A good CV in five steps

a good cv

How do you make a strong resume? A resume, or curriculum vitae, is a summary of your professional life. It consists only of facts. Based on this, an employer can see whether you are a good fit for the company in terms of experience and personality. Often employers receive hundreds of applications per month, which means they don’t have that much time to look at all of the resumes. That is why it is important that your CV stands out, is clear and at the same time tells something about your personality. But… making a good resume, how do you actually do that?

5 tips to make a legible resume

An employer shouldn’t spend too much time on every resume, but he should get all the important information. That is why it is important to design your CV as well as possible. Below are a few tips to help you with that.

1. Create an overview

Use recognizable subheadings, such as experience, study, and competencies. In addition, it is important to make the job titles bold.

2. Make your resume eye-catching, but keep it business-like

By using a nice layout, your resume stands out from the crowd. Make sure you don’t overdo it because it remains business correspondence.

3. Keep it short

Don’t make your resume longer than 1 to 2 pages unless you have a very long career. If you have not been on the labor market for that long, stick to 1 page.

4. Put the most important thing on page 1

Put your work experience in a non-chronological order; your most recent employer at the top and that is how you work down. Do not use too much space for your personal details, so that you have more space for more important information.

5. Create a profile

You can also describe your strengths on page 1. Make sure these match the vacancy and use your own words. Keep the profile at a maximum of 3 lines.

Create a resume at National Vacancy Bank

Apply online? You can also make a curriculum vitae at National Vacancy Bank. You only have to go through a few steps and you will create a professional resume. It is immediately ready to use. Create your resume now? Then click here.

Do you find it difficult to prepare an effective resume?

Then you can choose to first send your document to a professional recruiter. He or she knows exactly what the reader of your CV is paying attention to and how you can ensure that your work experience makes an impression. You will then receive feedback on the layout, content, and structure. This is possible from € 35, -. You can read more about this service here.

The general content of a resume

Everything you do and has done is important in your life. However, you have to ask yourself whether it is also relevant to the position you want to have. Therefore, only mention the details that are important for the vacancy.

1. State relevant experience

Also, list your strengths and experiences that you may not have qualifications from. If they fit the vacancy, they are important to be seen. Are you a carpenter and do you also have experience with welding? Put that in your resume. Have you only just started looking at the labor market, but do you already have experience with board positions in associations? Call this also.

2. Content per topic

A number of important topics are discussed in a well-arranged CV. Of course, you will find information about your work experience here, but you can also mention the languages you speak.

3. Profile sketch

With a profile, you show the employer what to expect from you.
Look in the vacancy for keywords that suit you. Choose the three most important ones and process them (in your own words) in your profile.
Avoid clichés such as flexible and a team player. Use your own words that suit you.
Show who you are as a person.
Do others, such as friends and colleagues also recognize you in your profile? Maybe they can complement or help you articulate something better?

4. Work experience

State the name and location of the company where you worked. Also, write down the position you held there.
Tell us what you achieved with your previous employer. For example, give numbers or say something about awards you have received.
Show that you have grown in your work experience. You do this by showing that you have learned something new each time from the different employers.

5. Training

Put your most recent education at the top and work down, so that your first education is at the bottom
Have you obtained a diploma? Then state the official name of this diploma.

6. Languages

Only make a separate heading for this if you speak at least one foreign language reasonably or well.
Indicate your level for each language, both orally and in writing.

7. Competences

For many fields, it is useful to list your competencies.

Indicate for each point what your strengths are or which skills you master.
Avoid words such as ‘centipede’, ‘multitasker’, or ‘team player’. Try to use your own words here. After all, the resume is about you.

8. Other

Under this heading, you can name everything that you have nowhere else to say, but that is important.
For example, state your hobbies, volunteer work, and computer skills here.
Don’t indulge too much. Only list the relevant things that say something positive about you.

Check everything

Making a resume also means making sure everything is correct. Mistakes are careless and give the impression that you are not careful.

Use the spelling checker of the text program you are using.
Read your text out loud, from start to finish. This allows you to discover errors that the spelling checker does not see.
Let others read your resume. Preferably have this done by people who know you well so that they can supplement or improve you.

Create a digital resume

A PDF file

Are you going to send the resume by e-mail? Then turn it into a PDF file. It sometimes happens that a text file looks different on one person than another. Your layout always remains the same in a PDF file.

Upload your resume

Uploading a resume is best done from a Word file. Use photos and colored blocks as little as possible. This produces the best match. After uploading, you will be given the option to add additional files, such as a photo, diplomas, a portfolio, or a beautifully formatted PDF CV.

Customize the file name

Also, remember the file name of your resume when you upload it. Employers can take advantage of this when they are screening for CVs. They look at the titles in the database to make a possible match. A title such as’ Account manager seeks commercial position in international trade ‘is more noticeable than’ Annelies’ CV ‘. So change the name of your resume before uploading it.

A good CV in five steps