1- General Concepts about CVs

General Concepts about CVs

Provided by: Maamoun Salam, Bilal Khawam.
Last updated: 13/7/2007
Source: Internet Search

• What is a CV?
  
• Purpose of this Document
  
• Before You Begin
  
• When to Begin Writing
  
  

  What is a CV ?

• The word Curriculum Vitae literally translated means the story of your life. The words Curriculum Vitae are usually abbreviated to CV or C.V.

• Your CV is a very important document as it is a kind of advertising you and that is why it should concentrate on the positive points you have and avoid mentioning negative aspects of your personality. By which it represents the best you have to offer if you do not want to miss out a job or an opportunity which you see as 'perfect' for you.

• These days' employers often receive a lot of CVs for each advertised position. Each vacation can often attract hundreds of applicants. So your CV has to be just that little bit special to stand out if you want to obtain interviews. The good news (for you) is that most people do not know how to write a CV and only spend a short time preparing a CV. Writing professional CVs is a skill, which these people have not learnt.

• In the following sections we will teach you how to write professional CVs and show you a number of CV examples as an introduction to the art of CV writing.

  Purpose of this document

• Medical school is actually the first step to getting a job: a residency of your choice. Your curriculum vitae (CV; "course of life") is one of the vehicles that can help you achieve that goal. Not only will you need it for residency program directors to read, but also when you ask for letters of recommendation from your preceptors. It is paramount that you do a good job to attain the residency goal of your wishes.

• This document will hopefully offer some valuable information regarding what to do and what to avoid in your quest to write the perfect documents.

  Before You Begin
  

• Before you begin doing all this work, it is important to know why you are writing a CV.
  
• As mentioned before, medical school is really preparation for you to get a job, i.e., a residency.
  
• Like any job application process, the employer has little knowledge about you.
  
• You need to make yourself stand out from the crowd by "selling" yourself through academic records, letters or recommendation, and your CV and PS before they meet you.

• When approaching this task, think in terms of what residency program directors want in a potential resident. Fulfill his curiosity and satisfy the director on paper that you are the person for the program.

• It is no wonder so many companies have made a living simply by helping people write CVs.
  
• CVs can help or hurt you as an applicant. If you do a good job, then you are playing on level field with everyone else. It is now up to you to make that extra effort to stand out through content and format of your CV.

  When to Begin Writing

• You can begin writing now . Yes, even if you are reading this as a first year medical student, you can start thinking about what you want to have in your CV and work toward fulfilling those goals.
  
• You will need to constantly update your CV as your take on activities throughout medical school. It is perfectly fine to have too much written down and then having to delete some of the less pertinent activities. By the time you need to write a CV, most of your work will be toward making it look good instead of figuring out what to say.