Writing a professional CV

CVs are supposed to be a representation of your BEST SELF, all your achievements, and incredible successes throughout your career. However, the thought of listing these responsibilities, or merely gathering information to compile your CV, can be relatively mundane and exhausting.

Let us make this easier, here are some tips for a writing great CV reflecting your BEST SELF.

1. CV layout – this consists of the following:

• Personal summary – A well-articulated write-up on the skills you are able to bring to the organisation and how you can utilise and improve on said skill.
• Contact details – Phone number, email address, location.
• Experience – Starting with your most recent.
• Education – University, qualification, date. Starting with most recent.
• Skills – A list of skills relating to the chosen career.
• Languages.

2. Content of your CV

• Powerful bullet points – Most people only describe duties and responsibilities. The description of your responsibilities should be more than just a list, therefore, this part requires more creativity.
• Achievement-based and not task-based. Instead of listing responsibilities, list your achievements by changing the tense of your responsibility. For example: “Increasing sales with advertising” can be changed to “Increased sales with advertising”. Let us take this new achievement one step further by adding an adverb, leaving the achievement to read “Efficiently increased sales with advertising.”
• When writing your bullet point, think of them as an opportunity to promote:
  • The skills you have developed or
  • The results that have occurred from your actions.
• The STAR Method, commonly used as an interview tactic throughout companies across the world, at Advaita Vidya we use this method for writing our well-renowned achievement-based CVs.

The STAR Method used as a guideline in CV writing clearly demonstrates your skills, achievements and capability.

Situation - Describe the problem faced.

Task - Describe the task and responsibility

Action - Action Taken

Result - What was the result and how did the company benefit.

The method must not be applied to every achievement due to the bullet point being too long, therefore, divide the STAR technique and prepare smaller bullets points based on it. For example, break down the achievement into ‘Situation & Task’ and thereafter ‘Action and Result’.

Let us take a look at some achievements that have been creatively improved on using STAR Method:

Example 1
Original – Acquiring partners for the company’s website.
New Bullet – Strategically acquired 15 new partners monthly for the company, resulting in a revenue growth of 100% over 6 months.

Example 2
Original – Responsible for handling a high volume of inbound customer requests per day.
New Bullet – Successfully managed 50 – 70 inbound customer requests per day, ranking in the top 5% for all support associates in 2017.

Example 3
Original – Maintaining good relations within existing partners.
New Bullet – Stringently managed 20 accounts in a high-earning consulting firm.

Example 4
Original – Preparing email campaigns.
New Bullet – Collaborated with sales and marketing departments to optimise email campaigns and achieved a 50% growth in monthly turnover.

3. Avoid generic statements such as ‘Great Teamwork skills or ‘Have good communication skills.’

Rather write about what you have done to help the team, or what did the team accomplish thanks to your efforts. The answers to these questions are more valuable than just listing ‘Great Teamwork’.

4. Simple is sweet – Avoid using company logos. Too many formats confuse the reader, looks untidy and illegible. Consistency is key - keep all format consistent and simple.

We hope this read has raised a few ‘aha’ moments.

Because the ball is in your court….

Because you hold the value…

Because NO ONE knows what YOU DO better THAN YOU…