What to put in a CV Part 1
Is understanding why CV’s are difficult to write, the key to writing one?
If you’re finding it hard to write your CV, then you’re not alone. Even the name, ‘curriculum vitae’, sounds daunting somehow. Most people put off writing one until it can’t be put off any longer. A quick google brings back a myriad of confusing and conflicting information available on what to include, what not to include and how to include it and yet many people still struggle with their CV.
Shouldn’t it be easy to write? You know yourself, you know your skills, you know your experience and you know what you have to offer a prospective employer?
A CV is all about marketing yourself to others. Read that sentence again. A CV is all about marketing yourself to others. This sounds easy, as you know yourself don’t you? However, and this is why I think people struggle with writing CV’s, they don’t actually know who they are and therefore what they are marketing. Think about that for a minute. Have you ever been asked “Who are you?”, “What are your skills”, and the all-important question “Why should I interview YOU?”. People don’t ask those specific questions and yet, these are the hidden questions a CV is trying to answer.
You are not marketing the person you think an organisation wants to hire.
You are marketing who you are, what you are offering i.e., what skills you have and why a perspective employer/recruiter should interview you. By answering these questions about yourself, you have the foundations of your CV. With the answers to hand, a CV becomes less daunting and easier to write.
In Part 2 we’ll look at how to answer these hidden questions.
