What is the purpose of a CV?
A CV should help a recruiter quickly understand your profile, skills and potential contribution. It should not simply list previous jobs; it should demonstrate achievements.
1. Tailor your CV to the position
Read the vacancy carefully and identify important skills, experience and keywords. Adjust your professional title, profile summary and the order of your experience to match the role.
2. Present clear contact details
Include your full name, city and country, professional telephone number, professional email address and, when relevant, a LinkedIn profile or portfolio.
Avoid unnecessary sensitive information such as religion, ethnicity, marital status or identification numbers.
3. Use a precise professional title
Avoid vague titles such as “Job seeker”. Use a title that reflects your profession, such as Information Management Specialist, Accountant, Administrative Assistant or Human Resources Officer.
4. Write a short professional summary
In three or four lines, present your profession, years of experience, strongest skills, one significant achievement and the type of position sought.
5. List experience in reverse chronological order
Start with your most recent position. Include the job title, organization, location, employment dates, responsibilities and achievements.
6. Describe achievements, not only duties
Instead of writing “Responsible for monthly reports”, write “Automated the monthly Power BI report, reducing preparation time from five days to two.”
Use action verbs such as developed, coordinated, analysed, improved, designed, supervised, trained, reduced and automated.
7. Quantify your results
Use accurate figures when possible: people trained, errors reduced, budget managed, time saved, files processed or beneficiaries supported.
8. Add relevant sections
Depending on your profile, include education, certifications, technical skills, languages, major projects, publications and relevant volunteer experience.
9. Keep the CV readable
Use a simple font, clear headings and sufficient spacing. One or two pages are generally enough. Avoid excessive colours, complex tables and decorative images. A simple layout is also easier for recruitment software to read.
10. Review before submitting
Check spelling, dates, titles, contact details, formatting and the file name. Use a professional file name such as:
CV_Mahamadou_Drame_Information_Manager.pdf
Final advice
A strong CV answers one question: why should this candidate be invited to an interview? Be honest, precise and focused on results.