Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. Look at this European CV model and fill in the gaps with the words in the box.
action plans
Bachelor of Science
civil servants
coached
competent
interests
mediating
occupational field
onwards
surname
thesis
focus groups
independent
tongue
workshop
Europass
Curriculum Vitae
Personal information
First name / (1) ............................
Address(es)
Betty HOBKINS
32 Reading rd, Birmingham, B26 3QJ, United Kingdom
Telephone(s)
+44 2012345678
Fax(es)
+44 2012345679
E-mail
Nationality
Date of birth
Gender
Desired employment /
(2) ..........................................
Mobile:
+44 7123456789
hobbies@kotmail.com
British
07.10.1982
Female
EUROPEAN PROJECT MANAGER
Work experience
Dates
Occupation or position held
Main activities and responsibilities
Name and address of employer
Type of business or sector
Dates
Occupation or position held
Main activities and responsibilities
2005-2009
PhD
(7) ................................ Title: 'Young People in the Construction of the Virtual University, Empirical
research that directly contributes to debates on e-learning.
Brunel University, London, UK
Funded by an Economic and Social Research Council Award
ISCED 6
2001-2005
(8) ................................ in Sociology and Psychology
- Sociology of Risk, Sociology of Scientific Knowledge/ Information Society;
- E-learning and Psychology; Research Methods.
ISCED 5
English
Other language(s)
Understanding
Self-assessment
European level (*)
French
German
Listening
C1
Proficient
user
Reading
C2
Proficient
user
Speaking
Spoken
interaction
B2
Writing
Spoken
production
(10) ...........
C1
user
Proficient
user
C2
Proficient
user
Basic user
- Team work: I have worked in various types of teams from research teams to national league
hockey. For 2 years I (11) ................................ my university hockey team;
- (12) ................................ skills: I work on the borders between young people, youth trainers, youth
policy and researchers, for example running a 3 day workshop at CoE Symposium Youth Actor of
Social Change, and my continued work on youth training programmes;
- Intercultural skills: I am experienced at working in a European dimension such as being a
rapporteur at the CoE Budapest youth against violence seminar and working with
refugees.
Organisational skills and - Whilst working for a Brussels based refugee NGO Convivial I organised a Civil Dialogue between
competences refugees and (13) .............................. at the European Commission 20th June 2010.
- During my PhD I organised a seminar series on research methods.
2. Put these skills and competences in the right group in the following chart. Then answer the four questions.
ability to adapt to multicultural environments
command of quality control processes
communication skills
database searching
design diplomacy
hobbies
word processing
..........................
..
..........................
..
Organisational
..........................
..
..........................
..
..........................
..
..........................
..
Social
..........................
..
..........................
..
Skills and
competences
..........................
..
..........................
..
Other
..........................
..........................
....
..........................
..........................
....
Artistic
..........................
..........................
....
..........................
..
..........................
..
Technical
..........................
..
..........................
..
..........................
..........................
....
Computer
..........................
..........................
....
Barrack Obama Bill Clinton Bonnie Tyler Burton & Taylor Ernest Hemingway
Marvel Comics Nelson Mandela Oscar Wilde Tony Blair Usain Bolt William Faulkner
2. Read this article about the current trend of over highlighting achievements in CVs. Choose the right answer
(A, B or C) to the questions that follow.
The Importance of Being Earnest in Your CV
Recently, I had a chance to read through a pile of graduate job applications. As I did so, I came to
appreciate what Oscar Wilde had meant by the "vital importance of being earnest." Because after a day
spent ploughing through dozens of CVs, earnest was the last word on my mind.
Once, career advisers had to encourage graduates to talk themselves up. Not anymore. Nowadays
CVs are nothing but lists of superlatives. On one CV, in the section describing the applicant's skills and
achievements, I counted five "excellents". And that was just in one paragraph. On another, the applicant
claimed to possess "world-class communication skills" a boast which if true, places her in the same stellar
category as Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama and Tony Blair. She was 21-years-old.
From a recruiter's point of view, such rampant egotism can leave you feeling slightly intimidated.
After all, who are these wonder kids with their "vast experience," their "unrivalled career success," their
"fantastic organisational skills," their "hunger for responsibility" and their "superb leadership potential?"
Where do they come from and why do they sound so familiar?
I think it's got something to do with television shows like the Apprentice. It's become almost
accepted that if you're applying for a job that's the tone of voice you have to use. Only that can explain why
writing applications, so many clever, talented graduates resort to such meaningless management jargon. Of
these, one of the worst examples is the expression: "proven track record." Usain Bolt has a proven track
record. It's called 9.58 seconds. Equally awful is the "thinking outside the box." Combine "thinking outside
the box" with "proven track record" and you've got the graduate jobseeker's equivalent of white socks worn
with a black business suit.
But at least there's an upside to reading hundreds of job applications. You get a priceless insight into
the 21st-century psyche. You'll be amazed, for example, at what people today say they're "passionate" about.
Once, it was customary to only get passionate about high emotions such as love, anger, jealousy and lust.
Today, it's perfectly normal, when applying for jobs, for people to declare a passion for mundane things like
working in teams, meeting deadlines, even, in one case, Excel spreadsheets. On one CV, an applicant wrote
how she was "passionate" and "fabulously excited" about working with people as if on the job spec,
working with another species was ever an option.
But this isn't real passion. When it comes to serious passion, Burton-and-Taylor passion, nothing
compares to the heroic passion applicants claim to feel about "change". "I am passionate about change,"
wrote one applicant; while for another, change made her nothing less than "extremely passionate". So what
is it about change that people get so passionate about?
For me, all this phony change-mania signifies a misreading of the job market. True, no job or
organisation today is immune from change. Change, as we all know, is revolutionising work practices,
redefining the economic landscape. But at the same time, employers still need people who can stick around
long enough to get things done: people who can follow processes, handle routine, adhere to regulations.
Constant change is being replaced by process and control. What employers say they value are people who
are both dependable and organised. It's difficult to see how these self-declared change-addicts will cope in
this sort of work environment.
Bonnie Tyler might be looking for a hero, but most graduate recruiters are looking for competent,
hard-working team players; people who get things done with minimal fuss and without causing mass
walkouts. As one employer told me, "If we'd wanted a superhero, we'd have gone to Marvel Comics."
So how can you avoid making your CVs sound like they've been written by a contestant from the
Apprentice? The following advice is based on an essay by no less an authority than George Orwell. It worked
for him, so why not take his advice when writing your next job application?
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. In
particular, this goes for "thinking outside the box" and "proven track record".
Never use a long word where a short one will do. Keep your language simple and to the point. When
Ernest Hemingway was criticised by William Faulkner for using short and simple words, he replied,
"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?"
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. Like great literature, when it comes to job
applications, less is more.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English
equivalent
Break any of these rules sooner than writing anything which makes you sound like a contestant on the
Apprentice.
Adapted from The Guardian
1. Graduates used to need encouragement to
A. express their ideas in public
B. make themselves appear more important
C. describe their skills and achievements
2. The egotism of nowadays wonder kids
A. is difficult to control
B. upsets the recruiter
_es_ _n (procedures)
d_ _e_o_ (plans)
_i_ec_ (staff)
i_ _l_ _en_ (changes)
_n_re_ _e (sales)
m_ _it_ _ (results)
_eg_ti_ _e (deals)
o_ _r_t_ (equipment)
_es_ _rc_ (markets)
s_ _e_v_ _e (trainees)