Preparing Your CV and Application

The way to start writing a covering letter is to read the job announcement carefully. As well as you possibly can, work to understand the type of skills the employer is looking for and what kind of added benefit these skills are expected to bring. Think about your skills and experiences in relation to the advertisement and bring out essential strengths and knowledge in the application. In addition, take the recipient into consideration and write clearly.

CV

In the CV, make sure you describe yourself in a clear, concise, and informative way. There is no 'best' way to make a CV, but it is important that your CV be understandable and include relevant information, as well as your most important skill sets.

A good résumé or CV is personalised, informative, and clear. It should also be concise and coherent. You should always check your CV for typing or language errors. Keep the CV short enough without leaving out anything of importance. You can use a well-made CV for years, as long as you remember to update it whenever necessary. A well-functioning CV should include at least the following information:

Personal Information: Your name, date of birth, address, phone number, and e-mail address and possibly the address of a personal Web page. Including your picture will help to separate your CV from others.

Work Experience: List your positions from the newest one to the first. The list should include the employer company, job title, and duration of employment, and provide a description of duties. If you have held many positions, you might want to include only the ones related to your career.

Education: List your education from the most recent qualification to the first item after grammar school. Besides the name of the educational institution, you should state the course of study, the dates of study and graduation, and the name of the degree or other qualification awarded.

Language Skills: Estimate your language skills on a scale of excellent, good, satisfactory, and basic. You can also divide your language skills into spoken, read, and written, to give a clearer picture to the reader. In addition, you can mention if you have had other languages as a work language, been an exchange student, lived abroad, or had hobbies that develop your language skills.

IT Skills: You can evaluate your IT skills as excellent, good, satisfactory, or basic. Besides basic skills, you should mention your knowledge of various applications, operating systems, and computer languages.

Further Studies: You should also mention additional studies such as courses, Open University studies or night schools, or any self-study.

Special Knowledge: If you wish, you may also describe your special knowledge. This might involve, for instance, artistic, mathematical, or social skills that could be of use in working life.

Hobbies: You can also mention your leisure activities, positions of trust, and hobbies.

Referees: You should mention the person's name and tittle, his or her contact information, and how the person is connected to you. Remember to ask for permission beforehand from anyone you wish to have as a referee.

In some cases, an official European CV is requested. You can find the instructions here: Eurooppalainen CV-malli.