Crafting a Winning CVCrafting a Winning CV

Billie P. JordanCertified Professional Rėsumė WriterCertified Employment Interview ConsultantCertified Military Rėsumė Writer

Advantage Rėsumės and Career Serviceswww.advantageresumes4you.com

bjordan1@ec.rr.com

Curriculum VitaeCurriculum Vitae(“course of one’s life”)(“course of one’s life”)

A biographical document that outlines your personal background, education, and experience.

Comprehensive document.Preferred document for medicine, law, education,

science, and media (television, film, etc.).CV and Resume involve similar principles of

presenting education, experience and accomplishments.

CV has no restrictions for length.

CV CategoriesCV Categories

Personal information Educational background

Postgraduate training Professional practice experience

Other work experience Licensure and certification

Research experience Teaching experience

Publications Presentations

Professional memberships Service activities

Awards and honors References

Leadership experience Military background

Special skills Consulting experience

Personal InformationPersonal Information

You can include “Curriculum Vitae” at the top of the document. You may choose to leave it off.

Full legal name (first name, middle initial, and last name).

Personal information such as temporary and permanent address, telephone number, and e-mail address.

Do not include items like date of birth, social security number, nationality, marital status, statements about your health, or photograph.

Career ObjectiveCareer Objective

No career objective on the CV.Address any information

concerning your objective in a cover letter.

Educational Educational ExperienceExperience

Follow reverse chronological order and include name and location of institution, dates attended and type of degree earned.

Generally do not include an institution where you took a course or two to fulfill a degree requirement.

Do not include high school if you have been awarded a college degree or have earned at least two years of college credits.

Include cumulative grade point average, class ranking, or graduation honor. This is optional and should be included if your grades were clearly exceptional.

Professional Professional ExperienceExperience

Include only experience within profession and not other work.

You may combine professional and other experience under a heading such as “Employment Experience.” You can include volunteer experience here if commitment was sustained over time and if it used your professional knowledge and skills. Volunteer experience can be as valuable as paid experience.

Licensure and Licensure and CertificationCertification

Licensure - Include awarding agency, license number, date of issue and most recent renewal date.

Certification - Certificates for completion of training programs should be listed by date, the most recent first including the full title of certificate, awarding organization and date.

Research ExperienceResearch Experience

Include all research and scholarly pursuits such as grants contracts, patents and projects.

List in reverse chronological order and include title, sponsoring agency or corporation, funding requested, date of submission and outcome of submission. Description of the work is not needed.

Teaching ExperienceTeaching Experience

Can be placed in Professional Experience section. It will have greater prominence if you create a special section.

List institution, course number and title, date provided and possibly the number of students involved.

You can include lecturing, coordinating conferences, giving workshops or recitation sessions, serving as mentor, precepting students in a practice environment, providing continuing education to practitioners, and preparing electronic course materials.

PublicationsPublications

Articles published in professional journalsBooks authoredReports preparedScholarly work in non-traditional media like

electronic software packages or audiovisual productions.

Use “The Chicago Manual of Style” or the “American Medical Association Manual of Style.” Follow a uniform system for each element.

PresentationsPresentations

“Invited” presentations are a reflection of professional experience and scholarship. You are assumed to be knowledgeable, articulate, and respected in the field.

List in reverse chronological order and provide title, inviting organization, location and date.

Awards and HonorsAwards and Honors

Place in CV depending on value. Use your judgment. Use reverse chronological order.

Include name of award, sponsoring organization, location where given and date.

Professional Professional MembershipsMemberships

Include name of organization and inclusive dates of membership: 1994-Present or 1994-2001.

Highlight offices held or note other kinds of participation such as committee memberships or task force assignments.

Service ActivitiesService Activities

Document professional or personal efforts to meet needs of the profession or community.

Service to the profession could include holding an office in an organization or serving on a university committee.

Other SectionsOther Sections

Military ServiceInclude branch, entry/discharge dates,

rank, type of discharge and reserve activity.

ReferencesReferences

Provide a separate page with references including name, mailing address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address. You can include a brief statement about what each reference may be able to contribute concerning your knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Normally you would provide this list only upon request rather than including it with your CV.

CV AppearanceCV Appearance

Neat, appeal to reader’s eye and adhere to basic guidelines for readability, clear, consistent headings

White, off-white, or light ivory paper with weight of 20 to 24 pounds Consistent typeface Consistent line spacing One-inch margins at top, sides, and bottom Section headings and breaks between sections Consistent format, so that the typed copy and white space look

symmetrical Quality printer with black ink No typographical or spelling errors Suggested fonts: Bookman Old Style, Courier, Georgia, Times New

Roman, Arial, Lucida Sans, Tahoma, Verdana Number pages Insert name on each page in the event pages get separated

TipsTips

Place most important categories toward the beginning of your CV. Use present tense for current duties and activities and the past tense for

others. Write out numbers between one and nine and use numerals for 10 and

above. Use consistent format for telephone numbers and dates. Use proper two-letter abbreviations for states. Proofread carefully for grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation errors. Use

spell check and get someone else to proofread it for you. Headings should stand out. Use 10 to 12 point font size. Use design formats such as bullets, lines, italics, boldface type, shading for a

unique appearance, but do not overdo it. One inch margins are normal. Justify the left margin. Avoid graphics.

Cover LetterCover Letter

Cover letter is a must!Introduce yourself and make a great first impression.Highlight your qualifications, experience and achievements.Cover letter should be concise, clear, and to the point.First paragraph explains why you are writing, knowledge of

the organization to which you are applying, reference to position announcement.

Second paragraph explains why you are specifically suited to the position—experience, accomplishments. Identify unique attribute if possible. Do not repeat exact wording of CV. Elaborate on key qualifications.

Closing paragraph expresses interest and request for an interview.

Final TipsFinal Tips

Once you have your CV in final form, put it aside for a few days. Then give it another review.

Check the accuracy of all the details—dates, titles, and other facts.

Is there redundancy? Have you repeated the same information in more than one place?

Finally, ask peers and mentors to critique your CV.

Electronic and Electronic and Scannable CVsScannable CVs

Choose a consistent sans serif font such as Arial, Lucida Sans, Tahoma, or Verdana. A font size between 10 and 12 is best.

Minimize the use of design elements (e.g., bullets, lines, underlining, italics, boldface type, brackets, parentheses, shading).

Avoid the use of tabs; instead, create spaces using the space bar. Do not use word wrapping. Include common key words related to skills likely to be included in a computer search strategy. Check for spelling errors before saving as a text file. Use capital letters for headings as a replacement for boldface type or underlining. Maintain one-inch margins at the top, bottom, and sides of the document. Justify the left margin. For a scannable CV, save the final document as a “text only” or rich text format” file. Once it’s printed on

paper, do not fold or staple it. For a CV that is to be transmitted electronically, save the final document in a suitable format (e.g., HTML

for web posting, ASCII or PDF for attaching to e-mail.)

BibliographyBibliography

The Pharmacy Professional’s Guide to Resumes, CVs & Interviewing (Paperback)by Thomas P. Reinders, 2001

Resume Writing Intensive Sessions CVs/International, NRWA 11th Annual Career Conferenceby Cliff Eischen, NCRW, 2008