by David West

Created on: February 05, 2007   Last Updated: April 17, 2007

Creating a good CV or Resume is a very important step in getting a newjob. In order to get that job you are going to have to get an interview, that's the main objective of writing a good CV/Resume.

The word CV comes from the latin "Curriculum Vitae" which means "life story" and this tends to be longer than a Resume, 3-4 pages of A4 as opposed to the Resume which is about half that size.

I should point out that I am in the UK so the advice I give is relevant to that job market, although a lot of the information is common sense and so will probably apply to other countries as well.

I used to be employed as manager for a chain of computer stores in the UK and so had to employ staff, I looked at literally hundreds of CVs during my 5 years or so in this role so I feel fairly well qualified to comment on this matter. I've also been made redundant several times and had to apply for a lot of jobs and I've tended to get to the interview stage more often than not, so my CV writing ability can't be too bad.

I also attended a day course in writing CVs when I was made redundant by one of my old employers, again this provided me with some useful information.

The CV should be seen as a tool to get you an interview for the job. No employer worth their salt is going to employ someone purely on the basis of reading a CV, no matter how good it is. The interview is far more important and in my opinion harder to prepare for, but it's worth noting that what you write on your CV may well become the subject for discussion during your interview if you get one, so don't lie!

When assessing candidates for a job the employer asks themselves three main questions:

1. Can the candidate do the job?
2. Will the candidate do the job?
3. Will the candidate fit into the role?

All the questions can largely be answered with the CV as it refers to qualifications and past experience but the last two are easier to guage at interview, where it's easier to spot if the candidate is telling the truth or not.

Your CV should contain the following basic information. Name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, education and qualifications, career history, activities outside work (include hobbies etc) and references.

Depending on the type of job applied for the length and amount of detail in each section will vary. It's a waste of time putting down that you have a Degree/PhD in history if you want a Saturday job at McDonald's.

I am using this as an example, no offence intended to any McDonald's employees!

The CV does

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