Curriculum vitae in Word

Writing your CV using Word is one of the most common practices, both for beginners and for those who already have various experiences. Even to create a CV in Word, precise rules must be followed, to ensure that the document is really effective.

Programs for working with text

Microsoft Word is one of the many writing software that may be present on a computer. Similar to Word are Pages, LibreOffice, WPS Office, Google Docs and all of them have one thing in common: they guide you in writing text of any type, while also providing basic structure and formatting. These, alone, are not enough to ensure that the CV written with this type of program is successful. In this article we focus on writing a curriculum vitae using Word, but the same advice applies to all word processing programs, both free and paid.

Writing in Word: advantages

There are several advantages of using word processing software like Word when writing a curriculum vitae. Here are a few:

• The program is easy to use;
• There are no writing or information constraints;
• You can create your layout and customize it as much as possible;
• Once ready, the CV from Word can be quickly converted into PDF and sent.

Writing in Word: Disadvantages

There are also several disadvantages of using Word when writing a CV vitae. Here are some of them:

• The layouts are few and limited;
• You risk exaggerating with the lengths, precisely because there are no constraints of any kind;
• You run the risk of creating an inconsistent document, again for the same reason as above;
• You risk using fonts that are not readable by everyone and above all not readable by ATS software.

What to insert on a CV written with Word

If you have decided to write your CV with Word, after having carefully considered if and how much it is worth, you have to keep in mind these few rules that will allow you to obtain a coherent and well-formatted document, which includes all the necessary information:

Marital status and contact details

Name, surname, city of residence, telephone number and email address are the basics. To these you can also add your address, your marital status, your age, your nationality and whether you have a driving license but remember that they are unnecessary data unlike the first 5.

Personal profile

A small summary of your experiences and a small introduction on who you are and what you are looking for is always essential, in any CV, and allows the recruiter to get a first idea of ​​the candidate.

Education

It is essential to enter your course of study, highlighting the link between them in order to give strength to the CV in its entirety.

Professional experiences

As for training, it is essential to include your professional experiences, always remembering that not all of them should necessarily be included but only those relevant to the position for which you are applying. If you are at your first work experience, insert any internships and work experience during the school years.

Skills and foreign languages ​​

Computer skills, those specific to a particular subject (for example gardening if you are applying for a position at a botanical garden) are fundamental together with spoken and written foreign languages. The linguistic level must be declared objectively, without exaggerating as regards the actual knowledge.

Passions and hobbies

Also in this case, only passions and hobbies should be included in some pertinent to the position you are applying for or to your training / career path. Do you play chess and apply for a position as a team leader? Enter this passion since this will be what will describe you as a patient person able to interact calmly and rationally with other people and manage a team.

Layout a CV in Word

Once you have defined the headings to be included on your CV written in Word and once filled with content, it is necessary to lay out the CV so that it is legible, understandable and coherent. Here are some tips on how to lay out a CV in Word:

• Choose a simple layout: the first thing a business recruiter does is take a quick look at the many CVs he receives for a certain position. This means that all those who are not easy to scroll quickly on first reading, those whose layout is too compressed and those which are not pleasant to the eye are almost always discarded. Try to choose a simple layout, leave important spacing between the various sections: in this way, your CV will appear light and easy to consult;
• Choose a suitable font: the perfect font for a CV does not exist but there are recommended ones, as we explained to you here. Not only that, because once you have chosen the font, the next step is to define its size: a font that is too large communicates little professionalism, a font that is too small communicates indecision. Put yourself in the shoes of those who will have to read your CV and you will see that you will know how to make the right choice;
• Format correctly: in addition to the layout and the font, it is good to format a written CV correctly with Word. Use the titles correctly, to divide the various sections and give compactness to the document, use bolds to highlight something (for example the keywords associated with the job position) and in general play with the sizes and widths to make sure that your CV is legible. And don’t forget, always for the same reason, to always justify the text.

Don’t forget that your CV must be understandable at first reading: format it correctly and strategically to highlight the elements most important.

CV templates for Word: yes or no?

It is possible to use ready-made CV templates for Word: you can find them on the Internet or directly from Word, by selecting New from Template and following the instructions. Is it advantageous to use ready-made CV templates for Word? There is no single answer because it depends on your expectations, on the time you have available and also on how well you know how to use Word: having a ready layout helps you not to lose the measures and follow the rules, but creating a custom template could help you stand out on other candidates. Evaluate what is best for you and your needs and make your choice.

In summary

• The CV on Word is easy to create;
• Creating a CV with Word requires that you respect specific rules relating to formatting, writing, layout, etc;
• The basic rule when writing a CV with Word is to make it readable, both by humans and by automatic software;
• For a basic CV, you can rely on Word but to get a more professional and elaborate CV, which respects all the rules and is easy to write.