Prepare a CV / cover letter

Resume or CV

While reading your resume (CV) and cover letter, an employer seeks to find out 3 main things:

  1. Whether you can perform the job. Employers expect you to have the competencies, skills, qualities, and experience necessary for the job.
  2. Whether you are motivated for a future job in the company. Employers expect that your interests and values match the job and that you will be eager to learn new skills and improve in your chosen career.
  3. Whether you will manage to adapt to the company and the team. Employers want your priorities and worldview to relate to the company's philosophy and its position towards employees and clients.

The resume (CV) mostly covers the answer to the first question. The cover letter in part answers the second and third questions. Below we will go through both of these documents.

Resume or CV (Lat. Curriculum Vitae) is an abstract of your skills, achievements, and interests. Sometimes employers and HR managers spend less than 5 seconds looking at a CV. So, it is crucial to make sure that it attracts their attention and the necessary information is seen at a glance. Read further and learn how to do that.

+ - Most important recommendations Click to collapse
  • Be concise. Limit yourself to one, mostly two pages; structure all information in the form of bulleted lists and paragraphs; avoid adding too many details and long descriptions.
  • Include only what is important. The aim of the CV is to be invited for a job interview, not to get the job. Therefore, mention only those aspects that would make the employer want to know more about you: your responsibilities, achievements; competencies that you would add to the team.
  • Do not send the same CV to all companies. Adapt your resume to every company and every job that you are applying for. Pay attention to job requirements, company values, and the keywords used in the job offer. Only the matching experience should be mentioned in the CV.
  • Justify the experience with evidence. Describe your responsibilities to prove your skills; mention your achievements using numbers, percentages (e.g. every quarter the sales increased by 10%).
  • Aim for clarity and order.
    • Clear font, not smaller than 10pt or 11pt; leave spaces between text blocks; keep margins;
    • Avoid slang, general statements (e.g., I contributed to different projects), abbreviations;
    • Do not mention that you do not know or cannot do something. CV is a place to show your strengths rather than weaknesses;
    • Ask someone to check your resume to avoid mistakes;
    • Use active verbs (e.g. "led", "organised", "planned", "evaluated").
+ - Obligatory parts for a CV Click to collapse
  • Personal data
    • Name, surname, city and country of residence, phone number, e-mail (note that only a formal e-mail address should be provided, e. g. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ), and a LinkedIn link)
  • Education
    • If your work experience is modest, first describe your education;
    • If you are studying at the university, do not mention your secondary education;
    • Include information about awards, participation in contests, final thesis topic, and most important study projects.
  • Experience or competences
    • Include not only paid jobs but also internships, volunteering, and projects;
    • Describe your experience starting with the latest (newest) one;
    • Mention the name of the company, position title, responsibilities, and the skills developed.
+ - Prepare a structured CV Click to collapse
  1. Write down all your work experience, achievements, and the main dates. Include not only your work experience but also:
    • your academic achievements, prizes;
    • voluntary activities, sports, and extra-curricular activities;
    • other skills and hobbies (e.g. languages, web, or IT skills).
  2. Write down the main skills that you employed and developed in every experience or that helped to gain certain achievements.
  3. Name skills and competencies needed for the desired job. You can do that by reading the job offer or the company's website. Pay attention to the company's mission, vision, strategic goals, and values.
  4. Choose the most suitable achievements and work experience from your list.
  5. Select a CV type – chronological, functional, or mixed (read more about those – „Three types of CV“). 
+ - Additional optional parts that may help you to stand out Click to collapse
  • Desired position. It is mentioned right after the name and surname, at the top of the first page of your resume. Indicate what job you are searching for and in what company e. g. "Project manager in X company".
  • Abstract. Include 2–3 sentences about your career, your main strengths, and what you are searching for. 
  • Hobbies. Mention those only if they are exceptional, or uncommon. This could be language skills, IT skills, etc. 
  • Publications. Mention the name of the article, the journal, and the year of publishing. Shortly describe the publications or scientific research.
+ - What should NOT be included in the CV Click to collapse

Remember that the aim of the CV is to get invited to a job interview. So you do not have to include all the details. Here is a precise list of what should not be mentioned:

  • Words "Resume" or "CV";
  • Date of birth or age;
  • Marital status, disability, race or nationality, religion;
  • Home address (it is enough to indicate the city);
  • List of referees – if necessary, their contacts will be requested during the interview;
  • Basic IT skills: nowadays everyone can use the Internet and MS Office package. On the other hand, if your skills in these programs go far beyond basic, it should be mentioned;
  • Religious beliefs, political views;
  • Soft skills like "communication with people", "cooking", etc. If you have specific interests, provide more details, e. g. "Interwar Lithuania history".
+ - Three types of CV Click to collapse
  Chronological  Functional Mixed
Main features
  • Most common.
  • The information is delivered in reverse chronological order starting with the newest data on education and work experience.
  • Most employers prefer this type of CV as it is clear and based on facts.
  • You may clearly highlight the activities and interests important to the employer
  • Focus is on competencies and experience rather than precise jobs.
  • Highlights transferrable skills and achievements.
  • Hides irrelevant work experience, long periods of unemployment, frequent job change, etc. 
  • Describe work experience.
  • Present skills suitable for different types of activities.
When used best    
  • When your academic, professional, and other experience is directly related to the desired position.
  • When work experience is very limited or irrelevant to the desired position.
  • When trying to get a job after a long gap.
  • When changing the career path.
  • When you have diverse work experience.
  • When you want to show not only your work experience but also your competencies and achievements.
Weaknesses    
  • Not suitable if you have no or little work experience.
  • Clearly shows gaps in the work area, which might be considered a disadvantage.
  • Not suitable if you are starting your career or are changing the career path.
  • Difficult to match skills with the precise workplace, to compare with employment dates, level of responsibility, and frequency of their usage.
  • It may be more difficult to create a clear CV structure.
  • It is not a commonly used CV type, so the employer may get confused having received a mixed-type CV.
+ - CV examples and templates Click to collapse

You may find many CV templates and examples on the Internet. They will help to keep the structure of the documents and to deliver the information in a clear way. Here are some examples:
www.wozber.com 
www.freesumes.com  
https://templates.office.com

If you would like to make your resume even more personalized, especially if you need to show creativity skills for the desired position, you may use the graphic design platform Canva.

Academic CV

An academic CV will be necessary when applying for a job at a scientific institution, Ph.D. or other degree studies at universities abroad, or applying for scientific projects. It focuses on academic experience and achievements. There is no page limit for an academic CV. Nevertheless, it should also be clear and concise.

As well as a non-academic CV, the academic one includes an overview of your skills and competencies. However, here most important are the ones oriented to academic activities:

  • scientific works;
  • research experiences;
  • publications;
  • work and internship at scientific institutions;
  • attendance at conferences;
  • skills and competencies required by the position/project (e. g. if part of the job duties involve teaching, the employer may ask for experience in this field).

Read the requirements carefully. A cover letter or an application might be required together with the CV.

+ - Common parts of academic CV Click to collapse
  • Personal information. Name, address, phone number, e-mail.
  • Fields of scientific interests. Either list or shortly describe conducted research. 
  • Education. Provide the information about your education, final thesis topics and thesis supervisors.
  • Honors and awards. Indicate any prizes, awards, scholarships or supported projects. 
  • Teaching experience. Indicate all subjects you taught, the educational material you prepared, any thesis supervision, mentorship, and maybe even non-academic teaching experience (if you have a lot of experience in teaching, indicate only the most relevant to the applied position). You may also describe the level of the courses, group sizes, and topics you have taught.
  • Administrative experience. Note any conferences, seminars, and research groups that you have organised, as well as any committees or projects that you have led or attended.
  • Relevant training. Highlight the courses and seminars you have attended, as well as the licenses you have, etc.
  • Relevant research and technical skills. 
  • Patents (licenses). Indicate the name, inventors, patent number, and date of issue. 
  • Affiliations and memberships. Only mention those that are related to your areas of expertise and the applied position.
  • Publications. Provide all details that you would indicate when quoting. Make sure to unify the style of listing each publication. 
  • References. They should all be academics and all people you have worked with.
+ - Most important recommendations Click to collapse
  • Limit yourself to academic activities. Mention your non-academic achievements only if they are relevant to the position you are applying for. You may also include foreign languages and IT skills.
  • If you consider your nationality as an advantage, you may indicate this information, e. g. if your country is a member of the EU and the candidates who are EU citizens are given priority.
  • You may list any unfinished projects and research, indicating their status as "planned...", "submitted for publishing...", etc.
  • If you gave a speech or delivered a lecture or seminar, provide this information in a separate section.
  • Try to find out who will be assessing the application and what is his / her degree. Make sure to use only the terminology and abbreviations that will be clear to the assessor. 

Read the "Most important recommendations" provided in the first part of the section "Resume or CV", as they are also relevant for an academic CV. 

Cover letter

A cover letter might help to stand out, express your aims and demonstrate your suitability for the specific position.

We recommended sending a cover letter together with the resume, as well as adapting the cover letter to every single employer.

 Before writing the cover letter consider the following:

  • Who the letter is addressed to? While writing, try to imagine what the addressee might be expecting to find in the letter.
  • Why should the employer hire you?
  • Which of your competencies, experience, and achievements are most important to this employer?
  • Why is it important for you to work in that company and to do that job?
  • What additional information could you provide, which is not yet included in the CV?
+ - Most important recommendations Click to collapse
  • In case you do not know, who to address the cover letter to, call the company and ask for the name, surname, position, and e-mail.
  • The cover letter has to be unique, attractive, and well-structured (the letter should be up to one page in length). You may highlight the keywords.
  • The letter has to be easy to read, and positive, without any grammar or stylistic mistakes.
  • Do not talk for others, e. g. "Our team has achieved...". Only mention your own achievements.
  • Avoid generalizations, inaccuracies, groundless statements, and clichés, e.g. "Like all young people...", "I have a lot of valuable knowledge...", etc. 
  • Use active verbs, e. g. "I communicate...", "I am dealing with..."
  • Do not start every paragraph with "I" – such writing style might annoy the reader, look arrogant and self-centered.
  • A cover letter may be sent in a form of an e-mail message.
  • Name the "Subject" of the e-mail as the position that you are applying for.
+ - Structure Click to collapse
  • Your personal information (name, surname, address, phone number, e-mail).
  • Date.
  • Information of the addressee, to who the letter is addressed (name, surname, position title, company address).
  • A polite salutation (Dear Name Surname).
  • Main body. Usually not less than three and not more than five paragraphs:
    • the opening paragraph reveals why you are writing;
    • middle paragraphs describe your motivation and skills (it usually takes 1-2 paragraphs to cover the main aspects);
    • closing paragraph (if needed shortly summarize the information presented above and provide your contact details).
  • Closing (e.g., "Sincerely" or "Kind regards").
  • Signature.
  • Annexes (if you are attaching the CV or other documents).
+ - Examples and templates Click to collapse

You can as well use cover letter templates for inspiration. Remember, however, that the best cover letter is the one that you have written yourself and that was created specifically for each position.

Cover letter templates and drafts are easy to find online. You may start with these websites:

Cvekas
Wozber
Canva (enter in the search box "cover letter")