CVs

CVs CV (UK) ≠ résumé (US) French CV ≠ British or American CV Advice for producing a CV intended to Anglo-

American companies Advice for translating your degrees A European template of CV in many languages is

available at:http://europass.cedefop.eu.int/

Anglo-American CVs vs French CVs

In France: a list of duties/experiences English speaking countries: a marketing tool

Content: what is expected Personal information: not always Education Work experience, career history, professional

experience Miscelleanous (e.g., additional seminars and

training, extracurricular activities, referees, etc.)

Content: what is optional Marital status Age or D.O.B. Photo: avoid Career objective Summary statements Summary (of your qualifications)

Personal information

Mr/Ms First name THEN surname Address and telephone in international

format Email

Producing a CV for an Anglo-American company

1) Define your career objectives

2) Identify the employer’s needs

3) Identify what you have to sell

1) Define your career objective

- Who do I want to work for?- What do I want to do?- When do I need to be in the new job?- Where do I want to live?- Why do I need to work? (value: money,

security, time, growth, creativity…)- How much do they need to pay me?

2) Identify the employer’s needs

- cf classified ads, websites …- list qualities/qualifications required- identify personality traits- talk to experts

- review the professional journals related to your career for pbs/issues addressed

3) Identify what you have to sell

Answer the question “ Give me three reasons why I should hire you”

Production Choose chrono logical CV (in reverse chronolog ica l order) Functional or skill-orientated CV: less recommended (recruiters

are interested in chronology) 3 Templates available in “ Démarrer ” “ Tous les programmes ”,

“ Outils Microsoft Office ”, “ Nouveau document office ”, “ Autres documents ” “ CV ” but set the language on English as a default language

A European template available on http://europass.cedefop.eu.int/instruments/cv/step0.do;jsessionid=3A689738B76B73095928FF22A8AD676D (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Work experience/career history Either a list of posts or a list of duties Explain briefly what sort of company you worked for

(revenue, size, number of employees) Give figures (I increased sales by 16%) Explain your achievements -ed forms or –ing (managing human resources, etc.) A list of action verbs can be found on http://www.

quintcareers.com/action_skills.htm (last visited 17/10/05) or http://www.writeexpress.com/action-verbs.html (visited 31/08/06)

Miscelleanous “ Computer literacy ” or “ systems

experience ” Responsibilities in community life Travelling Languages: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2 OR:

fluent/conversational/mother language Language portfolio available on request

Degrees/Diplomas/Studies/ Qualifications Degrees ≠ diplomas Master’s, Bachelor’s Do not abbreviate. Give degree names in full Translate degree names into brackets If you cannot translate, explain in a few words:

undergraduate, postgraduate degree, etc. The University of Bordeaux “option”: translated option or major for option You may want to list important subjects instead

Advice Start w ith your strengths Use margins, headings, bullets, colours Play on font size (10-12) and colour Do not abbreviate anything Show you have contributed to success; give figures;

show concrete examples

More advice Be honest 1-2 pages Never use negative statements Identify any page beyond the first (1/2 & 2/2) Include references on a separate sheet Set your word processor on « English » as your

default language

Example of a good student’s CV

Octave Montesquieu's CV

Reproduction The use of bold, italics, capitalization,

headers and good layout is critical The first read is typically a 20-second scan Use a laser printer No typos, erasures, strike overs. Proofread,

proofread and proofread again Use cream-coloured or grey paper with a high

rag content

A few websites on which to find job advertisements in the UK http://www.londonjobs.co.uk/ http://www.ici-londres.com/ for summer jobs http://www.1stcontact.com/ but you have to

register first before accessing the ads http://www.monster.co.uk/ or its equivalent in

other anglophone countries