curriculum vitae: form and content

The curriculum vitae (CV) is a two-page document in which you provide information about yourself, your education and your work experience.

• Structure it so that it is easy to read and clear.
• Put your name and the page number in the footer.
• Make sure that the periods and other dates are correct.

What a good CV contains

• Your name + mobile number and email address.
• A clear, carefully considered professional goal is essential for a strong CV. Make sure that your goal grabs the reader’s attention on the first page. The goal should fit in with the ad or vacancy to which you are responding – it certainly won’t do any harm to adapt your CV to the company to which you are applying.
• Summarise your work experience, in reverse chronological order. Give your most recent experience the most space. Ensure that your major achievements are consistent with your goal and the vacancy to which you are responding. Don’t mention everything, put pick out the relevant points: no tedious job descriptions, but an account of how you succeeded in the job. Make sure that you arouse the reader’s curiosity: you have to be your own salesperson here.
• Only mention education, training and qualifications that are relevant given your age.
• To describe your language skills, use a clear grading system that everyone will understand: mother tongue, very good, good, sound basic knowledge. You don’t need to distinguish between reading, writing and spoken skills.
• IT knowledge: you should definitely mention these if you were born before 1970. Use a separate section for MS Office. Obviously, this section is superfluous for IT specialists.
• Miscellaneous: state your date of birth, address, nationality and marital status. If you have any interesting hobbies, mention them. Avoid cycling, walking or reading: try to arouse curiosity and create points of contact.