.
Write With Boldness
The head of resources in charge of recruiting workers will be attracted by the way you start your CV writing and the tone and choice of words. Make sure you grab their attention with a brief of your proof of achievements and past skills.
Note that your profile tells more of who you are and what you can offer. So, use that to grab the recruiter’s attention.
Give Your CV Additional Impact By Using Powerful Words
Using powerful words will draw attention to your accomplishments and give your curriculum vitae (CV) more impact.
For each of your responsibilities, use terms like adaptive, innovative, implemented, and attained, and then follow up with amazing achievements or outcomes that show what you’ve accomplished. Candidates who did not follow this method may not make it to an interview.
Keep It Simple and Not Too Busy
You might believe that using flashy formatting and making bold decisions will help you stand out. They may do so, but not for the correct reasons.
You’d be shocked at how few CVs are simply formatted and basic, allowing the content to speak for itself. Too many people choose ingenuity above simplicity. Keep it simple and uncomplicated. Don’t make your CV too busy.
What Do I Write at The Top Of My CV?
- Name
- Job title
- Contact information
Name, job title, and contact information are the things you should write at the top of your CV.
Your name, professional title, and contact information should all be listed accordingly and correctly. Don’t make the mistake of writing Curriculum Vitae (CV) as a header; instead, write your name in the heading space.
How Can I Make My CV More Impressive?
To make your CV more impressive , there are little but important things to pay adequate attention to. These things make your CV attractive and enable the recruiter to go through it. Take a look at them below.
Use Good Formatting
Formatting is a crucial aspect of any curriculum vitae (CV) because it is what draws the employer’s or recruiter’s attention when they take the first look at it. People will tell you a variety of things about how to style your CV, and it’s tough to determine which method is better because companies vary and have different preferences.
A lot of people may advise you to make it as simple as possible, while others will argue that adding color and diverse font styles may appear more impressive and professional. What matters is that you choose a good format styling.
Add Your Newest Experience and Achievements
Ensure you include your most recent experience. The addition of your most recent position and the role will be the most significant adjustment to your CV formating. It’s difficult to condense every activity you carry out daily into a few phrases, so consider your job from a high level.
Don’t get caught up in the middle of your daily life tasks. If you want to impress the recruiter, make sure to present yourself in the best logical way and also back up your accomplishments with statistics and data that demonstrate your worth.
Present It In a Way It Displays Creativity and Innovation
demonstrating originality and creativity, Employers frequently want candidates who are innovative and creative.
Creating a CV that is one-of-a-kind and demonstrates your distinct professional approach is an incredible way to showcase your sense of inventiveness to recruiters and hiring managers, which may help you keep memorability.
A creative curriculum vitae may also assist potential employers in visualizing the creativity you could bring to a future role.
Do Not Add Irrelevant Information
While you may be eager to show off your abilities, skills, and expertise, do not clutter your curriculum vitae (CV) with irrelevant information.
It will be perceived as a disadvantage because your recruiters will not have time to go through all the detailed points. Only include information that is necessary and relevant to the position you’re applying for.
What Skills Should I Put On My CV?
Here are those skills you should ensure to write on your CV. Remember that the skills you write in your CV tend to land you that dream job or not. The skills can be divided into two forms.
- Soft skills
- Hard skills
Soft Skills
Personal characteristics and qualities that affect the way you conduct your job are referred to as soft skills.
They are the interpersonal qualities that allow you to read our coworkers, control circumstances, and perform well in the workplace.
Soft skills are so essential, and they are required in some occupations, such as sales and marketing departments. Examples of these skills are:
- Time management
- Motivation
- Leadership
- Critical thinking and adequate attention to details
- Clear communication skill
- Strong listening ability
- Ability to solve problems
Hard Skills
Hard skills are a part of the fundamental skill sets required to accomplish a job well and are thus work-specific. They’re also known as technical skills because they’re quantifiable and can be learned through formal courses, online courses, and training. They’re extremely important for completing a job. Examples:
- Data visualization
- Microsoft office
- Data management
- Software development
- Programming
- Design tool
- Analytics
How Many Pages Should a CV Be
A professional curriculum vitae (CV) should be between two and three pages long on average. However, employers don’t have fixed length requirements for CVs, but keeping it between two and three pages helps the recruiting manager understand your experience for the particular position they’re hiring for. Because it’s what decides if you’d be invited for an interview.
When crafting your Professional curriculum vitae, if you’re a graduate student or you have limited work experience, you can outline your credentials on a single page. Ensure that you’re corresponding your experience to the company’s criteria of recruitment by looking at the job description you’re applying for.
Furthermore, If you’re seeking a position in academia, though, your CV will most likely be as long as it takes to cover all of your accomplishments and other pertinent information. Just make sure you follow the due process and write all you’re required to.
Should I Add Color To My CV?
When writing your curriculum vitae (CV) one of the questions that often comes to mind is, should I add color to my Cv? Will I be invited for an interview if I add color? And what quantity is good? No rule says add color or doesn’t add color to your CV. If you want to add it, let it be on the subheadings and in blue.
Furthermore, It doesn’t matter that you can include as much color as you like in your CV if you want to. What is acceptable is not governed by any defined standards or criteria. We advocate using no or very little color because it produces the greatest results, but if you believe color will improve your CV, go ahead and use it as much as you like.
Note that job recruiters aren’t going to throw your CV in the trash bin simply because it has color on it. However, if you want to maximize your chances of landing a job, we recommend limiting the use of color in your CV. This can help you establish a positive first impression and present yourself as a professional prospect.
What Font Should I Use For My CV?
CV writing requires a good and attractive font size and point to hook the recruiter who is going to read your CV. There are numerous fonts and best sizes available but time will not avail us to start listing them all. However, we’ll dissect a few of them to enable you to know the best font to use for your professional CV.
- Make use of good sans serif to craft your professional CV fonts. Those devoid of tails include Calibri, Helvetica, Verdana, etc.
- One of the best fonts to use for your popular CV fonts in black is Times New Roman. Make sure the size point is set at 12. It’s quite attractive.
- Other good San serif CV fonts that have tails consist of Georgia, Book Antiqua, and Cambria
- When writing your headings, use a size between 14 to 16 points to enable the heading exceptionality. But if you want your name to be bold, use sizes 18 to 20 so that your name can be bold as your CV header.
- If your CV is too lengthy and cannot fit into one page, make use of the sans-serif font and set it at 10 points. However, that is the least font size you can use
- To emphasize section titles and the main content, make use of bolding, italicizing, and capitalizing, but ensure it’s constant all through your writing.
- For a unique touch, try combining fonts. To create a harmonious look, use two complementing typefaces on the same page. For example, one font could be used for headers and another one for body text writing.
Does Your CV Have To Be One Page?
The question: Does your CV have to be one page? The answer is yes. This is one of the most frequently asked questions that come from individuals concerning Professional CV writing. Note that this can only be applicable if you don’t have much experience.
If you’re a fresh graduate, ensure you make use of one page to avoid fluffy words and keep your curriculum vitae professional and captivating to the recruiter. Do you make use of a particular word twice instead of once?
Final Thought
Finally, if you can get your CV perfect the first time, you’ll have a better chance of landing a great job faster than expected.
Your CV is your only opportunity to make a good first outstanding impression. So, keep all of the above-mentioned CV tips in mind, be creative and get an invite for an interview for the job position you seek.
