How to write a good CV

How to write a good CV

What is a CV?

In CV in layman's terms can be called as your marketing brochure through which you are trying to sell your skill set to a potential employer.
What is the purpose of a CV?

The purpose of your CV is to fetch you an interview call. Nothing more, nothing less. If you have got an interview call based on your CV, it has done its job well. Now it is for you to deal with the interview in a proper way to secure the job. A CV can not get you a job. It is only you who can get yourself a job which you always aspired for. 
Who should write your CV?

Many of us rely on our father, brothers, sisters, friends, consultants and the big boss internet to write our CV. However, you must understand that the only person who knows yourself the best in this world is you. So, it is you and only you who can do the job of presenting yourself in the best way. Write your CV yourself. Offcourse, you can show it to others for a feedback from the reader's point of view.
When should you write your CV?

If you are reading this article, it means either you have already written your CV and finding ways to improve it. If you have not done that already, you are ready to write a CV. So, sit down at the first possibly opportunity you get to write your CV.

A good CV can not be drafted in one sitting. Drafting and re-drafting is the key to a good CV. You will have the time to think over your CV and re-draft it only if you write it well on advance. If you sit to write a CV just an evening before you have to apply for a job, there are high chances that you will not be satisfied with the document yourself.
What are the advantages of writing a CV?

When you write a CV, you think a lot over your candidature, skills, strengths and weaknesses. This process of thinking helps you in predicting some of the most possible interview questions and gives you a chance to find their answers.
Here are some tips to write an effective CV:
Keep it neat:

The only fate dirty CVs meet is landing up in the trash bins. So, make sure that your CV is neat and well organised. We talk a lot about the products being user friendly. Make sure your CV is also user friendly. User her is the person who screens the CVs and gives you a gate pass to the interview.
Keep it small:

No one has time to read pages after pages about you. Keep your CV as short as possibly. Try that it doesn't go beyond two pages. After all, certain things should be left to discuss in the interview also.
Write short and crisp sentences:

Long sentences are difficult to read and understand. Use punctuation marks properly to keep your sentences short and crisp.
Start with contact details:

Provide your contact details at the beginning of your CV. After your CV is shortlisted, the first thing a recruiter wants to do is give you an interview call. If your contact details are not easily found or are embedded somewhere in the text on second page, there are high chances of you losing the opportunity to the next candidate. So, provide a phone number and e-mail address where you can be reached.
Provide a career summary:

Your career summary appears on the first screen of recruiter's computer. It should say all about you and the recruiter should be able to decide by looking at these 7-8 lines if they want to call you for an interview or not.
Work experience is more important than qualification:

If you have a work experience, qualification takes a back seat. Provide information about your work experience focussing on your achievements which display your skills. If you add some numbers to the achievements, it helps you in increasing the level of interest in a recruiter.

For e.g. if you said, "Settled 4 manufacturing units in 5 states of India during 3 years" it becomes stronger than "Settled manufacturing 4 units in India".
Educational qualifications:

Provide your educational qualifications in chronologically descending order. People are more interested in finding out about your recent past. If you have not scored good marks, avoid providing the percentage of marks you scored.

Include the relevant information. Your CV may require a little bit of modification according to the type of opening you are applying for. You may need to expose different facets of your personality and work experience for different openings.
Avoid un-necessary details:

It doesn't matter to a recruiter what your father's or mother's name is. Similarly, he is not interested in knowing the number of children you have (until he has to bear their expenses).
Cut out these and other such unnecessary details from your CV.
Avoid abbreviations:

Most of the times your CV will be screened by the HR people and they are not experts in every domain. So, avoid the use of abbreviations and jargons to make the CV easier for them to read and understand. If they do not understand and abbreviation or jargon you have used in the CV, it might cost you the opportunity, making the whole exercise futile.
Use more impactful words:

Use words which display your control over things. For e.g. managed, achieved, counselled, recruited etc.
Emphasize at right place:

Learn to emphasize at right place in the CV. If you think, any of your particular achievements gives you a cutting edge over other job seekers for a particular opening, emphasize on it. For e.g. if you are a fresher and you have been a topper of your college or university, it is worth mentioning and emphasizing in the CV. Similarly, if you are an experienced worker and your particular achievement has been acknowledged by your employer, which you think can add more value to your CV while applxing for a particular position, emphasize on it.
Check for spellings and grammar

Try to keep your CV free of any spelling mistakes and bad grammar. They put the recruiter off and can put you in embarrassing situations at times.
Avoid using "I"," my" in your CV

The recruiter knows well that you are talking about yourself in your CV. Avoid the use of words like I, my in your CV. It makes you look egomaniac.

So, as you sit to write your CV, keep these tips in mind and prune out any unnecessary details. It should give you an effective CV.
12 things recruiters do not like to see on a CV

Having seen the tips to write an effective CV, let's take a look at the things which might put recruiters off from your CV.
Colorful or glossy paper and flashy fonts

Your CV is a formal, official document. Keep it simple. Use a plain white A4 size paper and formal fonts like Times New Roman, Verdana, Calibri or Arial. Avoid using flashy fonts like Lucida Calligraphy or Freestyle Script.

However, there are exceptions to everything and they do exist here as well. If you are applying to a position where you are required to demonstrate your creative skills using a glossy paper and flashy fonts might work to your advantage.
Resume or CV on the top

Many people have a habit of giving a heading to their CV. The usual ones are CV, Curriculum Vitae, Resume. The person reading the CV very well knows that it's a CV and moreover your CV will be accompanied by a cover letter which will do the job of introducing it.

When you receive a newspaper in the morning, does anyone need to tell you that it's a newspaper? Does it have a bold heading, NEWSPAPER? No. Looking at the newspaper itself tells you what it is. This applied to your CV also.
Photographs until asked

Photographs until asked- Do not add your photo to the CV until you have been asked for it. For general positions, recruiters are more interested in your skill set rather than your looks.

Photographs are required only for certain types of positions like models, actors etc.
Usage of 'I', 'My', 'He', 'She'

Do not use these in your CV. Many candidates write, 'I worked as Team Leader for the XYZ Company' or 'He was awarded Best Employee for the year 2007'. Usage of 'I' and related terms makes you look egomaniac in your CV.
Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors

Proof read your CV until you are confident that it doesn't have any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. They are big put offs for the recruiters. Moreover, sometimes these mistakes might land you up in an embarrassing situation. A candidate who submitted his CV without proof reading it committed a mistake of wrongly spelling 'ask' as 'ass'. Now you can imagine the type of embarrassment he must have faced during the interview, when the interviewer pointed it out. These mistakes convey your lazy and careless attitude to the interviewer.
Lies about your candidature

Do not lie about your past jobs or qualifications or anything which might have an impact up on the job. You may be able to secure a job with these lies today but tomorrow you may lose it as well.

Not necessary that you have to say everything about yourself. You definitely have the right to remain silent but do not portray yourself as someone who you are not.
Abbreviations or jargons that are difficult to understand

People screening your resume usually belong to the HR department. If they do not understand what the abbreviations and jargons mean, they will simply dump your CV in the trash can. So, avoid over usage of such terms.

However, when you see the people from your domain for an interview, using these terms will demonstrate your familiarity with the area and give you better chances of getting hired.
Reasons for leaving the last jobs

Leave them to be discussed during the personal interview. For example, some candidates write, Reason for leaving the last job: Made Redundant. Avoid making such statements in your CV.
Any past failures or health problems

Mentioning these would reduce your chances of getting an interview call.

Suppose if you have a gap in your employment because you started your own business which did not do well. In this case, some candidates might write, Reason for gap in employment: Started own business which did not do well. Do not do this type of injustice with your job hunt.

It is better to leave these to be discussed during the interview, if asked.
Current or expected salary

Leave it to be discussed while negotiating the salary. Mentioning the expected salary or current salary until asked might cost you the opportunity if you look too costly or may get you badly paid if the employer was willing to pay you higher but you appeared as a cheaper alternative.
Irrelevant details

Leave out the details like marital status, gender, passport number, number of kids, age of kids. These are usually irrelevant for the interviewers but at times might be used as a basis of discrimination.
References
Do not include them until asked. It is not even required to mention the line "Reference available on request". You can provide the references if and when asked.