It is hard work preparing a Curriculum Vitae or creating a personal history.

Do you need a CV draft? What kind of a CV should you prepare? What kind of a CV creates the highest chance of finding a job?

These questions occupy those who are new in the business world or are considering a change of occupation.

It is possible to find many Curriculum Vitae drafts or personal history drafts in the market. You will find a similar content in this text, but more importantly I will share my observations based on years of working as a person who evaluates CVs on the employer side.

How to create a good CV?

1. What matters in CVs is the content. Format is surely important, but it is important to know that even the best CV format in the world is not more important than the content.
2. Every CV is personal. Thus, a CV that is suitable for one person might not be able to tell the experience of another; or even worse, it may seem unnatural and create a negative impression.
3. The first step of writing a Curriculum Vitae that is suitable for you is your knowing yourself. So you need to know your strengths and weaknesses, and create the CV around these strengths.
4. You need to find your own story, meaning your area of expertise, in which direction you want to improve and what kind of a future you want; and your Curriculum Vitae should reflect all these.
5. You need to use clear and straightforward sentences in the Curriculum Vitae. This is one of the biggest mistakes I come across. Sentences that sound good but are complicated and meaningless will do you more harm than good.
6. The most important sentence in your CV is the first one. You need to write a sentence that introduces you; tells about your strengths and your future objectives; in short, tells who you are and indicates the roles you might be suitable for.
7. The main purpose of a Curriculum Vitae is to show your professional profile and competences in the shortest amount of time. So every sentence that enters a CV must earn its place. Make sure there aren’t sentences that repeat the same information to fill up space.
8. CV is a visual document, so you need to give importance to a visually good design. This includes many points from emphasizing important parts with bold or italics to having a correct title-ordering and how to place the dates of job change.
9. To make sure that you have a good Curriculum Vitae in your hands, you need to carefully consider your past experiences and remember which jobs you were successful at, and reflect the success on your CV.

Resources to Consult

I am sharing below the best 5 resources that offer CV examples you can use as empty example drafts.

1. https://www.theguardian.com/careers/cv-templates
2. https://www.overleaf.com/gallery/tagged/cv
3. https://www.monster.co.uk/career-advice/cv-writing-tips/cv-templates
4. https://www.cv-library.co.uk/career-advice/cv/cv-templates/
5. https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/example-cvs

Lastly, don’t forget that preparing a good CV is a matter of expertise, so you can consider getting professional support. Remember, a better Curriculum Vitae can open doors to a company that you wouldn’t otherwise get a chance with, and is one of the best investments for your future.

Further reading: How to Apply for a Job?