• By Iryna Hernandez Rivera

• UTSOE
 o How do you apply for a job?
o What document do you need to write and send
when you apply for a job?
o What is a CV?
o What information is in a CV?
o Do you have a CV?
Task 1: What do you know about a CV?
Are these sentences true or false?
1. A CV is a document with information about you.
2. You use a CV to get a job.
3. You should put your photo on your CV.
4. Your CV should be 3 or 4 pages long.
5. It’s OK to have mistakes (spelling, grammar…)
on your CV.
6. All information on your CV must be in full
sentences.
7. Employers usually look at a CV for about 2
minutes.
Task 2: what parts does a CV have?
2.a)Write the missing letters.
1 P_rs_n_l det_ _ls
2 Ed_c_t_ _ n and q_ _lific_t_ _ns
3 W_rk exp_r_ _nce
4 Sk_lls
5 Int_r_sts
6 R_f_r_nc_s
2.b) Match the parts 1-6 with their meanings A-F.
A jobs you did before
B things you enjoy (e.g. playing a sport)
C your name, address, date of birth, email, phone number
D the name of your school / college; exams you passed
E things you can do (e.g. speak a language; drive a car; use a
computer)
F names of people who know you (e.g. your teacher or your boss),
and who can say that you’re good for a job
 10 things NOT to do on your CV

1. Providing irrelevant personal information. (It will vary in different countries for example: in some you should avoid a CV with a
photograph, date of birth, nationality and marital status, children, if you have social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram,
Snapchat and Facebook for personal use. Your interests and achievements you should relate to a job position: involvement in
sport activities would be advantageous if you want a career in the sports sector. )
2. Burying important information. (Make relevant information stand out on your CV. This could be through some information in
bold and persuasive language i.e. action words and achievements.)
3. Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. (Always double-check the spelling on your CV. Ensure you are writing in the correct
tense and if you are using the third person, stick to it throughout the document. Avoid Americanisms and use the spell-check. If
you struggle to spot mistakes, ask a careers professional, mentor or friend to look over your CV)I
4. Unexplained gaps in employment. (Having unexplained gaps in your employment history raises questions. If you are lucky, they
will briefly wonder what you were doing during that mystery period as your CV is folded into a paper aeroplane and whizzed
towards the trash can)
5. Lying or misleading information (qualifications , salaries, job titles, achievements. Employers are conducting increasingly
vigorous background checks on candidates. This can range from conducting a Google search on you to employing a specialist
candidate checking service. ).
6. Adding references to your CV.(references are generally requested further along in the recruitment process, so there’s really no
benefit to adding them to your CV)
7. A long, waffly CV. (Keep your CV concise and to the point. It should be no more than 2 pages of A4 unless you are applying for an
academic / research post.
Focus on your recent and most relevant experience and achievements. The employer wants to read a tailored CV focused on
transferable experience, skills and achievements.)
8. Badly formatted CV. (Stick with fonts such as Calibri or Arial at font size 11 or 12. Use italics, bold text and colours sparingly and
avoid borders and boxes as these can all distract from the content.)
9. Meaningless introductions. (In its place, consider crafting a short, simple and benefits-focused headline about yourself. For
example, “Senior Librarian with 10 years’ experience of managing online resources in the health sector.”)
10. The ‘So What’ CV. (o give yourself the best chance of it actually being read, make sure that it ‘looks right’. Make sure that
it is not too long, that it is laid out correctly, is properly formatted and so on.)

Your CV has to sell you.

It has to make you sound interesting. It has to make you sound as though you will fit into the organisation and that you’ll
make a quick and substantial difference.
Because if all your CV does is make the recruiter think, ‘so what?’ you will have dropped the biggest CV clanger of all.
Task 3: Parts of Nisa’s CV

Nisa Thaoto is a nurse from Thailand.

Look at the details from her CV (a-f), and write them
under the right heading in her CV. a. Date of birth: 30 April 1992
b. 2011-2012 nurse at Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok
1. Personal details c. I enjoy football and played for the women’s team at school.
2. Education and qualifications d. Languages: Thai (fluent); English (elementary). UK driving license
3. Work experience e. 2010-2011 Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Bangkok (Thailand).
4. Skills Diploma in Nursing
5. Interests f. Mr Mark Hargreaves, ESOL lecturer, Beechen College
6. References mhargreaves@beechen.ac.uk

Task 4: Looking at Nisa’s CV

1. Why did Nisa write this CV?

2. What does Nisa do now?
3. What words are in bold on Nisa’s CV?
4. What information did Nisa put in brackets (like this)?
5. How many full sentences (with a verb and a full stop) are there
in Nisa’s CV?
6. Who are Mr Hargreaves and Ms Dangda? What does Nisa
need to ask them?
 Nisa Thaoto CV (version 1)
I am a nurse with qualifications and experience. I am looking for a job in healthcare in Beechen.

Personal details
Address: 391 Newbury Road, Beechen, BE2 3AC Email: nisathaoto@wow.com
Phone: 07746 128 497
Date of birth: 30 April 1992

Education and qualifications

2010-2011: Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Bangkok (Thailand).
Diploma in Nursing 2012-present: Beechen College.
ESOL course. I will take Entry 1 exams this term.

Work experience
2011-2012: nurse at Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok
2013-present: volunteer assistant at Help the Aged (charity shop), 14 High Street, Beechen

Skills
Languages: Thai (fluent); English (elementary)
Computers: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) UK driving license
Interests
I enjoy football and played for the women’s team at school.
References
Mr Mark Hargreaves, ESOL Lecturer, Beechen College: mhargreaves@beechen.ac.uk Ms Pikul Dangda, Head of
Nursing, Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok: pikul_dangda@bumrungrad.com. Ms Dangda was my
supervisor when I worked at Bumrungrad Hospital.

Task 5 (version 2)
Complete Nisa’s CV. Write the
headings in the right place on
the dotted lines (…).
a. Education and qualifications
b. Personal details
c. References
d. Interests
e. Work experience
f. Skills
Nisa Thaoto CV
I am a nurse with qualifications and experience. I am looking for a job in healthcare in Beechen.
___________________________?
Address: 391 Newbury Road, Beechen, BE2 3AC Email: nisathaoto@wow.com
Phone: 07746 128 497
Date of birth: 30 April 1992
___________________________?
2010-2011: Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Bangkok (Thailand). Diploma in Nursing 2012-
present: Beechen College. ESOL course. I will take Entry 1 exams this term.
___________________________?
2011-2012: nurse at Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok
2013-present: volunteer assistant at Help the Aged (charity shop), 14 High Street, Beechen
___________________________?
Languages: Thai (fluent); English (elementary)
Computers: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) UK driving license
___________________________?
I enjoy football and played for the women’s team at school.
___________________________?
Mr Mark Hargreaves, ESOL Lecturer, Beechen College: mhargreaves@beechen.ac.uk Ms Pikul
Dangda, Head of Nursing, Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok:
pikul_dangda@bumrungrad.com. Ms Dangda was my supervisor when I worked at Bumrungrad
Hospital.
 ……CV
I am a …...
I am looking for ….
Task 6.
Personal details
Address: … Now write your CV.
Email: … Write information
Phone: … about yourself.
Date of birth: …

Education and qualifications Reding section

… - … : …. 3. Read the article again and answer the questions.
… - … : ….
1 What reasons are given for not being totally honest
Work experience on your CV?
… - … : …. 2 What can happen to senior managers who lie on
… - … : …. their CVs?
Skills 3 Which of the four rationalisations do you think is the
Languages: … most serious? Why?
Computers: … 4 What happens to you when you start using
rationalisations?
Interests 5 What are the advantages of asking an old boss?
…
References
…
 Is there ever a time when it is OK to lie on a resume?
1. Read the headline and subheading of the article. Predict five words
that will appear in the article.
2. Underline all the words in the article connected with dishonesty.
The ethics of resume writing
It's never OK to lie on a resume. But what about
stretching the truth?
by Clinton D. Korver
How much can you "dress up" your resume to make yourself as strong a
candidate as possible without crossing the ethical line of deception? Consider a
few conflicting thoughts:
• Over 50% of people lie on their resume.
• A Monster.com blog about the dangers of lying on your resume elicited 60
comments from job seekers recommending lying and only 46 discouraging it.
Recommenders justified lying by claiming: everyone else is doing it. Companies lie
about job requirements, and it's hard to get a good job.
• Executives caught lying on their resumes often lose their jobs.
If you are reading this blog, you probably are not tempted by dishonesty. But
what about the following:
• Claiming a degree that was not earned because you did most of the work and
were only a few credits short.
• Creating a more impressive job title because you were already doing all of the
work of that position.
• Claiming a team's contributions as your own, because other members did not
carry their weight.
• Inflating the number of people or range of functions for which you had direct
responsibility because you really did have a great deal of influence over them.
These are called rationalizations-constructing a justification for a decision you
suspect is really wrong. You create a story that sounds believable but doesn't
pass close examination. You begin too fool yourself. You develop habits of
distorted thinking.
So where is the line? You need to decide that for yourself. Here are some tests
to keep your thinking clear:
• Other-shoe test: How would you feel if the shoe were on the other foot
and you were the hiring manager looking at this resume? What assumptions
would you draw and would they be accurate?
• Front-page test: Would you think the same way if the accomplishment in
question were reported on the front page of the Wall Street Journal? Or your
prior employer's internal newsletter?
But wait, you say. My resume doesn't quite pass these tests, but there is
something real underneath my claims, and I do not want to sell myself short.
When in doubt, ask an old boss. While asking an old boss may be difficult, it
has many benefits. Precisely because it is difficult, it forces you to think clearly
and sometimes creatively. Asking also checks the accuracy of your claims, trains
your old boss in how to represent you during reference checks, and sometimes
your old boss may give you better ways to represent yourself.