A CV

Learn how to write a curriculum vitae, often called a CV in the UK or résumé in American English. 

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and tips and do the exercises.

Preparation

Reading text

Maria Jones

Digital Marketing Specialist

Profile

I have five years' experience in various digital marketing roles. I have a proven ability to create successful marketing campaigns in line with brand identity and values. I am a strong collaborator with outstanding communication skills, and have comprehensive experience of using my specialist knowledge and expertise in analytics for a wide variety of marketing initiatives.

Employment History

June 2017 – present
Digital Marketing Specialist for Zinco, a global insurance start-up

  • My role involves working to tight deadlines to design, create and launch marketing campaigns via social media.
  • I have developed advanced knowledge of a range of social media platforms and digital marketing tools.
  • I specialise in driving successful campaigns and excel in analysing their impact.
  • I have experience launching digital billboards in places such as train stations and shopping centres.  

Sept 2016 – June 2017
Creative break from employment to travel and blog

  • I travelled through 12 countries, met several professional bloggers and started my own travel blog.
  • I built up a community of followers and started to monetise my blog through sponsored posts.

May 2014 – Aug 2016
Digital Marketing Assistant, Krunch Ltd

  • Responsibility for overall social media strategy and regular posting on key channels.
  • I played a key role in numerous campaigns to boost engagement with our brand.
  • I also supported three product launches.

Education

2014 Diploma in Digital Marketing, Leeds Beckett University, UK
2012 A-levels (Psychology, English, Art & Design), Leeds City College, UK

Skills and Interests

Competent WordPress developer
Skilled in Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator
Advanced Spanish (C1)
Intermediate German (B1)
Photography
Travel

References

Available on request

Tips

  1. Start with a short profile to show who you are and what you offer.
  2. List your employment history, starting with the present.
  3. Explain any gaps, for example time spent travelling or having children.
  4. Use bullet points for your main responsibilities and experience in each role. Choose the aspects of your previous jobs that are most relevant to the new job you are applying for.
  5. Then give your educational background. List the relevant qualifications that you have, starting with the most recent. Include the title of your qualification, where you studied and the date you successfully completed it.
  6. Consider putting Education above Employment if you don't have a lot of work experience yet. 
  7. List other experience or interests you may have if they are relevant to the job.
  8. If you have someone who could support your application, add their contact details or say References available on request at the end.

Discussion

Download
Worksheet83.72 KB

Language level

Average: 4.2 (21 votes)
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Submitted by paola_k on Wed, 07/04/2021 - 02:57

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This activity couldn't find me in a better moment. I'm looking for a new job and English is one of the skills everyone is asking. I'll definitely use this CV as an example because the original one is in Spanish and grammar is very different when you list your work experience and specially your responsibilities.

Submitted by German on Wed, 24/03/2021 - 02:23

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I have some tips to share about the CV whose I consider are important to impact in a company or at less, to have more probability for be hired. The first one is that I think that the CV wouldn´t should be very short very long, the CV has to represent your life taking account the work experience, the studies, interests and skills. The other one tip is that you have to put color into the CV. Try you include colors in the titles, lines, etc.

Submitted by Justine STM on Thu, 21/01/2021 - 18:24

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I have many years of experience and i had applied for many jobs so yes i have a CV and i renew it regulary for my consulting job in my firm. I think it's important to indicate the key word for an application because now when we send ours CV on the web it's read by a robot. So if we don't be careful about this reading, ours applies will going to trash directly.
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Submitted by Hennadii on Thu, 12/11/2020 - 17:30

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Of course, I have one. And I renewed it recently because I'm looking for a new job right now. I think you tabled to us a quite strong CV. If I were an HR specialist I would notice it for sure. As usual, your tips are pretty good and there is generally nothing to add. Perhaps, I would say you can make your CV more creative if you are applying for a relevant position (designer, creative director, artist or something). You also can add some job reference in your CV even if your position isn't "creative". I saw many beautiful CV's on the Internet from builders, engineers, doctors etc which look like pieces of art. But no matter if you have the creative CV or the simple one: any grammatical errors (no excuses), any lies (well, you can gild a bit your achievements and skill but just a little) which could be easily exposed. And good luck with your search!
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Submitted by shelly on Wed, 14/10/2020 - 04:53

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Yes, and I am planning to update my specialist knowledge and expertise in marketing and project experience on the CV by adding more details. my tips are as follow: mention your highest educational background; List the relevant qualifications that you have. List the successful projects you have completed recently and what kinds of contribution you could do for the new company.

Submitted by Denise on Tue, 06/10/2020 - 14:26

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No,I haven’t got a CV because I never needed it for my current work. But I have no doubt that when I need this post it will be so helpfull.

Submitted by cittàutopica on Mon, 05/10/2020 - 21:02

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I have prepared two different types of CV: the one is very detailed and contains all the specifics which concern the career growth paths, the other is more concise, so that I can select which of them I ought to present, on the basis of the situations.

Submitted by Ugulhan on Mon, 05/10/2020 - 09:41

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I think I should completely change my old cv and cover letter in English. I see here a more successful way to apply for a job.

Submitted by YaMaCa on Sun, 04/10/2020 - 08:06

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The CV must have a maximum of 3 pages in some countries just one page. Include references if are requested Expertise summary, describing strong abilities.

Submitted by Samwumi on Mon, 07/09/2020 - 02:27

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In the interest section of the CV, some experts opine that it is an opportunity to tell the recruiter about your versatility and so it may not necessarily contain something related to the job.