As you leave school or college and go about looking for a job and building a career, you’ll hear the term CV thrown around quite a lot. Sadly, some schools and colleges are so focused on your academic performance, or teaching you your particular skills, that they forget to prepare you for the big wide world of work and many students are unaware of even how to write a good CV. The fact is that no-matter what you want to do or what you’ve trained as or even how good you are – your CV will be, without doubt, the single most important part of getting a job.

Where to start?

Okay, so let’s start at the beginning. The C.V stands for Curriculum Vitae (which is Latin and just means your story) In America they call a CV a Resume – but it’s just the same thing. The CV is a list of your qualifications, work experience, achievements and progress during your ‘working career’. It does allow you to talk a little bit about your personal hobbies and interests, but this is only a very small part of a CV. It shows your name and contact details at the top and then lists all your work experiences in date order starting with your most recent at the top. But we’ll talk about structure a bit later on.

Layout and Length

So as a school or college leaver, you need to have a CV that you can send prospective employers. Let’s talk about the layout and length. Remember that some employers will want you to send them a hard-copy CV, one that is laid out in paper. Some jobs ask you to send your CV online, so you’ll need to have a CV that you can send as an attachment. Both will need to follow the same layout and length. So here we go.

Presentation goes a long way to impressing the reader. And for good reasons, because if you’ve taken care on the look and layout of your CV, then it shows you care. If it looks sloppy and has spelling mistakes, then why should an employer take you seriously? So, even if you don’t have lots of experience, there’s no reason why your CV can’t look smart.

Your CV should be about a page long (definitely no more than two pages) start with your name, address, phone numbers and mobile phone number if you have one.

After this you should start with your most recent work experience. So if you are currently doing a job or even a part-time job, start with this and date it from when you started. Then list any previous jobs or work experiences working backwards in date order. If you only have part-time jobs then put them down too. Try to bring out anything of interest that you have done in these jobs, or any skills you learnt. Try to show that you weren’t just ‘going through the motions’ at these jobs. If you don’t have very much work experience, show some events or experiences that you have taken part in; such as a sponsored run, or any courses you have been on.

Use a smart typeface such as Times New Roman, Arial or Verdana. These look good and are clear to read. 12 point is fine.
NB: if you are studying for a creative job, such as design or art direction, you can impress with your CV layout but you should make it smart and easy to read!

Your CV should be laid out under the following headings and sub-headings:
Name and contacts details
Put your name, e-mail, address and telephone contacts numbers

Work experience
List any work you have done from the present to your first job. Remember, it doesn’t have to have been paid work

Education and Qualifications
List your qualification and the schools or colleges you attained them. You can do this in date order for simplicity

Key skills
List any skills you have apart from you qualifications, i.e. – you are good with people or you have IT or nursing skills etc etc.

Personal interests
Take a few lines to show any hobbies or pastimes you have (if they relate to the job you are applying for, so much the better)

Referees
Name two people and their address (not relatives), who may be contacted by the employer for a reference.
Try to keep your CV interesting to read and informative. Not too long, but not too short either. And remember; remember to do a spell check. Bad spelling is a complete ‘no-no’ and it’s avoidable. Finally, get someone to read it over, preferably a course tutor or teacher, who can check the grammar and give you some feedback.
Once it’s ready, you can always amend it or add to it as your experience grows. Good luck.

Nice write up OP; but in additional, you must know man who knows man to make your CV effective irrespective of the course you studied

#IMO

Very necessary

it is important and might not be necessary

people have gotten jobs without one

Lol. @ the poster above.
I really don't know how to answer this.
Why is a cc important?.

It's important because it states hour profile in a say that people/ employers are able to know about you without being physically present there. You cannot be everywhere all of the time. So this piece of document represents your skills, capabilities, education and personal information.

Very important stuff.

hmm

they want to see how you can lie, for them the first day . like writing everything and referring them to your ancestors, what am I saying self

Good tutorial.

Thanks OP,you are blessed

valiantheartprod:
they want to see how you can lie, for them the first day . like writing everything and referring them to your ancestors, what am I saying self

you and nonsense statements are like

neweraomo:
you and nonsense statements are like

just discovered that you're clueless, can't you act like a gentle man that you're

To get work now for Nigeria Na connection, even to get food for party now,you must be connected. forget CV

O
OP- did you do any basic reasearch or you just woke up and typed the first things that came to your mind.
There is a lot of ignorance in your thread.
Frist of all CV stands for course of life- its latin term.
Secondly you mislead people when you say it is the same thing as resume.
No= it is not.
Resume is usually a page long, more popularly used in USA; CV is more commonly used in parts of europe and especially in Nigeria.

Resume from french meaning summary; so its shorter. Again a CV is and can be 2-4 pages long. You can include more than 2 referees. if I am an academic with pHD applying for a job to teach- i would submit about 4 referees for example to show my extensive work and research capacity.
a CV once again is not the same thing as a resume
it is longer than a page( a resume is usually a page)
a CV can have more than 2 references it includes a more detailed fact about you.

If i would advise i would say- dont include religion or gender in your cv or resume. also dont put telephone or email before the items. Those reading your cv can understand what an email and a telephone number without you referencing it.
finally mods please vet people before rushing to put their poorly researched topics on front page.

Very nice post, to spice it up, here are some other CV-related publications you might want to see.

See Websites Where You Can Submit Your CV To Land Your Dream Job

See How To Write An Interview-Fancy CV

How to save your CV on your smartphone

10 Easy Steps To Update Your CV

Thanks.

adesade:
As you leave school or college and go about looking for a job and building a career, you’ll hear the term CV thrown around quite a lot. Sadly, some schools and colleges are so focused on your academic performance, or teaching you your particular skills, that they forget to prepare you for the big wide world of work and many students are unaware of even how to write a good CV. The fact is that no-matter what you want to do or what you’ve trained as or even how good you are – your CV will be, without doubt, the single most important part of getting a job.
Where to start?
Okay, so let’s start at the beginning. The C.V stands for Curriculum Vitae (which is Latin and just means your story) In America they call a CV a Resume – but it’s just the same thing. The CV is a list of your qualifications, work experience, achievements and progress during your ‘working career’. It does allow you to talk a little bit about your personal hobbies and interests, but this is only a very small part of a CV. It shows your name and contact details at the top and then lists all your work experiences in date order starting with your most recent at the top. But we’ll talk about structure a bit later on.
Layout and Length
So as a school or college leaver, you need to have a CV that you can send prospective employers. Let’s talk about the layout and length. Remember that some employers will want you to send them a hard-copy CV, one that is laid out in paper. Some jobs ask you to send your CV online, so you’ll need to have a CV that you can send as an attachment. Both will need to follow the same layout and length. So here we go.
Presentation goes a long way to impressing the reader. And for good reasons, because if you’ve taken care on the look and layout of your CV, then it shows you care. If it looks sloppy and has spelling mistakes, then why should an employer take you seriously? So, even if you don’t have lots of experience, there’s no reason why your CV can’t look smart.
Your CV should be about a page long (definitely no more than two pages) start with your name, address, phone numbers and mobile phone number if you have one.
After this you should start with your most recent work experience. So if you are currently doing a job or even a part-time job, start with this and date it from when you started. Then list any previous jobs or work experiences working backwards in date order. If you only have part-time jobs then put them down too. Try to bring out anything of interest that you have done in these jobs, or any skills you learnt. Try to show that you weren’t just ‘going through the motions’ at these jobs. If you don’t have very much work experience, show some events or experiences that you have taken part in; such as a sponsored run, or any courses you have been on.
Use a smart typeface sch as Times New Roman, Arial or Verdana. These look good and are clear to read. 12 point is fine.
NB: if you are studying for a creative job, such as design or art direction, you can impress with your CV layout but you should make it smart and easy to read!
Your CV should be laid out under the following headings and sub-headings:
Name and contacts details
Put your name, e-mail, address and telephone contacts numbers
Work experience
List any work you have done from the present to your first job. Remember, it doesn’t have to have been paid work
Education and Qualifications
List your qualification and the schools or colleges you attained them. You can do this in date order for simplicity
Key skills
List any skills you have apart from you qualifications, i.e. – you are good with people or you have IT or nursing skills etc etc.
Personal interests
Take a few lines to show any hobbies or pastimes you have (if they relate to the job you are applying for, so much the better)
Referees
Name two people and their address (not relatives), who may be contacted by the employer for a reference.
Try to keep your CV interesting to read and informative. Not too long, but not too short either. And remember; remember to do a spell check. Bad spelling is a complete ‘no-no’ and it’s avoidable. Finally, get someone to read it over, preferably a course tutor or teacher, who can check the grammar and give you some feedback.
Once it’s ready, you can always amend it or add to it as your experience grows. Good luck.

fundamental differences between cv and resume
http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/curriculumvitae/f/cvresume.htm

As stated, three major differences between CVs and resumes are the length, the purpose and the layout. A resume is a brief summary of your skills and experience over one or two pages, a CV is more detailed and can stretch well beyond two pages. The resume will be tailored to each position whereas the CV will stay put and any changes will be in the cover letter.

A CV has a clear chronological order listing the whole career of the individual whereas a resume’s information can be shuffled around to best suit the applicant. I would say the main difference between a resume and a CV is that a CV is intended to be a full record of your career history and a resume is a brief, targeted list of skills and achievements.

Let’s revise:

CV – long, covers your entire career, static
Resume – short, no particular format rule, highly customisable

Usage around the world:

A resume is the preferred application document in the US and Canada. Americans and Canadians would only use a CV when applying for a job abroad or if searching for an academic or research oriented position.

In the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, a CV is used in all contexts and resumes aren’t used at all.

http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/cv-vs-resume-difference-and-when-use-which/

please we have lazy adults reading nairaland - dont mislead them and they in turn will mislead others and that how ignorant people become more than those who are not. and have you noticed ignorant people are more vocal and confident of their lack of knowledge.
young people will go and tell others - cv is the same as resume. or cv should only have 2 referees.

trademoore1:


http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/curriculumvitae/f/cvresume.htm

must you quote everything

Resume is for job seekers who have no experience (entry level ) and it's expected to be 2 pages max.
Resume is like an introduction document, you're to talk more about yourself than what you've done. Like your skills, qualifications etc

CV is a detailed document for job seekers who have experience. It is expected to be more detailed than resume(as you'll have a lot to say based on what you've done, where you've worked before) your family, research work etc.
Both CV & resume are not the same but similar in content.

CV is a summary of an applicants. Some employers ask applicants to state his/her objectives as state on the CV to know if he or she has lied or not to them amongst others.

Be it CV or Resume. It is better you composed a CV for yourself. One Cv mightn't fit all job applications so you need tailor your CV to the nature of job you are applying for...


But the Nigeria of today is so corrupt the people with good CV and brain without connection don't get the jobs. Those with poorly written Cv or even no Cv but have the right connections are working in top places.


It is well. I don't submit my CV to man, I submit it to God.

I don't have any work experience other than my I.T,,I don't know bigger people to put as referee,,,well am still waiting for NYSC sha,maybe when am done with it,,I will know what I can do,or what did you think I can do nairalanders?

It is well....
Just know somebody that knows somebody and that somebody knows another somebody... The rest is history
Leave CV matter

ibroh22:
I don't have any work experience other than my I.T,,I don't know bigger people to put as referee,,,well am still waiting for NYSC sha,maybe when am done with it,,I will know what I can do,or what did you think I can do nairalanders?

u can do some professional courses while serving

Thanks for this info........

U people should forget all des CV stuff. If u have who and what it takes, u will even be employed without a CV only to arrange dat later. No be Nigeria we dey.


I'm back anyway after an unwarranted ban for saying the truth.

Misskaycee21:


u can do some professional courses while serving

thanks,,that's good,,,,,,I don't think there are professional courses related to my course of study,i am an agricultural Engineer,,I have tried Google,, couldn't find any

Good... an eye-opener. For more comprehensive article and specific CV samples, read:

www..com/cv-samples/

www..com/complete-step-step-guide-writing-successful-cv/
.

Are you fresh in the labour workforce, or looking for a better paying job with a good offer and benefits:the first step to achieving this is to have an attractive Cv with all the modern trends in it. Contact a recruitment specialist today and upgrade your status.Call or whatsapp :07068269362 for further Enquiries..Also send a mail to careerupgrade16@gmail.com...Make the move now!..

Op nice one