CV AND COVER LETTER

CV

Your CV (Curriculum Vitae) is a sum of your personal information such as:

• Full Name
• Address
• Telephone Numbers (home and mobile)
• Email Address

You can also add your nationality and date of birth.

It is important to give a clear and brief description of your education and qualifications, if you have a University Degree or diploma, if you attended a training course, anything relevant. Then you should mention all your previous relevant work experiences explaining clearly your responsibilities, achievements, duties and skills that could be transferred to another employer. For each position list your job title (i.e.Manager, Supervisor etc.) the job title of the person you reported to (i.e. Director, manager etc.) and when you started and finished each job.

Give the name of the company with a brief description of the service they provide.

Mention your recent achievements if they are relevant for the job you are applying for and indicate how you achieved them. List any computer skills you have, especially any operation systems and software you are familiar with.If you have any foreign language skills that may be relevant for the job you are applying for, list them and indicate your level of fluency: fluent, very good etc. If relevant, list your typing and shorthand skills.

List your interests, hobbies and any sport you play. List also any relevant position or responsibility you hold or have held in club and organisation and any achievement you get. Normally you do not need to include references in your CV but for some jobs such as teaching or health service it can be a good idea to include referees.

There are no fixed rules to write an effective CV but the following advice may help you:

• Try to write briefly: remember, your CV is a sort of “passport” and you must include only the essential things
• Mention things you are good at, but don’t go over the top
• On the other hand, don’t mention things you are bad at or say anything negative about yourself
• Be sure the description you give of yourself in the CV is the same you will give at interviews
• If you are not happy with your CV or you think it’s not effective then you should think about getting a professional CV writing system (you will have to pay but you will save a lot of time and get less rejection letters and hopefully you should get interviews much quicker)

You will find that there a lot of free CV samples and templates you can get on internet. Use them only as samples but do not rely completely on them.

Cover Letter

Anytime you apply for a job you should send a  CV and cover letter attached to the application.

A cover letter is more than saying “read my CV!”: it tells the person who is going to read why you are writing to them and why you are the ideal candidate for the job. Pick the highlights from your CV that are relevant to this specific application. A cover letter is a formal introduction that provides a brief explanation of your job field, experience and knowledge related to the position you are applying for.

A good cover letter is always personalized and addressed to a specific person whenever possible. A personalized cover letter shows you are really interested and serious about working for the company. It is also a vehicle to give a better and more complete description of your skills, experiences and achievements and it could really help you stand out among the crowd and other candidates and to show how you would be a valuable addition to the company.

Before writing a cover letter you should research and discover as much as possible about the company you would like to work for. This would give you a great advantage: a strong knowledge about the company is the basis of a good cover letter.

Like for the CV, on the internet you will find many websites providing tips about writing an effective cover letter. Do not rely completely on them but use them wisely, for example you can use some fixed expressions at the beginning or at the end of your letter.