business communication

Lecturer: Gareth JonesLecturer: Gareth JonesClass 15: CV’sClass 15: CV’s

In UK English◦Curriculum Vitae (CV)

In American English◦Résumé

In Chinese◦简历

24/04/23Business Communication (BUS-100) 2

CV’s◦A different kind of Sales message◦YOU are the product◦Objective: Sell yourself of course!


CV’s◦What is a CV?◦Preparing your CV◦ Type of CVs◦What to include/omit


Making your own CV◦Sections to include◦How to write each section◦Print and e- CV’s◦Editing and finishing your CV


Structured written summary of …◦Experiences◦Skills◦Education and activities

… that make you qualified for a job Think of it like a sales message.


Features i.e. what you have done Benefits i.e. how you can help a company, government,

school, etc.


Like any message in business, a good CV needs:◦Planning◦Writing◦Completing


Analyse your audience Think about what makes you interesting and qualified for

a job Think about things you have that your audience wants


Gathering◦ Think about everything you have done in your whole life.◦Requires lots of brainstorming


Every job (dates, duties, accomplishments) All Education (degrees, courses, dates, awards) Other (clubs, volunteer work, presentations, dates, etc.)


Collect all this info before making your CV. Remember specific things that you did in jobs, school,

clubs, etc.


Adapt your CV◦Have a different CV for each job, scholarship, program

you are applying to Why?


Generic CV = General CV Targeted CV = Adapted to different jobs


The biggest mistake job seekers make is submitting a generic CV

You must think about what your audience wants and adapt it to them


The purpose of a CV is to list all your skills and accomplishments

The purpose of a CV is to get employer interest and generate a job interview


A good CV will get you the job you want

A good CV will only get you an interview


Your CV will be read carefully by an interested employer

Your CV probably has less than a minute to make an impression


The more information you present in your CV the better

Too much information may make the reader bored


Organise your CV around your strengths Select a format/style that will focus on your strengths

and deemphasise your weaknesses


Chronological Functional Combination


Organised in order of when things happened List most recent position first, then follow in that order


Pros◦Employers are familiar with this style◦Highlights career growth◦Highlights stability◦Straightforward


Good for people:◦With long careers◦With a strong career path◦Who want to continue current career


Bad for people:◦With little experience◦ Looking to switch careers◦Who have just finished or are in School or University


Emphasises skills and accomplishments by splitting them into groups


Pros:◦Emphasise earlier job experience◦Deemphasise lack of career progress or unemployment◦Highlight your skills instead of your experience


Cons:◦Employers are not used to it◦May seem like you are trying to hide something


Good for:◦Students/young people◦People entering the job market◦People looking to switch careers


Combines the best parts of the chronological and functional CV


Pros:◦ It is more open ended◦You may adapt it a lot easier


Cons:◦ Is can be too long◦Can be repetitive if you must list things twice


Students at HAUT and anyone looking for their first job want to use a type of combination CV called an:◦Entry Level CV


There are rules regarding what to include and what not to include in your CV.

For this class, we will use western guidelines


Name and address (necessary)◦Employer must know who you are and how to reach you


Name – Biggest thing on the CV Full Address – May need current & permanent Phone Number – With country code Email –Make it professional Website – If you have a personal one to share


Objective (Optional)◦Experts disagree whether or not to include an objective◦ It is up to you to make this decision


What does an objective do?◦Clarifies the purpose of your CV◦Presents a clear statement of your goals

When should I use an objective?◦ Include it on the resume when it is very targeted

Specific type of position Specific the skills you offer to meet that position


Summary of qualifications (Optional)◦ Like the executive summary of your CV◦ Like a business report, it may be the only thing that

people read◦ If you include one, make it strong, direct, and convincing


Education (Necessary)◦Especially for current students, this may be the strongest

part of your CV.◦ Include related courses, grades, awards and an

expected graduation date and result (if known)


Work experience (if you have any)◦You may include related and unrelated work experience◦ List the name of your company, job title, and dates◦ Include accomplishments, key skills used and

responsibilities


Skills/Accomplishments (if you have any)◦Anything you have done or can do that will increase your

qualifications◦ Languages, computer skills, etc.


Activities (if you have any)◦Anything you did in your free time that might make you

better suited for the job◦ Teams, clubs, organisations, dancing, singing etc. (not I

spend 5 hours on online gaming each day)


Personal Information◦Sex◦Nationality◦Religion◦Marital Status


Personal Information◦ This should not affect whether or not you are hired (in

Western countries) i.e. your height, weight, photograph and ID card number are NOT relevant


Lie on your CV. It may be tempting to stretch the truth, but avoid lying on your CV. This is called CV Deception.

In order to avoid CV deception, remember:◦Do not claim educational credits you don’t have


Do not claim to be self employed (if you aren’t)◦Pretending to be your own boss to cover unemployment

periods Do not exaggerate success◦Claiming full responsibility for a team effort


Too Long◦ Limit CV to 1 page, especially for students (2 is okay

when you have more experience) Too short Too wordy


Boastful Dishonest Spelling or grammar mistakes Bad sentence structure No emphasis on key skills


There is no perfect CV format What we will learn today are guidelines and one

successful approach Don’t take these as rules!


We are going to create an entry level CV Entry level = Lowest level Use this CV style to get your first job


Name Address Objective (Can combine to Career Objective) Summary Education Experience Activities/skills/awards


This is the first thing on your CV Think of it as your title It is usually centered May be emphasised with a big font, bold font, or

underlining.


The next thing on your CV. For employers to contact you What do I include?


Full street address (city, country, and postal code) Phone number (home and cell) Email (professional)◦What do we mean by professional?


For students, include:◦ Temporary address (school)◦Permanent address (home)


This is where you list exactly what you want◦What kind of job?◦Where?◦When?◦What kind of company? Big? Small?

Change this section for each different job


“Accounting position at a large company in Beijing” “Assistant manager job at a small bank in Shanghai” “Manager of an art gallery”


2-4 lines stating your most impressive qualifications for the specific job

Academic achievements, jobs held, awards won, positions held, skills, etc.

Use this to grab the reader’s attention


“Banking internship at Deutsche Bank” “Fluent written and spoken English” “Proficiency in MS Office Suite, Photoshop, HTML”


Have no more than 4 and no less than 2 statements Otherwise, leave it out!


Objective and Summary can be combined into a single ‘Career Objective’

I personally prefer this way Do what you are happiest with- the is no right or wrong!


Include degree name, university name, location, expected graduation date, grades, honours and awards

You may include a list of relevant courses


You may also include any other formal courses and test scores

IELTS, CET6, HSK etc.


If your degree is not completed, simply say “expected graduation date”

Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, Expected Graduation: June 2014 Bangor University


In this section include any jobs, volunteer work, or clubs that are relevant for the desired position

You may have one heading “experience” or more: “related experience”, “volunteer experience”, “other experience”, “organisations”


Write all the details of the job (position, company, dates, location)

Then a brief description of the job, followed by specific accomplishments


Job title, dates held, company name, location◦Brief description of job and key skills◦Accomplishment 1◦Accomplishment 2

Always tie everything back to key skills!


Visiting lecturer, September 2011 – present, HAUT, Henan, China◦Business communications lecturer to second year

University students Utilised planning skills when preparing classes and material Exercised management and leadership skills on a daily

basis in leading classes


List your most recent job in each category first, then move chronologically

Use past tense verbs for jobs held previously Use present tense for jobs currently held


Use action verbs for emphasis◦Created, assisted, developed, managed, directed,

launched, raised, solved, saved, etc. Avoid weak statements by using these and other action

verbs Avoid negative or tentative words


List specific accomplishments Whenever possible, quantify your accomplishments (use

numbers) Don`t use personal pronouns (I, we, me) ◦ TOO WORDY!


On this, the final section, list any activities, awards or skills that could not fit into the experience section

Language skills, computer skills, clubs, activities, community awards etc.


For activities, list position, group, and years

“President, Student Council, 2008-2009” “Member, Accounting Club, 2007-2009” “Badminton team captain, 2008-2009”


For skills, simply list them:◦ “Fluent Cantonese speaker”◦ “Java, PHP, .NET, HTML, css”◦ “Piano virtuoso”◦ “Level 8 Guitar player”


For awards, list the award and the date:◦ “Lewis Award for Community Service, 2007”◦ “Nobel Peace Prize, 2009”◦ “2010 World Cup Winner”◦ “HAUT Business Communications Presentation Award”


You may list all these together by including all three in the heading


You want your CV in two forms:◦Printed CV – to drop off in person and to send in emails◦ Text only CV – to post on websites and job boards


Use plenty of w h i t e s p a c e Use lists to make it more readable Use one kind of bullet points (-, *, etc) Use headings for sections


Use one kind of font Use a traditional font 10-12 font size for CV (slightly bigger for name) Align text properly


Print on high quality paper Print with a high quality printer Never fold your CV


For emails, use a standard format PDF is the best Word Document is also good


When applying to jobs online, you may have to use a text only CV

Use CAPITALS for headings Use dashes (-) for lists


Include keywords for search programs◦Management, computer skills, fluent Cantonese speaker,

creative, flexible, leadership, team player, etc.


www.michealpage.com.cn www.51job.com www.chinahr.com


http://www.michealpage.com.cn/

http://www.51job.com/

http://www.chinahr.com/

A CV is never complete! Always update your CV


Cover letters


business communication

Documents

cvsbusiness communication

different cv

good cv needs

wanta good cv

general cvtargeted cv

interested employeryour

job dates

job interview