Essential Elements of an Effective CV

Your curriculum vitae (CV) is your professional summary. It`s like a mirror reflecting your education, qualifications, achievements and rewards. The more effective is your CV, greater is your chances to grab the opportunity! We often take the help of various sites to write our CV. A good CV is one which reflects all your passion and caliber. There are some common errors in most of the CV. As an HR, I came across various CV. Where, I found some thing which I would like to share with you. So, that next time when you design your CV, make sure it`s having all the essential elements in it.

• The reader must not put effort in searching the necessary details like your contact number, location, years of experience.
• Don`t put unnecessary details describing your summer training project in college or any essay competition; making your CV lengthy.
• Make sure the contact number given remains with you for longer; so that you may contacted through that, years after.
• Don`t forget giving your right D.O.B. and fill all your academic details truly.
• Put focus on your achievements and rewards. It cover-up your academic demerits, if any.

The essential elements of an effective CV are as follows:

• Your Name should be at the top in bold along with your contact number, e-mail id and location. The e-mail id should be hyperlinked so that when the person clicks it, it automatically opens by default. There must not be any extra space in your e-mail id so that when it gets converted into pdf file, it may not need to be formatted. Always try to give two contact numbers. You can also mention in bracket your Wats App number. As you can be in touch with the Hr anytime in this way.
• Career objective must be there – It demonstrates your perspective towards the work. Career objective should also demonstrate your positive attitude towards work. Highlight your short term and long term experience with the organization. Show your creativity by writing in your own words instead of doing mere copy-paste.

• Project Details – It represents the work done by you so far during your projects. Add only relevant projects. Suppose, you are applying for the role of a web developer. You must add the projects related to that role. So, that it catches the attention of the recruiter in the first view. You can add 2-3 projects but it should not be more than one page. If you are applying for java role then you should add only java projects. Mention the duration of your project as well. If you are highly experienced; then make a short summary of just few important projects. Add them in bullet points.
• Software Skills/ Technical Skills – It helps the recruiter to shortlist your profile. One can easily match his/her requirements with your skills given. It shows the tools you have worked on so far or learnt in college. Categorize it under different sub-categories like Programming languages, Database skills, Tools and Platform, Operating System
• Extra curricular activities – It shows all your achievements and rewards. Always highlight your personality through this. Even if you are not good at academic, you can make your impression through this. You might have won inter-college competition in debate which demonstrates your speaking ability. You might have worked as a brand ambassador in your college promoting any product or any start-up business. These things enhance the probability of getting selected.
• Educational Profile – All your academic details are here. Right from class 10^th till Masters/Ph.D.; mostly P.G. and Graduation is important. If your educational qualification is consistent. Mention your year of passing; you can also mention your marks if you were a high scorer. If there is gap in your education then don`t mention the year of passing. You may also add any certification course, if done.
• Personal Profile – Fields like your father`s name, permanent address, D.O.B., Marital Status, Nationality, Languages known; comes under this category. It is there for administrative purpose. Make sure your date of birth is in the right format. Write it as 1st Feb 1990 instead of writing 01/02/90 or 02/01/90. It creates unnecessary fuss in the mind of the reader. If you have a valid visa then mentions that also. Sometimes, you get selected based on the availability of your visa.
• Keep your resume short, up to two pages.
• Add your project details in annexure.
• Write your work experience in reverse chronological order.
• Mention your notice period. Your selection depends on the duration of your notice period as well.
• Postal address must be in the top corner.

There are different skill set like, web developer, testing, java and based on this, the CV does vary too. Here are some of the samples, which would give you a fair idea of writing an effective CV.