What is CV & Why is it Important?

In student life, students with a CV get advantage over the ones with no CV up to a point of time. Some students will already have prepared with great ideas about it while others will have no idea about it and will just have heard about this two letter word CV. So what is CV? What does it include & why is it important? Let’s find it out:

What is CV?

A CV is the short form of Curriculum Vitae. CV is that acronym which is more popular & used than the actual term. A CV is a document that contains mainly the:

1. Education
2. Skill
3. Experience

Of a student who applies for a job. It is that instrument that represents the person’s merit & capabilities. It holds the educational background or the degrees achieved generally in descending order starting with the recently achieved one. As a CV is prepared mainly targeting a particular post of an organization, the skills are described or presented considering the requirements of the job for which a CV is prepared.

Apart from this, some general skills or strengths applicable to most of the professions are also written down here. With that there comes experience. If the student has some previous job experience or any other sort of work experience that may add value to the probability of getting a job is added in this section.

A little bio along with an objective to fulfill with extra-curricular activities are also mentioned in a CV so that the whole set of qualification & extent of involvement in various other things of a student can be ascertained which are essential for job also.

For example, if a fresh graduate has organized a lot of corporate programs & exhibitions in the university during his or her MBA, it must be written in the CV as it will give a much needed validation to the recruiters about the additional knowledge regarding people management which might be a key criterion for a post.

Basic Elements of a CV

So, including those key criteria or elements, a CV contains the following elements:

1. Name & contact details on top along with a clear & recent formal picture
2. Career objective in simple & solid words & length
3. Details of study with major area, passing year, result & institutions
4. Job experience (if any)
5. Extra-curricular activities
6. Workshops or seminars attended
7. Strengths / skills (IT, language & others)
8. Hobbies
9. References
10. Declaration of validity with a signature of the candidate

Types of CV

There are three types of CVs that are widely used:

Chronological CV

This is the CV for freshers, for the ones who are applying for an entry level post. This CV holds the credentials in a chronology, either in an ascending or descending order. The educational degree, the certificates obtained through training programs or workshops should be listed following a particular order.

Benefits

• Easy to prepare
• Wider applicability
• Disciplined structure
• Presents completeness

Limitations

• Best for fresh graduates
• Only skills can’t stand out

Functional CV

This is the type of CV that highlights the varied skills & experiences of a person in a relatively long tenure of time. The objective is to list the achieved experiences along with acquired skills irrespective of any chronology. 

There are certain posts, where particular skills are mainly sought for & the chronology of achieving those are less prioritized, a functional CV suits the best for this.

Benefits

• It talks to the point
• Presents the key information
• Easy to judge

Limitations

• A chronology is missed
• Too focused on skills

Mixed / Combined CV

This is the CV, which combines the characteristics of both chronological & functional CV where skills are presented maintaining a chronology, generally by listing the most recent skills or achievements or experience first & then it dates back.

Why is CV Important?

A CV is important for the following reasons:-

1. It has the capability to represent a person’s caliber in front of the world.
2. It talks & makes a mark of a person in their absence.
3. A well prepared CV magnifies the chance of being selected for a job.
4. CV is the first thing judged about a candidate for a job.
5. A well crafted CV ensures the next level – the job interview or the written test for the job.
6. A CV proves the language proficiency.

Conclusion

So, if the question comes to your mind that what is CV & why is it important, the answer would be it is a well-structured set of information in written format that contains mainly the education, skills along with job experience & it is important because it carries a whole person in the form of words written in the pages.