How to Write a CV or Resume

Writing a curriculum vitae seems a daunting task for the first time, but nothing to worry about that, it can be done. Depending on the job you have to write a curriculum vitae or a resume. Academic Curriculum Vitae and job curriculum vitae are quite similar. In this article, we will describe how to write a CV or Academia curriculum vitae and job curriculum vitae. 

Academic Curriculum Vitae or Resume:

Academia curriculum vitae is necessary when you want to apply for any university in China or any other foreign country. A curriculum vitae or resume has written to highlight your research, publications, teaching experience, fellowships, professional associations and licenses, awards. You must keep in mind that you are one of the few thousand applicants who apply to that University, so you must have to prove that you are perfect for the faculty or the research position through your Curriculum vitae. Curriculum vitae (CV) is the first impression of yours on the admission committee. Here is a sample of Academia curriculum vitae.

Important Information of a CV

There are a few important points that must be kept in mind while writing a CV or resume, such as the content, format and finally the length of the CV. Check out the tips below, that will help you to prepare a flawless CV for applying to your desired foreign university.

1. Provide Information

Include your personal information, your name, address, phone number, email address, and personal website if you have. Your name should be bold and use larger font than others. The length of an academic CV should not be more than two pages. In academic CVs, you need to cover all the details information including, all of your relevant publications, conferences, fellowships, teaching experience, etc. Consequently, most of the university will ask for your CV. Do not add any irrelevant information like few weeks ago you had joined a club.

2. Education

List your most recent educational information first, mention your university name, major, minor, and graduation month and year. 

3. Prove yourself

There is too much competition when you decide to study abroad. Here it will be not enough just to be good. You have to show that you are the perfect candidate for the work. 

Highlight your cross-cultural skills. Show all possible projects that you are completed, and prove that you are trying to understand the culture of the country.

4. Work experience

Include your experience, it can be a part-time job, internships, summer program, a full-time job,  research experiences or others. Try to do not limit yourself to describe your official task, mention your achievements and measurable result. Always provide real information, keep in mind that you mentioned in the CV is as same as the application documents include the cover letter, personal statement, admission essay, etc.

5. Skills

Include any skills that you are expert in computer skills, software skills, and soft skills like leadership or communication to increase the odds that you will get accepted. Personal skill is also important like technical skill. Personal skill is important so that the reader can quickly recognize that you have the profile. Besides attached your language skills with the respective level such as native, basic, intermediate or advanced. 

6. CV style

First of all the language has to be formal, organized and easy to read. Carefully check the vocabulary and punctuation. Poorly written language can spoil all the efforts. If you are applying any non-English country, it is better to provide the country language CV. Be sure that you provide all the information, an international CV format may help you to arrange all the required information. Before applying, recheck the institution’s website. Maybe they provide specific preferences, recommendations or the template. Some Universities or Colleges provide specify each requirements on the font, margins, document format, etc. 

7. Hobbies and interests

Highlight your hobbies in your CV, your hobby indirectly related to your proposed degree program. For example, You are applying to a college which is well known for football, and you are a great player of football, it can be an advantage for your admission. 

Tips for Writing a Flawless CV or Resume

When you got all the information, follow the below steps to create a perfect CV:

• Do not use poor language, keep in mind that you are trying to impress the admission committee.
• Limit your CV not exceed two pages, it is better if complete on one page. Mention real and unique information, which will help you to prove that you are better than other candidates.
• Do not try to show off, that things can damage your image. Use passive voice and explain your achievements for example “I developed sales by 20% over the same period last year and coordinated events with budgets of more than 500,000 USD”.
• Re-read the resume that will help you find spelling and grammar mistakes. Gramer mistakes can be the reason to reject your CV or resume.
• Carefully check the instructions about your document design, you can follow standard international CV structure. Must try to give a professional look at your CV.

Here we provide some sample of CV or Resume for

Bachelor
PhD 
Masters

CV Formatting

Although the look of your resume is up to you, there are a few general organizational and appearance guidelines you should follow:

• Arrange your educational and work experiences in descending order. You should begin to write your CV with your most recent experience and work.
• Use bullet points so that your CV looks clean and can be easy to check. Begin each bullet with an action verb, and don’t repeat verbs.
• Keep your CV in one page and save as pdf file. Font size will be 10, 11, or 12 points and set margins to no less than 0.5 inches all around.
• Use bold, italics and underlining formatting to highlight the text and make the document easy to read.

The Bottom Line

A CV is a snapshot of your life, the goal of a resume is to tell the story of your experiences as they relate to a specific job description. Make your CV short, memorable and scannable so that readers can understand your quality at a glance. Keep in mind, do not use irrelevant information, attached all the experiences and accomplishments needed for the admissions committee members to form an accurate impression of you so that they can accept you without hesitation.