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Your CV Tool Kit

THE EUROpean CV

THE American CV

A résumé is a summary of your

• qualifications,
• education and
• experience

relevant to your job search.

Employers will typically spend less than 30 seconds reviewing your résumé.Therefore, the information must be conveyed in a clear, well-organized style.

Pro Tips

• Create a master CV with all your information and sections
• Then, tailor your CV to each different job applied for

© Rémi Solowianiuk

THE EUROpean CV

CV-template resources :

Google Doc

Canva

Pro Tips

...

• Exploit white space as much as possible to make your CV readable, neat and organized
• Font type/size should be harmonious
• Demonstrate your own style and creativity throughout your CV (layout, color scheme, design,...)

© Rémi Solowianiuk

THE AMERICANCV

What not to include?

ACTIONVERBS

Picture Age Citizenship

Pro Tips

• Exploit white space as much as possible to make your CV readable, neat and organized
• Font type/size should be harmonious
• Demonstrate results and accomplishments
• Provide even more details than in the European CV

© Rémi Solowianiuk

Skills | Expertise

• List your hard skills or areas of expertise
• Include soft skills if you like

Education

Year - Year What (your degree title) Where (school, location) • Details (if relevant)

• List all degrees you hold or are working on
• Most recent degree first
• Details include:
• Specializations (major, minor)
• Thesis
• Major projects
• Awards

Contact | Info | Details

Essentials

• Phone number
• Professional email
• Website / LinkedIn / Git Hub
• Current location (Full address is optional)

Optional

• Nationality
• Age (If you include your age, give a number instead of your date of birth)

NB: No need to write the labels "phone", "address", etc. You will gain space and clarity.

Skills | Expertise

• List your hard skills and areas of expertise
• Include soft skills relevant to the position

Profile Picture

• Should I include my picture?

It is up to you whether you include a photo. In the interest of equal opportunity, candidates are under no obligation to do so. However in Europe, including a photo remains a common practice.

If you do, ensure you:

• Look professional
• Wear an appropriate outfit
• Focus on your face

NB: Think ID photographs, no filters, no selfies!

References

Name SurnamePosition, Company, Location

• Email address
• Telephone number

• Consider asking professors, advisors, supervisors and bosses, or coworkers

• As a college student or recent alum, you should have at least one reference from a professor or faculty member
• Select an individual who knows you well and can speak of your skills, rather than a well-respected professional in your field who knows very little about you

Languages

Here is the CEFR levels ranking used in Europe and their correlating values:

• Include your native language (e.g. French)
• List additional languages in order of mastery
• Add your TOEIC score (year in brackets afterwards)
• Add your corresponding levels from one of the two rankings below

Native Native C2 Proficient TOEIC 990 (2023) C1 TOEIC 945 (2023) Advanced B2 TOEIC 785 (2023) Intermediate B1 TOEIC 550 (2023) A2 TOEIC 225 (2023) Beginner A1 TOEIC 120 (2023)

IT | Computing

• List the IT skills and mastered software relevant to the job, in order of mastery
• You can also group IT and Skills or Expertise together under one section named Skills
• Optional: include a second column indicating the level of mastery for each skill, using these levels of knowledge:
• Advanced
• Intermediate
• Basic

Interests | Extracurricular Activities

You can include interests or hobbies that:

• Valorize your skills and competencies
• Demonstrate your level of engagement (number of years practiced, level, position held, Efrei Student Associations,...)

• Trigger more personallinks between you and potential employers / coworkers

Experience

Include all skill sets and experience related to the job ad

To include:

• Relevant professional experience
• Full-time / Part-time positions
• Internships / Apprenticeships
• Significant professional / course projects
• Periods of study abroad

With

• A detailed description of the role
• Describe what you did using action verbs!
• Do not forget accomplishments and results

Writing Tips

• List the experience from most recent to oldest
• Use factual, confident and professional tone
• Start each bullet with an action verb
• Do not use I- nor we-sentences
• See list of action verbs here

• Provide specific examples to highlight your accomplishments
• Pay attention to verb tenses
• For past experiences: the verbs should be in the past tense
• For a current activity, use the present tense of the infinitive

ACTIONVERBS

Education

• List all degrees you hold or are working on
• Details include:
• Concentration or Major
• Major projects
• Awards / Accomplishments
• Thesis (if applicable)
• Use English equivalents
• Remember: most recent degree first

The American résumé does not include:

• Picture
• Age
• Citizenship

IT Skills | Computing

• List the IT skills and mastered softwares relevant to the job
• You can include a second column with your level of mastery for each job, using these levels of knowledge:
• Advanced
• Intermediate
• Basic

CERTIFICATIONS

Optional

• You can add a list of any additional certificates that you obtained
• Add the year you obtained it
• Add the institution delivering the certificate (Optional)

CERTIFICATIONS | CERTIFICATES

Optional

Year obtained Certificate title • Details (if relevant)

• You can add a list of any additional certificates that you obtained
• Add the date or year

The American résumé does not include:

• Picture
• Age
• Citizenship

References

Optional If required in the job ad

• Consider asking professors, advisors, supervisors and present or past employers/coworkers (do not ask family or friends)
• Make sure you have their permission before listing them on your CV

• As a current student or recent alum, you should have at least one reference from a professor or faculty member
• Select an individual who knows you well and can speak of your skills, rather than a well-respected professional in your field who knows very little about you

Name SurnamePosition, Company, Location

• Email address
• Telephone number

Interests | Hobbies

You can include several interests or hobbies

• Make sure this section is organized
• Include details (number of years practiced, level, names of clubs, ...)
• Interests can trigger more personal links between you and potential employers / coworkers