Curriculum vitae

Curriculum vitae

A curriculum vitae (CV) is a chronological description of your academic, extracurricular and professional achievements.

Writing a CV is an extremely important step when applying for a scholarship or a job. The aim of any CV is to present a candidate’s qualifications, skills and abilities in such a way that will interest the selection committee into inviting the candidate for an interview.

Apart from personal information (first and last name, contacts), a CV usually contains the following information:

• Formal and informal education
• Work experience (if applicable and relevant for the application)
• Language and computer skills
• Awards and recognitions
• Published works and papers
• Community work
• Previous scholarships
• Other relevant experience and achievements

The usual length of a CV is:

• 1-3 pages for undergraduate and (post)graduate applications
• 2-5 pages for doctoral studies applications
• 5 or more pages for a research application
• 1-2 pages for a job application

Useful advice

• Make sure your qualifications, skills and abilities are presented in a clear and logical manner
• Check your text for spelling and grammar mistakes
• Concentrate on the important issues: leave out details that you do not consider relevant in your application
• Do not make your CV too long: it needs to be clear and concise
• Tailor your CV to the application/program/job for which you are applying
• Ask someone to read your CV after it is finished

EU CV

EU CV is a curriculum vitae format used in academic and job applications. The EU CV is officially recommended by the European Commission.

The EU CV is simple to use because it consists of several logical sections.

Here you will find:

• CV template
  (Source: http://europass.cedefop.eu.int; MS Word format, 45 KB, English)
• Instructions for filling in the CV
  (Source: http://europass.cedefop.eu.int; PDF format, 136 KB, English)
• Examples of completed CVs
  (Source: http://europass.cedefop.eu.int; PDF format, 22 KB, English).

The EU CV is one of the five documents that make up the Europass. The Europass is a set of documents that can help you present your skills and qualifications in a way that is easily comparable and recognizable in all of Europe, that is if Europe is the destination of your educational program, job search or work experience.

Samples of CVs

• CV samples
  (Source: http://www.moj-posao.net; Croatian)
• Several CV examples 
  (Source: http://www.cvtips.com; English)
• CV examples 
  (Source: http://www.jobera.com; English)
• Resume examples 
  (Source: http://www.alec.co.uk; English)
• CV examples(Source: http://jobsearch.about.com; English)

Additional information

• CV writing preparation courses
  • How to Write a Successful Application weekend workshop, Institut za razvoj obrazovanja
• CV writing preparation books
  • IRO library - Institut za razvoj obrazovanja
• Internet resources
  • Good resume writing guidelines
    (Source: http://www.moj-posao.net; Croatian)
  • The content of a good resume
    (Source: http://www.moj-posao.net; Croatian)
  • CV writing
    (Source: http://www.ceu.hu; English)
  • How to write a CV
    (Source: http://www.znanje.infostud.com; Serbian)
  • The difference between a CV and a resume
    • Resume
      (Source: http://jobsearch.about.com; English)
    • CV 
      (Source: http://jobsearch.about.com; English)
    • Resume or CV?
      (Source: http://www.jobera.com; English)
  • CV writing
    (Source: http://www.cvtips.com; English)
  • How to write a curriculum vitae
    (Source: http://www.eastchance.com; English)