Curriculum Vitae

Welcome to thenglishome!

We will start learning how to write a good curriculum vitae. A curriculum vitae is marketing document: you are the product. You are "selling" your skills, abilities, qualifications and experience to employers! You want to present yourself in the best light possible. There is no perfect template, however, we will use the europass format which can be very useful if you want to find a job in any country in the European Union. 


Before fill in the form read some advice:

1. Personal information is necessary for the employer to contact you. Revise your email account when you write it down, use a combination of your name and surname to make it look professional. Don't forget the international prefix of your country when writing your telephone number if you are thinking of working abroad.

2. If you include a photograph, which is optional, it should be a head and shoulders shot and you should be dressed suitably and smiling. 

3. Don't forget to specify the job you are applying for. Maybe you are applying for a job advertised on a newspaper but, you can also present yourself as a freelance you want to become part of a company and in that case you should name clearly the post you aim for.

4. Include your work experience starting with the most recent one. You can include a brief description of your main activities and responsibilities as well as your achievements. For example: "As accounting manager I coordinated a team of 8 people and all operations related to the financing area of a company with an annual turnover of 3 million euros.

5. Education and training should also be presented starting with the most recent one. You do not have to detail all you educational stages unless they are relevant to the job offer.

6. Include only relevant information. Your curriculum should not have more than two pages. You can include an appendix with complete list of courses, seminars, meetings... that are not closely related to the job offer you are applying for.

7. The section concerning personal skills is one of the most important ones. There, you can detail what you can do, the languages you know, the ICT you can use, how do you work in teams and how well you can do all of it. This information is usually the most interesting for the employers.

8. Don't forget to write your name on the file. For example CVPedroTorresLopez_2013.pdf, so that it can be easily identifiable.

9. Adapt your curriculum to the job offer. You should try to meet all the requirements specified and, these requirements will be different in each case.