What type of CV is best for me?

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What type of CV is best for me?

1. CV or résumé?
2. So call it a CV!
3. The ‘Functional CV’
4. The ‘Chronological CV’
5. The ‘Targeted CV’
6. The ‘Combination CV’
7. The ‘On-line scannable CV’

1. CV or résumé?

The Latin term curriculum vitae (often abbreviated CV) is used preferentially in many countries. Curriculum vitae is Latin meaning "course of life" and résumé is French meaning "summary". In UK, North America, Australia, and India the terms "résumé" and "CV" are used interchangeably. However, there are subtle differences of principle.

oRésumé

A résumé (or resume) more often has a free-form organisational style and may begin with a ‘Personal Profile’ or statement about a personal goal, followed by a list of most important accomplishments or characteristics in order of significance. A résumé may or may not be represented by the person as an entire history of themselves without omission.

oCurriculum vitae

A curriculum vitae, on the other hand, often includes complete and unembellished lists of data such as educational institutions attended, degrees and qualifications received, professional affiliations, positions held, publications authored, etc. A curriculum vitae usually implies that there are no omissions, and in particular, no time gaps between recorded items.

The résumé or CV is typically the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker, and therefore a large amount of importance is placed on it. The CV or résumé will be used to screen the job application, and if that is successful, is often followed by an interview.

2. So call it a CV!

In the UK, it is best if you refer to the document as a CV - and this will be a synopsis typically limited to one or two pages of size A4 highlighting only those experiences and credentials that you consider most relevant to the position, company or organisation you are applying for.

You can organise your CV in three different ways

‘functional CV’,
‘chronological CV’, or
‘targeted CV’.

3. The functional CV

A ‘functional CV’ (similar to the ‘Résumé we described above) lists your work experience and skills, sorted by skill area or job function.

The functional CV is used to focus on experience or skills that are specific to the type of work you are applying for, without being specific to a particular position. This style of CV emphasises your main skills and strengths and does not highlight who you worked for and what your job title was. It directly highlights your specific professional capabilities and communicates your professional competency.

This style works well when:

You are applying for a position that requires a very specific skill set or clearly defined personality traits.
You are entering the job market for the first time.
You are entering the job market after a longish break.
You are making a career change and your past and present positions are of no relevance to your future ambitions.
Your career to date consists of a variety of jobs, most of which are unconnected.
You have held a number of job titles, but the work has been similar. (Using this style avoids lengthy repetition of the same information.)
Most of your work has been freelance, part-time or you have worked on a number of temporary assignments.
You are self employed and want to present the range of areas in which you have experience.

A functional CV can be useful when you have a speculative motive, in other words, when you don’t have a specific job or position in mind. For example, you can place this type of CV online or send to agencies as a way of ‘fishing’ the market for a range of different positions.

4. The chronological CV

You would use a ‘Chronological CV’ to present your job experiences in reverse date order. It basically presents a picture of what you have done thereby implicitly stating what you are able to do.

The chronological CV is by far the most common layout in use. In using this format, the main body of your document becomes a Professional Experience section, starting with your most recent job first and going chronologically backwards through a succession of previous jobs and experience. The chronological CV works well to build your credibility through the recent experience you can demonstrate, while illustrating the way your career has grown and developed over time. In the UK the chronological CV tends to extend as far back as GCSE/ Standard Grade qualifications.

This style of CV is useful when:

You have worked for well-known organisations with good reputations.
Your previous job titles and track record are impressive.
You intend to stay in the same field of work.
Your career history shows strong progression and growth.

5. The targeted CV

You would use this style of CV, as the title suggests, when you are aiming for one specific position, presumably already advertised as ‘situation vacant’. As such, your CV would be written with the job and position in mind. Although much of the content of your CV may be the same as in the other two styles, you would have to tailor this one accordingly. You would need to give greater emphasis to details that relate specifically to the job in question.

Adopting this style will, by its nature, mean that you are likely to need a number of versions of your CV, which you adapt accordingly. A good idea is to create a CV master file, including any details which may be relevant to many applications. Print this out and then use red ink to customise it to the particular position you are applying for.

The targeted CV has most impact with the recruiter and each time you apply for a specific job your CV should be customised to suit that position. This requires assessing the position you are applying for and ascertaining the key strengths which you can apply to the role. Be aware of the ideal person the employer is looking for and try matching your CV as closely as possible to a basic imaginary profile of that individual.

6. The combination CV

The combination CV balances the functional and chronological approaches. A CV organised this way typically leads with a functional list of job skills, followed by a chronological list of employers. Although some HR specialists argue that the combination CV has a tendency to repeat itself and is therefore less efficient than the other two forms, for professionals, a combination of the two is appropriate. Your CV would then take the sequence of (i) a profile, followed by (ii) a skills-based summary page, followed by (iii) a chronology of your experience. The templates we provide on our website are based on the ‘targeted combination’ approach.

7, Online ‘scannable’ CVs

The Internet has brought about a new approach for delivering CVs. Over recent years the search for employment has become more electronic and CVs have followed suit. It is not uncommon now for employers to only accept CVs electronically, either out of practicality or preference. This electronic dynamic has changed much about the way CVs are written, read, and handled.

Things you should know about online CVs are:

§You will need to choose a file format in which to hold your CV. Many employers, especially recruitment agencies acting on their behalf, insist on receiving CVs only as Microsoft Word documents. Others will only accept CVs formatted in HTML or PDF. The best thing is to write your CV in Microsoft Word, which can be used as an e-mail attachment, or converted to PDF if required. You should be aware, however, that recruiters may not open your CV attachment in the same font that you used, and your CV may not look as you intended. (With some versions of Microsoft Word you have the option to “Embed TrueType fonts’ as you save the document. You should refer to your software’s ‘Help’ menu for more details of how to do this.)
Many potential employers now find candidates' CVs through search engines, which makes it crucially important for you to use appropriate keywords when writing your CV.
By including an e-mail address in your online CV you may become exposed to spam. To guard against unwanted “junk e-mail” to your usual e-mail account, you could open a web-based e-mail solely for the purpose of job applications. Incidentally, don’t give the e-mail address of where you currently work – you obviously face the risk of your current boss intercepting e-mails from recruiters!
Delivering your CV online also gives you the ability to distribute to multiple employers simultaneously via Internet.
Another advantage to Internet CVs is the significant cost savings to employers of saving time and energy in recruitment over traditional recruitment methods. Until the development of CVs in the electronic format, employers would have to sort through huge stacks of paper to find suitable candidates without any way of sifting out the poor candidates. With modern technology, employers now have software to sift through masses of CVs setting search parameters to only select those CVs showing selected keywords. Again, this makes it important for you to use appropriate key words when writing your CV.
For more information about on-line CVs please refer to our free download guide: ‘How to Write a Computer Friendly CV’.