Job Application Documents & Interview Fundamentals
Understanding Key Job Application Documents
What is a Résumé?
A résumé (from French, meaning “summary”) is ideally a concise summary of a person’s education, skills, and employment history when applying for a job. It does not list every detail of a profile, but rather specific skills customized to the target job. A résumé is usually one or two pages long and is typically written in the third person to maintain an objective and formal tone.
What is a Curriculum Vitae (CV)?
A Curriculum Vitae (CV), a Latin phrase meaning “course of life,” is more detailed than a résumé, generally two to three pages, or even longer as required. It lists every skill, all jobs and positions held, degrees, and professional affiliations the applicant has acquired, presented in chronological order.
A CV is a detailed document highlighting an individual’s professional and academic history. CVs typically include information like work experience, achievements and awards, scholarships or grants earned, coursework, research projects, and publications. A CV is used to highlight the general talent of the candidate rather than specific skills for a particular position.
What is Biodata?
Biodata, short for Biographical Data, is an archaic term for a résumé or CV. In biodata, the focus is on personal particulars such as date of birth, gender, religion, race, nationality, residence, marital status, and similar details. A chronological listing of education and experience follows these personal details.
Essential Résumé Components
Certain elements are required in any résumé, regardless of the chosen format. There are also optional elements specific to an individual. A person should make decisions about these according to their job objective, career history, and available space.
A good résumé must start with a brief profile of the candidate, a summary of qualifications, followed by industry expertise, and then professional experience in reverse chronological order. The focus should be on the most recent experiences (including responsibilities and accomplishments), with previous experiences presented only as a summary or additional information. This section is followed by education details, professional affiliations, and/or voluntary initiatives.
Understanding the Job Interview
Meaning of an Interview
Have you ever faced an interview? Discuss your experiences and description of the term ‘interview’. The description can be summarized as follows:
- An interview is a conversation where questions are asked by one or more individuals, known as the interviewer(s), and answers are given by an individual, the interviewee.
- In a job interview, it is a conversation with the purpose of an employer to assess the candidate and for a job seeker to convince the employer.
- Sometimes, information can be transferred in both directions.
Interviews usually take place face-to-face and in person. However, new communication technologies such as smartphones and video conferencing software have enabled conversations where both the interviewer and the interviewee are geographically separated. Interviews generally involve an oral conversation between the interviewer(s) and the interviewee. In some cases, a “conversation” can happen between two persons who type questions and answers back and forth.