BIG FISH CV WRITING GUIDELINES

We appreciate the individuality of candidate’s application and there are many ways of writing a good CV. These guidelines are general recommendations only but some important data missing in your CV may cause delays in processing your application and unnecessary work on our side. Below we have listed some major parts of a typical CV with some our comments and hints.

Preferred format is Word RTF and your application should be in English for most of the jobs we offer that concern global companies. If you insist on including your photo please make sure it is well compressed, the same rule applies to all attached or included scanned documents. Please note that we do not require scanned copies of your diplomas or certificates at this stage of the recruitment process.

Please note that after we received your application it will be seen by a human being very soon, usually the same day. You will also receive automatic confirmation that your CV made it to us and within one or two days you will be asked to provide some additional information either using online entry form or by email.

We accept the applications only by means of email, it is a good practice to use either the Subject line suggested by us (when you click on the email contact) or have some text in the subject line indicating the purpose of the email. It is also a good practice to have few lines of introductory text in the message body and a signature block.

Your application may be accompanied by a cover letter which should have a reference to the position you apply for and highlight your achievements. However, in our opinion. one document is sufficient at this moment, submitting more documents has no influence on the outcome of your application.

TYPICAL CV BUILDING BLOCKS

Please note that the blocks marked “mandatory” are minimum information requirements we expect from your CV. Other blocks are at your discretion and depending on the particular case. The sequence may vary however “General Info” should be on top.

1.GENERAL INFO

First Name, Name (mandatory)

Street, Zip, City
Country of current residence (mandatory)

Date and Place of Birth
Phone work, Phone home, Phone mobile (one phone mandatory)
Private email (mandatory), Work email

While entering the Date and Place of Birth is not mandatory and it is our policy to treat all candidates equally it helps us to better assess your profile against given position.

As we work internationally and our candidates come from all over the world we cannot be experts on all languages and local customs so please try to put your First Name first.

2. JOB REFERENCE (optional)

If you are applying for a specific position add our job reference here and state few reasons why do you think that you are ideal candidate for this. We really do appreciate such self estimate and judgment.

3. OBJECTIVE (optional)

State in few sentence what is your next professional target to achieve.

4. SUMMARY (optional)

· Write few bullets summarizing your best achievements and skills

· Statements should be very brief and address only relevant and exceptional skills and strengths

· Put most important and relevant statements on top

5. EXPERIENCE (mandatory)

Date from- Date to (or open)

Title (Position), Employer, Location

· Write few bullets summarizing the position

· Start with 1-2 sentences about your employer unless it is widely known

· Highlight your achievements and functional responsibilities starting with most relevant ones

· List relevant data as budget and people under your supervision and/or control

· Reasons for leaving (optional)

· Repeat for all stations of your employment

Please note that leaving gaps in the list of your employment stations may alert the person reading your CV. If you are unemployed at present please try to give the reasons.

Try to be brief when listing student jobs, projects and internships, however it is a good practice to show e.g. time spent abroad during your studies as an exchange student and/or casual worker for the purpose of learning the language and other cultures.

Please use reverse-chronological order when listing your employment stations – the most recent on top and use “chronological” approach rather than “functional”.

6. EDUCATION (mandatory)

Level reached, Date from-Date to, School name and location, Major (Specialization)

Please list at least the last highest level reached.

7. TRAININGS (optional)

Subject, Date from-Date to, Training institution and location, Certificate

Please try to list trainings that are relevant to your profession or the position applied for.

8. LANGUAGE SKILLS (mandatory)

Language, level, certificate, school

9. OTHER SKILLS (optional)

Please try to list skills that are relevant to your profession or the position applied for.

10. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS (optional)

Role, Date since, Organization and location

Please list only the organizations relevant for the profession and try to avoid listing others like political and or past time activities.

11. REFERENCES (optional)

Person, Position, Organization, Contact information

12. SALARY EXPECTATIONS (optional)

Please indicate your current (gross) and expected salary and currency.

Please note that the salary is a matter of negotiations between you and your possible new employer. While our policy is not to disqualify the candidates solely on their possibly unreasonable expectations we also have clear instructions and indications from our clients that we have to adhere to.

13. CONSTRAINTS (optional)

State all constraints regarding e.g. your mobility or others that prohibit you from working in certain countries and/or companies. For the positions that may require visa from certain individuals let us know if you have necessary permit to work in a given country.

14. HOBBIES (optional)

It has no influence whatsoever on the outcome of your application but some candidates insist on telling us something interesting or unusual here. Yes, we will be honored to hear that you took part in the Olympics or climbed on Mount Everest.

©2005 Big Fish