There are endless questions and opinions on the subject of CVs. What is a curriculum vitae actually, and how do you make yours stand out from all the rest?

A curriculum vitae (or a résumé) is an advert of your skills, career history, experience and achievements. The goal of your CV is to gain you an interview.

Step 1: Keep the following in mind…

• Keep your CV short and easy to scan
• A maximum length of 2-3 pages is ideal
• Make sure your headings are easy to read
• Bullet points are great for listing skills, experience, etc.
• Use short, concise sentences.

Step 2: Layout and design

Paper and ink

As tempting as it is to be creative, it?s best to use normal white A4 paper and black ink for your CV. Remember that the people working with your CV (for example potential employers or agencies) will often want to photocopy or fax it. This may sound dated in today?s world of email, but it?s better to be safe than sorry!

E-mail and file types

If you?re sending your CV by e-mail, use a common format like MS Word or PDF. You can convert a Word document to PDF in the 2010 version of Word, or by using a free downloaded programme like OpenOffice Writer or CutePDF.

Fonts and document layout

It?s vital to use a standard font that is common to almost all computers and devices – unusual fonts tend to display badly and create an unprofessional impression. Choose an easy-to-read font like Arial.

Best practices:

• Use a sans-serif font
• Use one font throughout your CV
• Font size for body text should be 11-12 (don?t use too many different font sizes)
• Bold your headings
• Use italics if necessary
• Make sure there is enough white space (paragraph spacing and margins) to keep your CV clean and uncluttered
• Number your pages
• Put your name in the footer.

Step 3: Contact details

First things first: your name goes at the top of the page in big letters!

Follow this with your contact details: address, e-mail address, contact numbers, etc. Choose your contact details carefully – you don?t want prospective employers calling/ e-mailing you at your current place of work!

If you?re putting your CV online, it?s best to provide an e-mail address rather than phone numbers and addresses in order to protect your privacy and security.

What you don?t need to put on your CV (unless it?s been specified)

• Photos
• Health status
• Disabilities
• Family details

Step 4: Mission statement

Your mission statement is your introduction. It should be a short paragraph or a sentence expressing who you are, your experience, and what you?re looking for.

For example:

• Hospitality graduate with two years? experience in 5-star game lodge and city hotel, seeking a position in food service on a European cruise liner.
• Guest house manager with three years? experience in managing an internationally recognised guest house, seeking to join the management team of a Drakensberg resort.

Your mission statement should be tailored to each position you apply for.

Step 5: Skills

This is your time to shine! A great way to do this is to use a table for showcasing four types of skills:

• Core skills
• Value-added skills
• Technical/software skills
• Miscellaneous skills.

[fourcol_one]Core Skills
(Confectionary)
Pastries
Specialty cakes
Breads
Biscuits
Macaroons
Desserts[/fourcol_one] [fourcol_one]Value-added skills
(Management)
Kitchen Management
Hiring of staff
Budgeting
Inventory and orders[/fourcol_one] [fourcol_one]Tech Skills

MS Word
Excel
Adobe Photoshop
Blogging
Social Media[/fourcol_one] [fourcol_one_last]Miscellaneous

Drivers license
First Aid
French (spoken)

[/fourcol_one_last] This concise way of showing your skills makes it easy for prospective employers to read and pick out what interests them.

Step 6: Career history

Work backwards starting with your current job first. State the month and year you began working with the organisation, the name of the company, and your job title.

Duration with company: January 2009 – present

Company: The Greatest Cake Bakery

Position: Pastry chef/Bakery manager

Then explain what the company does and summarise what you?ve done there. This includes your responsibilities and achievements. Use a list (bullet points work well here) and verbs (rather than “I” and “my”) to show what you did.

• Produced wedding cakes for 35 society weddings
• Catered confectionery for numerous gallery openings and locally-hosted international exhibitions
• Managed staff, budgets, kitchens and production.

Do

• Explain “gaps” (for example: studying, travel, maternity leave, etc.)
• Provide only the basics about old/potentially irrelevant jobs and temp work
• Include relevant work experience (such as an internship at a French patisserie)
• Elaborate on details that are important to your line of work without giving away private company information (e.g. increased annual turnover 20% each year).

Step 7: Training

List relevant training, professional certification, and any memberships.

Step 8: Education

Provide education details starting with your most recent qualifications. Follow these with tertiary education courses, and then school. Give brief details of relevant courses and leave out information on unfinished courses and failed exams. You don?t need to list grades/marks unless you?re applying for a post-grad course.

Step 9: Hobbies and interests

This one?s controversial! These can add interest to you as a potential candidate. Be wise about what you choose to share. Hobbies like volunteer and charity work may show useful skills and initiative.

Step 10: References

For references, it?s quite acceptable to put “available on request”. When a potential employer asks for references you can supply those you believe are most relevant. If you prefer to note down your references; name two people, their positions and their companies.

If you?ve just finished school or tertiary studies, have one reference that?s non- academic. Make sure to check that your references are happy to be references and let them have a copy of your CV.

Step 11: Covering letter

1. Explain why you?re writing (e.g.are you responding to an advert you saw online?)
2. Quote the job title/reference number
3. State why you?re interested, what you can contribute to the company, and talk about your strengths
4. Use the terminology you read in the advert/job description
5. Research the company and show you know something about their products/services
6. Keep the letter to under a page
7. Do not present yourself as a mass mailer/e-mailer.

Step 12: Finally..

• Always be truthful
• Ask for feedback from family, friends, and people you trust
• Check your spelling
• Print your CV to make sure it looks good and reads well in printed form
• Keep your CV updated.

For all the ins and outs of preparing a professional CV, check out Daniell Morrisey?s How to prepare a killer CV.