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10 min czytania 27 October 2022

Resume – what it is

The abbreviation CV is derived from the Latin words “curriculum vitae”. Loosely translated, it means “course of life.” In short, curriculum vitae is a professional resume.

We usually describe in it:

• work experience,
• skills, competencies, education
• completed schools,
• qualifications
• achievements.

We often use the abbreviation CV and the full name “curriculum vitae” interchangeably to denote the same document, i.e. a professional resume. Speaking of curriculum vitae, it is worth noting that this is not our full autobiography. It is a document containing personal information, education or our work experience.

A resume is usually associated with a new job. It is one of the first stages of recruitment, which allows the potential employer to get to know us and see if we are suitable candidates for the position.

Your CV should be written in such a way that it best represents your skills and experience. Keep in mind that it is intended to interest the employer in our person. Therefore, it is worth giving it adequate time and attention. The first thing to do is to figure out what we expect from our application. Do we want to get an interview or get a job offer?

In summary, a cv is generally created with a view to applying for a selected job offer. However, keep in mind that it can also be useful in situations such as:

• if we want to send a candidacy to a company to add us to the database
• if we want to register with a Labor Office or Employment Agency
• if we want to create a profile on Linkedin, for example, or add an online resume to a website

Therefore, it is worth remembering to always have our current and well-structured resume among the files.

What a resume should contain?

As you can easily see, a resume is required for any application with job offers. Based on the cv, the recruiter forms a first opinion about us. It makes it easier for us to get an interview. One of the most important functions of a cv is to attract the attention of recruiters. It distinguishes us from other candidates and helps convince the employer that we meet the requirements of the position offered. Let’s treat the resume as an advertisement that will allow us to create a kind of business card of our person to “sell” our skills and work experience.

What does a resume look like and what information does it contain?

A resume is a one, or at most two-page document. Most often we send it in paper form to a prospective employer or apply electronically (using the pdf format).

The resume scheme includes:

Personal information

In this section we provide such information as:

• first and last name
• telephone number
• place of residence
• email address

In Poland, most curriculum vitae are sent with a photo. However, few people know that it is not necessary to put it there. It is worth remembering that in Poland it is not necessary.

Some experts believe that a photo in a curriculum vitae can be helpful, as it allows a potential employer to get better acquainted with the candidate. Others, on the other hand, believe that a photo in a resume can be misleading and unnecessary. A person who wants to include a photo should keep in mind a few important things. First, the photo should be current. Second, a good photo is one in which the candidate looks professional and serious. The photo should be neither too large nor too small – the optimal size is about 3×4 cm.

In the personal data, you can also include a link to your LinkedIn profile, your own website, a portfolio of work, or your projects. This will allow the employer to get to know us better. Thanks to the links, he can verify the credibility of our information that was included in the resume.

Work experience

Professional experience is one of the most important parts that make up the scheme of our curriculum vitae. This section contains a kind of summary of our previous jobs and positions held. It is also worth including here the duties we performed in our previous positions, the competencies we acquired and our achievements. When describing work experience, it is a good idea to maintain chronological order. Usually we start with the current/latest job and end with the oldest. To make it look clear, it is best to give experience in the form of a list, in which we also complete the following information:

• period of work
• company name
• position
• responsibilities and achievements.

Education

Analogous to the work experience section, we use chronology. You should provide information about the studies you have completed (bachelor’s, master’s, engineering, postgraduate). High school does not need to be listed, unless it is the last step of our education. When completing higher education, provide the following information:

• name of the university
• faculty
• specialization
• academic title

If you have taken additional courses or training you should also include them in your resume.

Skills

This section mainly focuses on the skills that we already have and may be useful for the position we are applying for. The most commonly mentioned hard skills are:

• language skills
• ability to use computer programs
• driver’s license
• knowledge of various industry applications and programs
• operation of office equipment
• operation of a cash register.

In addition to hard skills, soft skills are also worth including. These include, among others:

• self-discipline
• creativity
• ability to solve problems
• resistance to stress
• good interpersonal relations.

Interests

This section is not exactly required in a resume. However, for an interested person it can become an additional asset. It is important to use it appropriately for this. If you decide to describe your interests, you should choose those that will attract the attention of a potential employer. Therefore, interests should be non-trivial and show us in a positive light.

CV template

When you lied in your resume.

When writing your resume, it is worth paying attention to ensure that all the data and information in it is true and reliable. If falsification of data occurs, you can face quite serious consequences for this. Stretching certain facts will sooner or later be verified. It should be borne in mind that the employer has the right to dismiss an employee, or not renew the contract with him, if he finds out about the lies. In addition, if a person uses false documents during the recruitment process, one can talk about committing a misdemeanor, or a crime in this case.

The recruitment process itself very quickly verifies what one has written in the cv. We should remember that every employer wants to hire the best employee. That is why companies are looking for such people. If you are caught in a lie at the very beginning, you should expect not to get your dream job. It is also worth bearing in mind that it is not always “the more, the better”.

If we have a track record of different periods of employment in different positions, this can indicate diligence, but also a problem with maintaining efficiency at work. Therefore, it is better in such a case to truncate the list of previous employers to those activities that are valuable in the eyes of the current recruiter.

How to write your resume without work experience?

Lack of work experience in a curriculum vitae does not disqualify a person applying for his dream job. Many people start their careers only after graduation, so there is no reason for them to feel inferior to other candidates. People without experience can write an effective resume. How?

First, it’s a good idea to use all available tools, such as resume templates. This will allow you to create a professional document that will look good and show a potential employer that we are ambitious people and want to develop ourselves. You should add information about our career goals and skills. Also, it is a good idea to mention various volunteer work, internships or apprenticeships you have completed.

Keep in mind the entire content of the resume and its design. Taking care of a standardized font, alignment, or equal paragraphs makes us well perceived by recruiters, despite our lack of relevant experience. This is what creates us as people who take care of every detail of the document.

Data protection clause

One of the most important information that should be included in a resume is the resume’s data protection clause, or so-called RODO. We place it at the very bottom. This is important, because without consent to the processing of personal data, a recruiter has no way of contacting you to invite you for an interview. In this situation, it won’t help if you meet all the requirements or have a perfect resume.

Speaking of the clause, it is worth pointing out that you should pay attention to job advertisements and read them carefully. Often it is the case that the employer puts his individual clause, which is required in the recruitment process. It is better to avoid such situations, when by a small mistake you can lose the possibility of cooperation. A good resume must be impeccable.

RODO clause:

I consent to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of recruitment (in accordance with the Law of May 10, 2018 on the Protection of Personal Data (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 1000) and in accordance with the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) 2016/679 of April 27, 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (RODO).

Simple resume – why use an online CV builder?

Many people do not know how to construct and write a curriculum vitae on their own. Therefore, a free and simple resume template was created for this purpose. Can download it from the Internet or create it yourself as a document in Microsoft Word. When using such an option, one should be very careful. These resumes are usually not well structured. Nevertheless, writing a cv still requires a lot of work, which will automatically take more time.

To make sure that our resume is well written, it is worth using an online CV builder created for this purpose. Using a free wizard, we don’t have to worry about formatting the text or arranging the sections in the right order. Even a quick and simple resume will look perfect thanks to it. The “free wizard” tool will make it easier for us to write text to create a professional cv.

Nowadays, you can find a lot of cv templates (including free ones) on websites that will help us create a resume. Filling out a cv form is very easy and fun. It only requires us to provide basic information about ourselves, such as name, surname, date of birth, place of residence, phone number and e-mail address. The online resume builder will allow us to enter personal information easily. Using the online resume builder is a great way to create a document that will look professional and be easy to use. The wizard will also allow us to add a photo.

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