Curriculum Vitae and Cover Letter

As we all know CVs and cover letters are important components in applying to a job. Regardless of the educations, knowledge or the vast experience possessed by a person which can be even overly suited for the particular job, if these 2 elements are not presented in a accurately, none of the companies will hire for the job. Therefore it’s important to gain knowledge in what exactly these documents are and how to write an appropriate CV and a cover letter

Cover letter

As stated by Prospects UK (2013), a cover letter is known as the precedence of a CV, which helps to highlight the contents of the CV. It mainly emphasized on the strengths and abilities of the applicant and highlights as to why that job is necessary and give proof and emphasis to why the company should actually hire the applicant. It is a document demonstrating the writing skills and styles of the applicant and a way of making a statement about oneself. University of Kent (2014) states that in accordance with a survey done in US, 42.9% of employers requested for cover letters from candidates. Details such as skills from the job description, clarity, additional details from the CV, personal vision and uniqueness are investigated through a cover letter by the employees.

Writing a cover letter should be done after much thought. When considering the length University of Kent (2014) states that surveys show 46% of employers preferred half page while 24% employers stated that the shorter the better. Hence marketing and proving the worth of oneself within the limited space is definitely a challenging mission. The following image describes some tips when writing a proper cover letter.

Figure 1 - Tips for writing a cover letter (University of Kent, 2014)

Binghamton University (2014) state that in order to write a strong cover letter, knowledge about organizational background and highlighting important words and phrases should be done. The acceptable format of writing a cover letter is illustrated in the image below

Figure 2 - Format of a cover letter (Bingham University, 2014)

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

University of Kent (2014) describes CVs as an “outline of a person’s education and professional history”. CVs are a marketing tool designed to market the applicant by valuing and selling the skills, abilities, strengths, qualifications, and experience to the employer. It is a way of providing proof and confidence for the employers in order to hire the applicant. Similar to the cover letter, CVs too should be written contributing much thought and in an appropriate format.

Although according to the requirements of the employers or applications the information included can be changed, according to Prospects UK (2013), a typical CV should cover the following areas

·         Contact details – name, address, phone number and email

·         Knowledge – educational and professional qualifications, institutions attended and dates

·         Skills and competencies – ability to do team work, communication skills, language skills etc.

·         Work related experience

·         Referees – 2 non related referees

University of Kent (2014) states that when choosing referees, an academic referee (tutor, project supervisor) and a former employer (if applicable) should be selected. However it’s important to ensure that the referees included are people who know you well enough to give positive feedback about you. University of Kent (2014) further states that the references are usually used after the first interview and not for initial screening and interview.

In order to accomplish in writing an excellent CV, University of Auckland (2014) states some general principles that can be followed.

v  Should not exceed 2-4 pages. Keep it concise

v  Use clean, plain white paper for printing the CV

v  A clear, comprehensible and a professional font styles, sizes and colors should be used

v  Check and recheck for spelling and grammar

v  Avoid using slang, casual words and abbreviations

v  Attach the CV from the top left corner to make photocopying easier

v  Include exceptional details and achievements about you

v  The important details should be prominent and easy to find

As stated above, there are certain areas that is needed to be covered by the CV. However when considering the structure of writing the CV, the author discovered that there are many ways in writing and the dependency of the style is based on factors such as country, industry/company, pre-stated requirements etc. As per given by the lecturer, the following is the structure of writing a CV.

·         Introduction to yourself (name, contact details)

·         Objectives

·         Experience – employment, past projects

·         Skills

·         Achievement (can include school achievements if it is directly relevant)

·         Personal values/quotes that represent you

·         School attended and Ordinary Level and Advanced Level results

·         Involvements in school clubs/societies/activities

·         Other bio details (civil status, gender, nationality, NIC number)

·         Referees

The following image was distributed among the students which contained some interesting facts about CVs.

Figure 3 - Interesting Facts on Resumes (Yong, 2013)

References

Binghmton University. 2014. WRITING COVER LETTERS. [e-book] New York: Binghamton University. Available through: http://www2.binghamton.edu/career-development-center/quick-reference-guides/cover-letter.pdf [Accessed: 21 Jan 2014].

Prospects UK. 2013. Cover letter samples and writing advice | Prospects.ac.uk. [online] Available at: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cover_letters.htm [Accessed: 21 Jan 2014].

Prospects UK. 2013. CVs and cover letters: How to write a CV | Prospects.ac.uk. [online] Available at: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/how_to_write_a_cv.htm [Accessed: 21 Jan 2014].

University Of Auckland. 2014. How to write a great CV - The University of Auckland. [online] Available at: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/for/current-students/cs-career-planning/applying-jobs-starting-work/preparing-cv.html [Accessed: 21 Jan 2014].

University Of Kent. 2014. How to write a successful covering letter. [online] Available at: http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/coveringletters.htm [Accessed: 21 Jan 2014].

University Of Kent. 2014. How to write a successful CV. [online] Available at: http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv.htm [Accessed: 21 Jan 2014].

Yong, J. 2013. The Anatomy Of A Great Résumé - DesignTAXI.com. [online] Available at: http://designtaxi.com/news/355860/The-Anatomy-Of-A-Great-R-sum/ [Accessed: 21 Jan 2014].