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CV Heading

In the CV heading you can write your general information:
Name
Surname
Local address
E-mail address
Phone number
(If applying for an overseas job, please remember to include your international dialling code.) Include your mobile/cell phone number if you are going to relocate soon.
CV Skills Summary

The Skills Summary section of your CV includes your main skills. You should only include keywords in his section, do not go into lengthy descriptions of your skills. The skill summary is also called personal profile.
CV Objective
The CV Objective, sometimes also referred to as CV Personal Profile states "What is the next step in my career?" This should be a short, concise statement that informs the employer what kind of position you are looking for. The type of position, the role (managerial, supervisor, contractor) should be included as well.

If you are job hunting it is a good idea to have several CV's with different profiles or objectives. For example, you can have a CV for a sales supervisor and the other for a shop floor manager. Your 'sales supervisor' CV can highlight achievements in this area, and the CV would be tuned to that particular in terms of job descriptions and achievements.

Education on your CV

List all of your qualifications in this section. Include all of your education including certifications from non-academic institutions, especially those that are related to the job vacancy. If you have more work experience than qualifications, put your work experience before your qualifications
Why Write a CV?
To apply for a job within the same field.
You like what you do, but you want to do it somewhere else! Make sure your CV highlights your achievements. Writing a CV is easy, but writing a good CV isn't! Achievements can show the employer that you are able to meet objectives, something all employers are looking for.

To apply for a job within a different field.
So the time has come for a career overhaul. You have thought hard and decided that you do not want to pursue a career in the current direction. Write a CV that highlights any experience or qualifications in this new area. You would also need a reason in your CV outlining why you want to make a career change.

To summarize your life achievements.


Having a full CV is always a good idea as you never know when a good opportunity will come up. Keep your CV updated at all times, adding any relevant courses or qualifications. This way, when you find yourself applying for a job in three months time your CV will already be written and remembering all your courses/experiences/projects will not be an issue. If you then apply for a different position, all you will need to do is edit your CV to suit the particular post.

To apply for a particular job vacancy.
Address all of the job requirements in your CV. If you do not have any formal qualifications that cover the job requirements, try to make up for it by showing your experience. Make sure you carefully read the advertisement and follow all instructions. A CV is an essential tool in your job search and career.
Formatting your CV for best results
We all know what a CV should contain, and in general terms, how it should be arranged on the page. In spite of knowing all the technicalities, people still commit the mistake of writing a run-of-the-mill CV with the same headlines, the same order of ideas, and the same general matter in a dull business language. In this way, the CV looks indeed as a poor copy of a standard template.
The formatting should be backed up by the right information of course, but in order to have a good flow of ideas, the CV should have a building-up style of presentation. You start at the personal details, or educational qualification and slowly build up to show how your talents are best suited for the job at hand.
Bullet points look perfect when listing job responsibilities, or personality traits, or overall achievements headings. However, if the bullet points do not have an anchor that explains what they are, it will be difficult for the CV to really hold the prospective employer's interest.
Do not state the obvious - depending upon the job achievements, do not re-inforce certain traits which are self-evident, such as good leadership, good communication skills, etc. Go ahead and use the paper for traits that are not visible from what you have presented so far. For example, you are a successful marketing manager - it is understood that you are a good strategist - but you could also add that you are a tough negotiator who saved the company a great deal of money. This would be a trait that would add value to your CV and identify you as having good potential.
The impression of the paper presentation - the quality of the paper, the arrangements of the text, its font, and the typesetting will create an unwitting impact on the prospective employer. Be sure that you use this trait to your advantage. Use the skills of a good typist and/or word processor to make your CV a work of art.
Each and every aspect of your CV should work towards creating the right impression with the employer. This will be done with the help of alot of research to know what he/she wants in the first place. Search the net and libraries for reports and news, ask around old and present employees and use the information to form a critical focus on your best talents and traits.
Writing a CV is hard work - do not kid yourself that it is any other way. It is not just the way you put together your personal data - but rather the way you arrange that personal and professional data to attract the attention the interest of the prospective employer. It is an art that has to be perfected with time, patience and practice. It is the most important tool in job searching since it gives the opening line to the employer and thus creates the first impression about you in his/her mind.
CV Styles
Targeted CV
Inventory CV
Chronological CV
Functional CV
Combination CV
Each CV style is suitable for different situations. Follow the links above to learn more about each CV style.

CV Writing Considerations

More important than your CV format is the actual content of your CV and how it is presented. You only have a limited time to show your skills and capture the reader's attention. Make sure the most important information is in the top third of the CV document. Your skills summary, objective or personal profile will achieve this objective.

A CV must have focus. When a recruiter reads your CV he/she should understand your career path. Always keep your objective in mind while writing your CV.

Avoid lengthy and boring job descriptions; whenever possible, write your job description in bullet point form. Make sure potential employers will understand how they will benefit from employing you. The employers need to see your achievements and understand how you are able to implement these achievements in your company.

Examples of accomplishments would be: save money, increase turn over or profits, improved productivity, better customer quality. Include actual figures when available.
Posting your CV online - what to watch out for

When you write a CV for cyberspace, you need to keep in mind two main things,
(i) you do not need the regular formatting you do on a regular CV and
(ii) you need to keep it in the simplest format possible.
The reasons for the above are that computer need different accentuations and style of presentation and in order for the majority of the computers to be able to open your CV, the format should the lowest, i.e. plain text or ASCII. Anything more complicated than this, and you risk cutting off some segment in the market that does not have the upgraded software you use.

Another important point is the presentation. In a regular CV, you highlight certain things in your CV by boldface, or italics. The counterpart of these actions online is using the right keywords. Your CV will be 'visible' on the net only when it has the right keywords. By 'right' keywords means those keywords a person would think about when trying to search for an applicant for a job in your field of expertise. The keywords should be as many as there are facets to the job (ex: 'secretary' can have the following keywords - office assistant, typist, stenographer, back end office, personal assistant, private assistant, etc).

There are a few dos and don'ts that you should keep in mind when you write an online CV:

Dos

Use only very specific keywords accurately describing the job/ skills
Effectively summarize - the shorter the better (without sacrificing the quality of the content
Use the main skills keywords in the beginning; list your major skills in the beginning of the CV Use the simplest format available (plain text is the most acceptable)
Do not Use other formatting of the typeset as it will totally confuse the reader while reading the codes attached to it
Provide a valid email address (chances are that those who search for you on the net would immediately want to email you) and phone a number for immediate contact
Have a hard copy ready in case the prospective employer asks you for it; also keep a properly formatted CV - in case they ask you to attach a detailed CV and send it to them by email
Don'ts
Do not send group mails when you apply for a job; each job you apply for should have a separate email with the CV uploaded separately (or as cut-n-paste as it is asked of you)
Do not send attachments with your CV drawn up in the latest versions of software; if it does not open when they try to, your CV will be rejected and you will have lost a good chance due to a nominal mistake
Do not forget to follow up afterward and send a polite follow-up enquiry after 3-4 days
Guidelines of writing a good CV
The bottom line for you to write a CV is to get the job you are applying for, which makes this document a very important one. Hence, a good CV will never be generalized like an all-purpose application. Rather, it would be very target specific, written specially with that organization in mind, matching your best talents and qualification with the particular job's requirement. In other words, the CV should make it obvious to the prospective employer that you are the right candidate for the job. Remember that your CV is actually a key to the interview. Unless the reader feels interested enough from reading your CV, your key will not work; and unless you reach the interview stage, you cannot hope to get the job.

Hence, the CV should be written from the point of view of the reader. Also, be aware that the prospective employer may get hundreds of applications, hence the ones which are best organized and brief will hold his/her attention. Keep the following guidelines in your mind when you write your CV:

The CV should be accurate and correct
Your contact information should be clearly visible on the first page of the CV
Your CV should be typed in an easy-to-follow format, i.e. the headlines should be indented and highlighted so as to catch the attention of the reader easily (this is very helpful when a person wants to take a quick look at your CV) The best way to write about your experience, is to write it backwards, i.e. the last job you had first and then the rest backwards chronologically


Though sometimes your achievements need to be elaborated on to bring out the best fit, preferably they should be listed in a bullet point format. The bullet points should act as headlines in case you need expansion
Have a 'why do I feel I am suitable and the right candidate for the job' headline on the very first page, where you can summarize the relevant information for the benefit of the employer
If you have had any skills development training, or additional hands-on experience be sure to include it in your CV
Your qualifications should be presented clearly and concisely starting with the highest degree and working backwards
Give two unrelated references (make sure you do inform the person thus named so they would be prepared if the prospective employer contacts them) or mention that references would be provided if required
Do not forget to write your areas of personal interest, such as hobbies
In case you know other languages, and/or have additional skills which do not fall in the purview of the job your are applying for, write them under 'other information'; the more knowledge you have, the more valuable you will look - even if it does not have direct bearing on the present job
source: http://www.cvtips.com/
related vidoes
CV Writing, How to Write Your Resume