Create your professional CV here

CV is an abbreviation of the Latin words 'curriculum vitae', which mean 'life course'. A professional CV provides a summary and a good overview of someone's life.

Your CV includes your education(s) and qualifications, work experience, skills, and important qualities. By means of your CV, your potential employer will be able to get a good picture of your skills, work experience, and knowledge quickly, to assess whether or not you fit the job, and therefore whether to offer you a job interview.

• The length of the document; a cv is more elaborate, it usually covers two pages. A resume is usually no longer than one page.
• The amount of detail; a cv is more detailed and complete, where the resume focusses on only giving the most relevant information for this specific application. Resulting in the aforementioned difference.
• The tone of the document; a resume can be a more commercial and focussed on selling one-self, where a cv is more factual.

You should always start your CV with your personal details. At the very least, the following information must be mentioned: name, address, place of residence, email address, and telephone number(s). Optionally, you can also include the following information: a representative photograph, nationality, driving license, website, and any links to your social media profile(s) (such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.).

Next you should mention your experience. Examples of this include: education and qualifications, work experience, skills, languages, courses (training), internships, ancillary activities (e.g. voluntary work), references, hobbies, and (positive) characteristics. Optionally, you can also state here if you have obtained a certificate or diploma along with the year of receipt.

Please note: you may feel as though you want to write down everything there is to know about yourself, but make sure that the most important things are easily accessible to employers. Write down the things you feel you absolutely need to mention first. Only mention languages that you can speak fluently. When you wish to emphasise something - for example, your qualities - make them bold, or italicise them.

The most widely used CV is known as the Chronological CV. This means that time-dependent components, such as education and work experience, are represented in a reverse-chronological structure. Your last (most recent) job should be first (top), and your first job should be last (bottom). This also applies to all other experiences that you mention on your CV that took place within a certain period, such as study programs, courses, internships, and ancillary activities.

The order of your CV is then as follows: personal and contact details, followed by a concise personal profile about yourself. Hereafter, state your training, followed by any work experience, languages, skills, characteristics, and interests.

You can create a CV with your own word processing program such as Microsoft Word, and then convert it to PDF format. Search the Internet for a free CV example or CV template and see if you can replicate it. Or, use our CV maker where you can simply enter your data and your perfect CV will be available for download in just 15 minutes. Of course, the same can be done to create an accompanying application letter, too!

When you have completed your CV and application letter, you will be able to send both - along with an accompanying email - to the vacancy you wish to apply for.

Within our CV maker page, you will find tips with each section to help make your CV the best it can be. Along with these, here are some general tips:

- Only mention relevant information that will add value to the application for the vacancy you are applying for, or that will be of interest to future employers.
- Do not mention hobbies or interests that will raise awkward questions.
- State the most important information on the first page. Include a concise personal profile about yourself.
- Use bullet points and numbered lists to your advantage by making your CV transparent to recruiters.
- Always choose the chronological CV structure, unless otherwise requested in the vacancy.
- Keep your CV short and powerful. Mention important information concisely.
- Keep an eye on our blog for more CV and job application tips!