CV, in its original Latin expression, means Curriculum Vitae, its English equivalent is "Course Of (My) Life", and if we translate it into Turkish, it means "The Course – Direction – Path of Life".  In its generally accepted form, it is translated as the word "Curriculum Vitae" in Turkish.    

A CV is a few pages of text that we use to express ourselves in job applications. But those few pages of writing are also very effective in whether we get a job or not. One of the most basic factors that are effective in making a decision about us by the human resources (HR) officer or recruiter of the company in front of us is this few-page article.

In order to stand out from hundreds or even thousands of people applying for a job, to pass the pre-selection and make it to the interview, that is, the oral screening stage, in front of the human resources (HR) official, much more than any CV is needed.

Nature of the Resume 

 You should make sure that your resume is simple. It is always necessary to consider that the person who will read the resume works at a very intense pace. For this reason, your resume should be a single page if possible, and should not exceed a maximum of two pages. By preparing a long resume, you should not give the employer the feeling of reading a book.)

You should write your resume in easy-to-read font size, leaving 2.5-3 cm of space from the left and 2.5-3 cm from the right, without compressing too much. You should prefer easy-to-read fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman, Tahoma.

 If you can, prepare it in PDF format. Because changes can be made on the resumes you have prepared with Microsoft Word, it may cause the employer to accidentally delete some information or make changes on it. In addition, the employer may want to print out your resume, so you should make sure that the computer image and the printout are the same.

 If possible, create a resume template yourself. Stay away from resume templates that are frequently used on the internet. Creating a template yourself will make a difference in terms of design from the employer's point of view. At the same time, it will make a difference between the classic templates that come before the employer.

Make sure that your resume includes your contact information, education information, professional experience, references, training and certificates, if any, computer programs you can use, foreign languages you know, hobbies and activities. It should not be forgotten that the concept of cover letter has come to the fore in recent years. For this reason, it will be a plus point for you to write a cover letter that is not too long, showing in which ways you are suitable for the position you are applying for.

Cover Letter on Resume

 First of all, I think it is necessary to talk about what a cover letter is. When we walk around the shelves of a bookstore, we read the short summaries written on the back of the books to learn about them. Those short summaries give us preliminary information about the books. As a result of the impressions we get, we buy the book or read the summary of another book. What we call a cover letter is like a summary in the back of the book. The employer reads your cover letter before reading your resume. Just as you get an impression about the book from that summary, the employer gets an impression about you from your cover letter without reading your resume.)

How to Write a Cover Letter

 First of all, it should be short. When reading, it should not exceed 15-20 seconds. It is written in plain language and should be easy to read. What you write should be what catches the eye at first glance. Instead of writing a short summary of your own resume, you should write things that will be of interest to the employer. For example, you can talk about your career goals. You can write down why you want the position you are applying for and tell how eager you are. In short, your enthusiasm, excitement and energy should be felt in your cover letter.

 You should remember that your cover letter is a letter to the employer rather than a resume. For this reason, you should write your cover letter for a specific name. If you don't know the name, you can write to the human resources department. A cover letter addressed to the person adds intimacy to your resume. This creates an advantage for you. Therefore, try to be as honest and sincere as possible. Stay away from using clichés and maintain your authenticity.