Hadeel Al-Kofide MSc PHCL 476

 What is a CV?  The difference between CV & resume  How should you organize your CV  Things you should avoid in your CV  Things employers look for  Things That Worry Employers  Ensure that your CV is neat & visually appealing  Font case & size  Writing an objective

 CV: curriculum vitae, is a written profile of your professional qualifications. It can vary in length from one to several pages, depending upon the variety & number of your experiences  A resume is usually shorter (1-2 pages)  As a health care professional when applying for a job use CV better, WHY?

1. Name & Contact Information 2. Education 3. Specialized Training/Certification 4. Experiences 5. Presentations 6. Publications 7. Related Awards & Activities 8. Professional Affiliations 9. License 10. References After your name you can start with an objective, this will be discussed further later

 The top of every CV should contain contact information. Your name is typically centered, and may be set in larger &/or boldface type to attract attention  Place your complete name, address, address & telephone number at the top of the page.  Think carefully before including a second “permanent” address. This can be confusing to

 Start with your most recent educational experience first (this is called reverse chronological order)  For each degree you obtained, write the full name of the degree (i.e. “Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences), full name of the university & year of graduation

 If you are currently working on a degree, put the word “candidate” after the name of the degree, write full name of the university, & expected year of graduation  Do not include information from/about high school

 Use the full certification name & note the year the certification was earned  You can include a short description of the certification if you feel it is not self-explanatory

 Use the heading “Professional Experience” if you have any pharmacy or other professional health care experience  Include related jobs, rotations, & volunteer experience  Start with your most recent experience first (reverse chronological order)

 Information include:  Time interval employed (list start & stop month/year; use year only if you held the job for more than 1 year)  Position title  Name & location of employer  Name and contact number of a supervisor

 Non-pharmacy or non-professional experiences can go under the category of “Other Related Experience”  Be sure to describe only transferable skills (i.e. skills you gained at other non pharmacy jobs that would enhance your value to a pharmacy employer  Any jobs involving teaching, or interaction with members of the public may involve skills transferable to the pharmacy profession

 A short description/list of projects you completed or notable activities performed while on the job is a nice touch; it is probably not necessary to list your standard job duties unless they are out-of-the-ordinary  Rotations are good to list when you don’t have much else to place on the CV. If you’re more

 Include the presentation title, name of group presented to, & year. The location of the meeting is optional  If you have several presentations, you can separate out poster presentations, invited oral presentations, class lectures—whatever works  Don’t list contact names for the presentation, but have a copy of all handouts from the presentations ready to present during an interview

 Don’t include site-specific newsletter publications— these should be listed with job or rotation as projects  If you have more than four, divide them into peer- reviewed & non-peer-reviewed

 For awards, list title & year granted. You may describe the award briefly if you think it will not be self- explanatory

 List all professional associations of which you are currently a member. Spell out the full name of the associations—do not use abbreviations

 List name of state & type of license only

 List names & contact  Attach reference letters

 Description of health  License number  Irrelevant awards, publications, scholarships, associations, & memberships  Travel history  Previous pay rates  Reasons for leaving previous jobs  The words “References available upon request”

 Signs of achievements  Patterns of stability & career direction  Specifics in job descriptions  Willingness to work hard  Neatness/Professional presentation (including grammar & spelling)

 Pattern of job hopping  Lengthy descriptions of education  Obvious gaps in background  Irrelevant personal information  Statements about achievements that are inconsistent with the job description  Typing & grammar errors

 Choose high quality paper in white or off-white  Have the final version professionally reproduced in a single-sided format

 Times New Roman is recommended  12 point font size will be the easiest to read; do not use smaller than 10 point font  Do not use more than two fonts on your resume  Use bullets to aid organization, but be careful not to overuse them. Too many bullets lead to a cluttered appearance

 Where to put them?  Its optional  Resumes may incorporate a brief objective provided it is clear, concise, & targeted to your employment goal  If you want to explore more than one career option, develop two or three resumes each with a different objective aimed at a specific type of position

 When writing a professional objective, include at least two of the following three components: 1. Position desired —pharmacist, toxicologist, pharmaceutical sales representative 2. Organization type —research facility, drug manufacturing firm, retail pharmacy 3. Knowledge, experience, or skills offered —proven communication skills, managerial experience, knowledge of automated prescription systems

 Phrases such as: “a challenging, entry–level position” or “position dealing with people” are unclear & mean little to a potential employer  Use stronger statements such as “seeking a pharmaceutical sales position where I can utilize my proven sales experience, excellent communication skills, & extensive knowledge of prescription drugs to assist doctors in treating patients effectively.”

 “To contribute to a pharmacy team as a pharmacist who serves the needs of a diverse patient population, while gradually increasing my clinical role over time”  “To obtain a staff pharmacist position at a nuclear pharmacy & to receive the proper training to become an authorized user”  “To identify and develop novel drugs and dosage forms by integrating my Pharmacological, Clinical, Biochemical, Pharmaceutical and Phytochemical expertise”