HOW TO MAKE AN EFFECTIVE CV?

Hello everyone, today I am going to share some useful tips about writing effective CVs and resumes
particularly for the academic purposes.

So if you are wondering how to write a perfect CV, what documents to attach with and more importantly
what information to highlight inside, I am going to make it easier for you in this guide.

There are different CV formats respective to each country/university. However, they all share nearly
similar information writing styles.

Let’s Begin!

1. Always start by providing your personal details including your name, contact, nationality and
gender.
a. My Tip here is, not to play with the font size. Make your CV easy to read. Bigger font sizes
make it hard and cause distraction.
2. Write a little summary about you (recommended).
a. Include your major accomplishments here. You can also add your skills. (1 to 2 lines).
b. The TIP here is to write your accomplishments that are relevant to the position you are
applying for
i. For example, if you have done a research project on the topic that you are going
to study. You can also write about the awards that you won.

3. Mention your experience here, starting with the most recent ones. Make sure whatever you write
is relevant to the scholarship program which you are applying for. And do not go into too many
details about your past experience.
a. If you don’t have professional experience, you can add about your internships in this
section.
b. Always add your responsibilities and accomplishments in that company/organization.
Make 3-4 bullet points. Also, explain if you had supervised a group of people (to show
that you are a team player), how did your contributions impacted the organization and
the appreciations you received.
c. My TIP here is to include these details with some numbers. This way you can attract the
attention of the university.
i. Take these as examples, the plan was to complete a research project in 5 months
and I completed in 2, I was awarded as the best internee of the month, I
represented my organization in a conference and so on
4. Education details. Provide your study details starting with the most recent one,
a. When you put your marks, always provide the maximum obtainable marks/CGPA as well.
This way they can rank you better. But if your CGPA is low, skip that part. Instead, you can
make an additional bullet point stating that you are among the top 5 or top 10 students
of your class.
b. State all of your education and trainings in this section which are relevant.
5. Many students ask that if they need to provide any proof of this information.
 a. No you don’t need to provide (except education if asked), but do remember if you don’t
have any accomplishments to write in your CV at all, be realistic in writing. For example
don’t write excellent talents in all sections, because they might think that you are lying.
Similarly, if you are writing about a conference or internship, don’t write those
departments or conferences that doesn’t exist at all. So try not to make them suspicious
about you.
6. You can also add an additional information section, where you can write about the conferences,
certificates and presentations that you have given
a. Make sure to write only those who are relevant to the scholarship program you are
applying for. Do not bombard them with a lot of information which is not useful to
scholarship committee.
b. As mentioned above, they will not ask for the proof, but don’t just write any conference
that you attended, make sure that whatever you are writing, exists in real life.
7. You can also place your IELTS test score at the bottom, stating individual bands in each module
because sometimes they need to see individual scores. If you don’t have the results, you can skip
this part or write about the English proficiency letter stating that you received your education in
English.

Do remember, that presentation is the first thing which will matter to the reader in first look.
If you don’t have anything to sell at all, you can present your 2, 4 or 6 years of education in a
way, that they reader gets so impressed from you. And if by any chance, you have nothing to
express at all, take 6 months to get some certificates online, do internship and get some good
experience to depict in your CV. This is mainly for getting admission in a high rank university
and also for the scholarships.

Good luck!