PatrickOkunima:
Without disputing fact, your curriculum vitae (CV) or resume is often the first impression you’ll make on a prospective employer, and it’s important to stand out amongst the crowd. I must confess that CV is more or less a job-seeker marketing documents that provide key information about your skills, experiences, education and personal qualities that show you as the ideal candidate. Often, selectors read CVs outside working hours. They may have a pile of 50 CVs from which to select five interviewers. Its evening and they would rather be in the pub with friends. If your CV is hard work to read: unclear, badly laid out and containing irrelevant information, they will just move on to the next CV. That is why it is important for every job seeker to treat the selector like a child eating a meal. Chop your CV up into easily digestible morsels.

In order to arrive at a successful CV, these tips provide a range of styles-classical, professional, academic, plain, and fancy-which can be adapted to fit your personal preference. Sections for employment history, education, skills, experience, publications and interests can be arranged to best show off your fit for the role you’re applying for, whether you’re a graduate fresh out of university or an experienced professional looking to change career.

The Tips:

KEEP THE CHOICE OF WORDS IN THE FIRST PERSON

This is the first tip every job seeker must adopted. If I start my CV in the first person, he should not suddenly start talking about himself in the third person. Job applications are all about selling yourself, so using I, me and my is standard practice. Do not refer to yourself as he, she or they (unless it’s a quote about you from someone else). If you do want to write I the third person, keep it consistent. Don’t flip between the two.

GET YOUR TENSES RIGHT

Most likely, this will mean talking about old jobs in the past tense and your current job in the present tense. Of course, there may be exceptions to this general rule, such as talking about a past event that occurred in your current job. The key however is to ensure it makes sense and avoid switching between tenses in the middle of a phrase. Muddling up your tenses is not only grammatically incorrect; it also makes writing confusing and hard to follow.

USE THE SINGULAR FOR INDIVIDUAL ORGANIZATIONS

It’s easy to write accidentally about a single company in the plural if you’re thinking about the people who work there. But if you are talking about one company, use the singular. If you are talking about one company, use the singular. If you work at the BBC, for instance, you are part of its team, not part of their team.

TAILOR YOUR CV TO EACH ROLE YOU APPLY FOR

We’ve all done it. Whizzed the same CV out to lots of employers to save time…Stop! Take the time to change your CV for each role that you apply for. Research the company and use the job advert to work out EXACTLY what skills you should point out to them. They will appreciate the obvious effort.

REVEAL THE TRUTH

Everyone lies on their CV, right? NO! Stop! Blatant lies on your CV can land you in a whole heap of trouble when it comes to employers checking your background and references. The last thing you want is to start work and then lose your new job for lying. You also may get caught out at the interview stage when you suddenly cant answer questions on what you claim to know. And that can be very awkward.

INCLUDE A PERSONAL STATEMENT

Don’t just assume an employer will see how your experience relates to their job. Instead, use a short personal statement to explain why you are the best person for the job. This should be reflected in your cover letter as well.

GET THE BASICS RIGHT AND PRESENT IT CLEARLY

There is no right or wrong way to write a CV but there are some common sections you should cover. These include; personal and contact information; education and qualifications; work history and/or experience; relevant skills to the job in question; own interests, achievements or hobbies; and some references. Also, always present your CV on clean, crisp white paper. The layout should always be clean and well structured and CVs should never be crumpled or folded, so use an A4 envelope to post your applications.

KEEP YOUR CV UPDATED

Lastly, it’s crucial to review your CV on a regular basis and add any new skills or experience that’s missing. For example; if you’ve just done some volunteering or worked on a new project, make sure they’re on there-potential employers are always impressed with candidates who go the extra mile to boost their own skills and experience.

Source: https://patrickokunima.com/2016/08/30/simple-tips-to-help-you-write-a-great-cv/

health2wealth:
Challenge: Stop Sharing CV, Start Sharing Proposals.

ireneony:
You don't need to stress your self writing cv.
i for example uses perfectCV.
there are alot of free online cv.

Hexzyz:
I am weary of this tip, that tip, I have formated my CV countless times. Yet I haven't received any tangible offer. It is well.

health2wealth:
Challenge: Stop Sharing CV, Start Sharing Proposals.
If you are a graduate and it is your practice to share your CV around, I want to challenge you to use your potential and not your credential. I want to put you on a one month challenge and I will accept the risk of losing my money. You are going to do two things.
1. Photocopy your credential as many as you want for sharing in the month of September.
2. I will give you 20 copies of proposals for sharing in the month of September but you must deposit One Thousand Naira for ID card and as a trustee for our proposals and other items.

You will spend like one or two days a week to go out and submit both your CV and the proposals to companies, organizations and schools.
At the end of the month, if you get a well-paying job, I will give you Two Thousand Naira plus compensation for transport.
If you don’t get a well-paying job, I will give you your One Thousand Naira back and you will only get 50% of revenue from successfully processes service from all the proposal you submitted against our normal 70% payout.

For more information, terms and conditions or to enter the challenge, check my signature below. You will receive an instant message in your email. Just follow the instruction.

Samanza89:
I believe this is awesome.



Have been invited for an interview in two parastatals in Lagos today has am speaking to you. Funny enough I was given the information just yesterday, in which is way too urgent depending on where I reside.

Courtesy of my good CV.

Am just a fresh graduate, currently serving my fatherland.

I believe more is about to come. Just believe in yourself.

ANBAKO:


How does having CV debar one from being an entrepreneur? Even successful entrepreneurs have CV.

CV and proposals are 2 different things.

Good luck in your hustle!!!

Samanza89:
I believe this is awesome.



Have been invited for an interview in two parastatals in Lagos today has am speaking to you. Funny enough I was given the information just yesterday, in which is way too urgent depending on where I reside.

Courtesy of my good CV.

Am just a fresh graduate, currently serving my fatherland.

I believe more is about to come. Just believe in yourself.

TAILOR YOUR CV TO EACH ROLE YOU APPLY FOR

okikiosibodu:
OP, thanks for the information.






Is there anyway one can tailor the cv to suit "any" application, 'cause some vacancies you stumble upon online, sometimes requires urgency and will give you little or no time to adjust/ modify it

Samanza89:
I believe this is awesome.



Have been invited for an interview in two parastatals in Lagos today has am speaking to you. Funny enough I was given the information just yesterday, in which is way too urgent depending on where I reside.

Courtesy of my good CV.

Am just a fresh graduate, currently serving my fatherland.

I believe more is about to come. Just believe in yourself.

Thobiy:
Nice info

annexworld:
Nice one Op