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Hi, I’m Martin.
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Welcome to Oxford Online English!
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In this lesson, you can learn to write a CV
or resume in English.
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If you’re wondering, ‘CV’ and ‘resume’
have the same meaning.
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The word ‘CV’ is more common in the UK,
while ‘resume’ is more common in the USA.
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Although some people say that there’s a
difference, in everyday speech, a CV and a
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resume are the same thing: you write a summary
of your employment history, your education
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and your skills in order to apply for a job.
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In this video lesson, you’ll see how to
write an effective CV in English.
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We’ll share some useful language tips to
make your CV clearer.
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Before we start, we highly recommend you visit
our website: Oxford Online English dot com.
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You can find many other free English lessons
like this one, on all kinds of topics.
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You can also book a lesson with one of our
professional teachers to improve your English
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further.
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But now, let’s look at how to write your
CV in English.
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We’re going to divide your CV into four
sections.
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Your personal profile is a short introduction
to you, your key skills and your career goals.
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It generally goes at the top of your CV, under
your contact information.
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Not all CVs include a personal profile, but
many do.
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Many people we’ve spoken to find it the
most difficult part to write.
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So, if you need a personal profile, what should
you include?
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Aim to write four to five sentences.
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In the first sentence, introduce yourself.
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For example: ‘I recently graduated from
the University of Toronto in International
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Affairs with a 3.8 GPA, and I am seeking employment
in the NGO sector.’
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‘I am a web development professional looking
to move into a senior role in an established
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company.’
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‘I am a cardiology nurse with over ten years’
experience in Spain; I am now looking for
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a position in the UK.’
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Here, you can see language which you could
adapt to your situation.
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Take a few seconds: how could you use these
sentences to talk about yourself?
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Pause the video if you want more time to think
about it!
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Generally, you should write your personal
profile in full sentences in the first person.
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You can write in the third person, but this
can sound impersonal; it’s simpler to write
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in the first person, using ‘I’.
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After your introduction, write one to three
sentences about the skills you will bring
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to the job you’re applying for.
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Be specific and focus on the facts.
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Avoid using clichés like ‘team player’,
‘good communicator’ or ‘passionate’.
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These are overused in job applications; try
to *show* your good qualities by giving specific
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examples instead.
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Let’s look at some examples here: ‘During
my degree, I did a six-month internship at
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a Toronto-based charity, and also volunteered
for two local charitable organisations.
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This has given me an understanding of NGO
work in both smaller and larger organisations,
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as well as the desire to learn more about
the field.’
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‘Over the last fifteen years, I have honed
my technical skills by working on a wide range
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of projects, both working individually and
in large teams.
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Recently, I have developed my managerial abilities
by working as a team leader for my current
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employer.’
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‘Since I started working as a ward nurse,
I have pursued every opportunity to learn
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and develop my skills; consequently, I have
been working as a specialised cardiology nurse
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for the past five years.’
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Because your personal profile should be short,
it’s useful to organise your ideas using
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time references, like ‘during’, ‘over
the last … years’, ‘recently’, or
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‘since…’
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If you’re writing in the first person, this
also helps you to avoid repetitive sentence
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structures.
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It doesn’t sound good if every sentence
you write starts with ‘I’.
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End your personal profile with a sentence
summarising your career goals.
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For example: ‘I hope to build on my prior
experience and make a meaningful contribution
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by working in an international NGO.’
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‘Having worked mostly for start-ups and
smaller firms, I would now like to challenge
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myself by managing projects and teams in a
larger company.’
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‘My short-term goal is to work in an English-speaking
environment, with a view to moving into a
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training/teaching role in the medium term.’
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And you’ve finished!
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If you want to read the three full profiles,
go to the full version of this lesson on our
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website.
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There’s a link in the video description.
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The exact order of sections on a CV can vary.
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However, in many cases, you’ll put your
work history at the top, after your personal
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profile.
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Let’s see how you can write about your employment
history on your CV.
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In this section of your CV, you should list
the companies you’ve worked for, the dates
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you worked there, your responsibilities and
any significant achievements.
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For example, you might write: ‘Customer
service supervisor, Juice-It, September 2016
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to January 2019’.
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‘Main responsibilities: responding to customer
queries and complaints, creating and implementing
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surveys to gather customer feedback, organising
training sessions for other staff members.’
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Often, you won’t write in full sentences
to talk about your responsibilities and achievements.
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Instead, you’ll write bulleted lists.
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There are two possible styles you can use,
and you should choose one.
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One way is to write sentence fragments starting
with an -ing verb.
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You saw this in the example just now.
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The other common possibility is to write sentence
fragments starting with a past simple verb.
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So, for example, a full sentence about your
work experience might be: ‘I designed training
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programs for other staff members.'
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You could make this a fragment with an -ing
verb, as in ‘Designing training programs
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for other staff members.'
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Or, you could make a fragment with a past
simple verb, as in ‘Designed training programs
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for other staff members.’
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Of course, you can write in full sentences
if you want!
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However, it’s more common to use one of
these two styles on a CV.
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Just remember: don’t mix styles.
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If you’re writing in fragments starting
with an -ing verb, then all of your bullet
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points should be in the same style.
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Also, when describing your responsibilities
in a role, try to use active, specific vocabulary.
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For example, instead of ‘Making promotional
materials in print and digital formats’,
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say ‘Creating promotional materials’ or
‘Designing promotional materials’.
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Using a more specific verb is better where
possible, so it’s better to use ‘create’
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than a more general verb like ‘make’.
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Instead of ‘Worked with customer data to
suggest alternative strategies for sales team
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members,’ say ‘Analysed customer data
in order to devise more effective strategies
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for sales team members’.
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Next, let’s add one more vital section to
your CV.
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On most CVs, education either goes at the
top, after the personal profile, or after
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the work experience section.
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Here, you list the institution, qualification,
grades and dates.
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For example: ‘University of Warwick, 2015
to 2018, BSc in chemical engineering, two
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one.’
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Do you know what ‘two-one’ means?
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University grades for UK degrees are given
in classes: first class, upper second class,
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second class, and so on.
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‘Two one’ means an upper second class
degree, which is the second highest grade.
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On a CV, you can write BSc *in* chemical engineering,
or you might write it without the preposition.
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This might be all you need, but you might
also add modules you studied, projects you
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worked on, or the title of your thesis or
dissertation.
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Here, the simplest way to add this information
is to use a colon to introduce a list, like
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this: ‘Modules studied: chemical reactor
design, distillation and absorption, process
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synthesis, …’
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You could also use this to list exams you
took at school; for example: ‘A-Levels:
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geography, English
literature, politics, economics.
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Do you know what A-levels are?
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They’re the exams you take at the end of
secondary school in the
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UK.
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Usually, people take three or four subjects.
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Depending on where you are in your career,
you might not need a lot of details about
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your education.
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If you’ve been working in your field for
many years and have lots of relevant achievements,
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then you probably don’t need to go into
details about your high school exam results.
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At this point, you have the most important
parts of your CV.
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There’s one more section you might add.
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At the end of your CV, you might list relevant
skills, such as other languages which you
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speak, certificates, or software you can use.
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You might also list your hobbies and interests.
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Should you add your hobbies and interests
to your CV?
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Some people say yes, others say no.
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We don’t know—this lesson is about how
to write a CV in English.
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Here, you can keep this simple; introduce
a list using a colon, like this: ‘Proficient
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with: Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign,
MS Office, QuickBooks.’
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You can show different levels of skill by
using different adjectives like ‘proficient’,
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‘familiar’, or ‘competent’.
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‘Proficient’ suggests a higher level of
skill; ‘competent’ suggests a medium degree,
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while ‘familiar’ suggests a more basic
level of skill.
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You can use these adjectives with the preposition
‘with’ plus a noun; for example: ‘proficient
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with AutoCAD’, ‘competent with WordPress’,
or ‘familiar with a range of common double-entry
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bookkeeping applications.’
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You can also use some adjectives like this
plus ‘at’ plus an -ing verb.
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For example: ‘competent at building and
styling web pages using HTML and CSS.’
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‘Skilled at using a range of Abode Creative
Suite applications for graphic or print design.’
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With languages, you can use a similar format;
introduce a list using a colon, like this:
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‘Languages spoken: Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese.’
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If you want to add additional information
to something, add it in parentheses, like
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this.
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As before, you’re not writing in full sentences
here.
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That means you can be flexible with the structure;
for example, you don’t need to add ‘and’
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between the last two items on your list.
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However, you *should* still pay attention
to grammar and structure, because it’s important
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to be consistent.
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Finally, you can add your hobbies and interests
if you want.
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For example: ‘Hobbies and interests: surfing,
DIY, arts and crafts.’
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At this point, your CV should be close to
complete.
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Don’t forget to proof read carefully before
you send it in!
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In most situations, recruiters won’t spend
long the first time they look at your CV.
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Even small things, like spelling mistakes,
can mean your CV gets thrown out.
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So, take the time to check everything.
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Do you have any other tips for writing a good
CV?
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Please share your ideas in the comments!
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Thanks for watching!
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See you next time!
