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The best way to approach your Curriculum Vitae(CV)/Resume is to think of it as your unique marketing tool, which should be powerful enough to ignite the interest of the reader and reflect what a great potential employee you are.

Before writing or updating your CV/resume make sure that you have read carefully the job description for the post that you are applying for and researched (easily done via internet) the organisation itself.

Your application will determine whether you get long listed for a position but remember it will be constantly reassessed right up until an offer is made by numerous individuals. Your CV/Resume will need to be up-to-date and should always be accompanied by a supporting letter setting out your most relevant skills and experience and a clear and forthright explanation about your motivations for applying for the post and the special talents that you would bring to the organisation. The design of all documents should be user friendly, kept concise and written in standard fonts for ease of use. We would recommend that you do not include photographs of yourself nor complex graphics.

Do not just issue your CV/Resume in a mechanical and automatic method that suggests that you not even attempted to understand the organisation or the role that you are applying to. This is easily spotted by recruiters and not looked upon favourably.

CV’s / Resumes can be put into three broad types:

1. Chronological - Used when your work history is stable and directly relevant to your application and your professional growth consistent. The order would start with a summary statement followed by listings for each of your roles to-date, using the most recent first with responsibilities, skills, and evidence based on achievements and measures of success included for each, then education and other information at the end.

2. Functional - Promotes demonstrable (transferable) skills and relevant experience gained outside of the sector/role to which you are applying or where the role is highly technical. It firstly concentrates on skills and responsibilities, which are the bulk of the document followed by brief details of each employment post, then education and additional information.

3. Combination - Best used when you have been in the same role for a long period. This type utilises both of the above to best effect. This usually will start with a summary statement followed by headings and examples of all key relevant achievements. Followed by experience, education and other information.

When writing your CV/Resume, remember to consider the following:

Be concise, keep to two or a maximum of three sides of A4; longer documents might be skimmed and could indicate that the candidate has difficulty in being concise. Avoid the use of acronyms which may be in common use within your previous employment but meaningless externally.

When listing each role, add details of what the organisation does, the number of staff employed and annual sales or income.

Give dates of all roles. Include reasons for leaving and if you have frequently moved jobs or have had periods out of employment give a brief explanation.
Under each position highlight your achievements, rather than your job description.

When listing your achievements, always start the sentence with a verb e.g. Won, Managed, Negotiated, Identified, etc. and end with how you measure your success.

Include your best achievements that reflect your skills in the following areas: Strategic Planning, People Management, Project Management, Finance, IT and managing a budget. Performance or impact indicators are very helpful particularly if you can relate them to the organisation's business plan. These might be from individual or team achievements.

Always state your most important educational achievements and a small number of outside interests on the last page. In some cultures and organisations academic qualifications for many NGO posts are not considered as important as practical experience whilst in others such as Holland or Germany very high value is placed on advanced academic qualifications such as a PHD even if the subject matter bears no relevance to the post.

If you have experience of voluntary work, make sure you include it.
Never state current, previous or desired salaries, or what terms you expect from a potential employer unless asked to do so.

Remember to include courses, additional qualifications (achieved or studying for), awards or memberships, which might be relevant to your application.
Take note that in some cultures, especially Anglo Saxon, there is no expectation of you to include reference to your gender or age, whist in others failing to do so would be unusual and arouse suspicion. If in doubt consult a recruitment expert in the country in which you are applying to or a colleague or friend from that country.

It is easier than ever to check out information provided by candidates; the information you give must be completely factual or you could be dismissed from your post.

Writing and updating a CV/Resume should not be a daunting task; taking on board this advice will enable you to customise or create a winning CV/Resume that you feel comfortable with.