6. Downplay weaknesses:

While it's important to be honest in your CV, you can choose to minimize or omit certain weaknesses that are not relevant to the position or would detract from your overall qualifications. Focus on highlighting your strengths instead.

7. Highlight transferable skills: If you have skills  transferable to the position you are applying for, make sure to emphasize them in your CV. This can compensate for any perceived weaknesses in other areas.

8.Seek feedback: Before finalizing your CV, consider getting feedback from  colleagues you trust, supervisors , or professional CV writers. They can make valuable insights and ideas for highlighting your strengths and minimizing weaknesses. Remember, the aim of your CV is to present yourself as a strong and qualified candidate. By strategically showcasing your strengths and minimizing weaknesses, you can create a compelling document that demonstrates your gravity to potential employers.

How to state the correct  objective

An Objective determines what kind of job you would like to have. Generally, it is used when you are not responding to a specific advert but sending your CV so that a recruiter or HR manager will have a suitable job for you.

An Objective is placed  under your personal details.

For example,

Helen Brown 

[email protected], +39 640 7898 3456

Objective: Position as an editor of drama novels aimed at a female audience. 

You may simply wish to state what your career objective is, e.g.:

A career in  physics with a special focus on engineering. 

A position in teaching, specializing in helping children with learning disorders.

An Executive Summary

 An Executive Summary is made up if a person applies for a specific advertised job. It is a summary of who you are and enables a recruiter to get an instant idea of your qualifications and skills only by scanning  your CV.

 The secret of its success lies  in  highlighting your unique skills and achievements  that will distinguish you from other candidates.

 An Executive Summary can be sometimes called a Personal Profile, or Career Highlights.

 Like an Objective, it should  be placed  immediately below your personal details.

No heading is necessary  but it can be  put either on a light grey background or in a box.

Remember:  you are trying to sell yourself to the reader by  writing your Executive Summary or Personal Statement. However,  you should not exaggerate your abilities as otherwise you will seem less trustworthy. Thus, avoid  filling your statements with adjectives such as amazing, best, outstanding unless you can provide true evidence of such attributes.

Try to use words with  positive connotation such as achievement, active, evidence, experience.

Avoid using negative words such as bad, error, fault, hate, mistake, never, nothing, problem.

–  How to impress an interviewer with your education

If you completed your education several years ago, the Education section should appear after the Work Experience section and contain fewer details than the Work Experience section.

Here are some guidelines for the Education section:

– Start and end dates: Include the start and end dates of your education in reverse chronological order.

– University details: Provide the name and location of the institute, along with a web link to the institute or department.

– Degree type: Specify the type of degree you obtained.

– Coursework details: Briefly mention the coursework you completed during your education.

– University prestige: If you are sending your CV outside your own country, provide a link to a relevant page on the university's website to give the reader an idea of the level of prestige of the university or organization you attended. Here is an example of a typical layout for the Education section:

Education: 2020–2023 University of Manchester,

UK – Doctor of Philosophy in Information Engineering

– Research in greening the Internet.

Elective coursework included enhanced Internet architecture employing advanced communication service paradigms, protocols, and algorithms targeted at the optimization of energy consumption. Dissertation "A radical energy-aware application for wireless energy reduction" advised by Professor Giuseppe Verdi.

2017–2020 University of Santiago, Chile – Bachelor of Science degree (5-year course) in Electrical Engineering – Engineering coursework included continuous and discrete systems and signal processing, analog and digital circuit design, and computational theory.

Undergraduate thesis project "Wireless Enabled Context Awareness for the Future

Internet."

Note from the example above:

– The information is in reverse chronological order.

– The candidate has not mentioned her high school.

– The candidate completed a 5-year course for her Bachelor's degree, which is longer than the standard 3-year course.

– The candidate only mentioned her thesis title without providing further details because it is self-explanatory. If you finished your education after your first degree and are now looking for your first job, it is normal and acceptable to include your high school. However, if you subsequently completed a Master's or PhD, mentioning your high school may not be necessary.

If the name of your high school is in your native language and does not provide useful information to the hiring manager, you can simply mention the specialization or write "generic studies" if there was no specialization. You can also include your final score or percentage if applicable. Additionally, you may include other relevant courses you attended that are pertinent to the job you are applying for and would benefit the position you are seeking. Provide details about the course, what it was focused on, and any notable achievements or skills gained during the course. In summary, the Education section should be organized in a reverse chronological order with necessary details about your education and highlighted coursework or additional courses relevant to the position you are applying for.

– How to make  your work experience sound relevant

 If you finished your education several years ago, it is advisable to place this section before your Education section and provide more comprehensive details.

When describing your work experience within a company, use the same format as in the Education section.

Start by stating the company's name, location, and your position within the organization. Then, provide a detailed account of your responsibilities and accomplishments, highlighting how they align with the requirements of the job you are presently applying for. Just like the Education section, make sure to present everything in reverse chronological order.

2020 – Present:

Tshwane University of Technology (www.tut.ac.za ), South Africa University Lecturer

– Prepare and teach software engineering subjects, including Systems Analysis and Design, OO Analysis and Design using UML, SQL & PL\SQL, Data Engineering, OO Programming, Object-Oriented Software Engineering, and Project Management.

– Design and develop distributed Systems for 2nd and 3rd year students, as well as Advanced PL\SQL for Final Year Computer Science and Software Development Students.

2017–2020: Vodacom Congo SpRL, DRC Information Systems Specialist (Intern)