Personalized and targeted curriculum

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One of the trends that can be found when it comes to compiling a curriculum vitae is to prepare one as generic as possible, and send it to all the companies that are interesting and for which you want to apply. While saving time this way, it is an extremely dangerous approach when looking for work. In fact, every job offer requires that a special CV be prepared, to include all useful and pertinent information within it. In this guide, we explain why a personalized and targeted resume is essential when applying for a job.

What is a personalized resume?

A curriculum vitae designed to best respond to the job offer you want to apply is defined as personalized or targeted, and which perfectly highlights your experiences in the same sector and your professional goals in the event of a company change. It is a CV that does not want to highlight everything the candidate can do but only what he can do in relation to a specific job position. The aim is therefore to convince the company that they are the right person for that particular position and to do so they bring in support of objective data.

Personalized curriculum vs extended curriculum

A personalized curriculum is the reduced, clean and specific version of the extended curriculum. By extended curriculum we mean the one that includes all the experiences gained, both professionally and personally, and on which all personalized CVs are based. A personalized CV is the sum of the extended CV, which in turn serves as a reminder for the candidate when he has to prepare a more specific version of it.

The importance and advantages of a curriculum vitae custom

Writing a CV in a personalized and targeted way has several advantages, including:

  • It allows you to stand out among other candidates by demonstrating that your experience and qualities are extremely relevant to that specific one job position;
  • Helps to define one’s goals and professional ambitions
  • It allows to give a positive image of themselves and to facilitate their work in finding the right person.

Does writing a custom CV have any disadvantages?

In general there are no disadvantages when writing a targeted CV, but you could go overboard with the information just to make a good impression on potential employers. It is therefore essential to practice avoiding evaluation errors that can denigrate you rather than enhance you with respect to a specific job position.

How to write a targeted curriculum vitae

In light of what above, it is good to follow a few rules to write a targeted and effective curriculum vitae. A targeted curriculum is designed and built at every stage of writing: from personal profile to hobbies, without forgetting educational and professional experiences, extra-curricular activities and everything that we think is useful to make us known. It is always essential to pay attention to which information to enter and which to omit, based on the job position. The final goal is to arrive at a curriculum vitae that is not only personal but also well structured, which is easy to understand, contains all the useful information organized in a coherent manner and which is useful.

Let’s give some examples:

  • If you are applying for the position of chef for a restaurant, you must necessarily highlight your skills and your experiences.
  • If you are applying as an editor for a newspaper, you must necessarily specify your interests and also add any information on courses taken.

The personal profile, essential for your personalized CV

If in the standard CV, personalization is almost nil, a targeted CV allows you to range much more and to intervene on some elements to make sure that they are all relevant to the job position you have chosen. The personal profile is therefore essential to suggest to the company you are applying to who you are, what you do and what you would like to do. Remember that a good personal profile consists of a maximum of five lines to briefly describe who you are, what you can and can do and list some of your personal characteristics.

The importance of words

A personalized CV consists of a fundamental element: the words that, in this specific situation, cannot be left to chance. To choose the words to use in your CV, take some time to carefully read the job offer and what are the requirements that are required: once you sit down to fill in the CV, you will have a clear idea of ​​what skills and information to include but also on the type of language to be used and the right words to achieve the desired result.

Let’s take an example:

You want to apply as a Project Manager at a call center. The ad specifies “We are looking for a person who is able to work in a team on complex projects”. In this case you will necessarily have to take into consideration all the words that semantically fall within the sphere of “team work”.

Words are important even if you decide to spontaneously apply to work in a company even if not in the presence of a job advertisement: in this case you will have to carefully study the company profile, understand if the company uses specific terminologies and use the same ones also on your CV, to demonstrate adherence to the same values.

A specific CV to put your ideas in order

In addition to being an excellent tool to highlight your skills in relation to a certain job position, the targeted CV also helps to put your ideas in order. It is much easier to write a targeted CV if your career goals are clear and linear, it is less so if you have changed your path or if you have decided to take a different path. Again, it is good that you order the information in your resume to keep only the essentials and what has a real interest in achieving your goals.

Writing a targeted or personalized CV is an opportunity to review your career path and reflect on the meaning you want to give to your career and your goals.

The importance of being honest

A personalized and targeted CV lends itself well to lies: you lie to try to make a good impression on your skills and experience, but in this case you can also lie in relation to the willingness to work for that specific one company.

It may happen that, in the event of a frantic job search, you decide to try to send your CV everywhere, without taking into account the real interest in that specific company. In this specific case, it is good to be careful not to overdo the information you provide and above all try to really understand if the company in question interests us, or we are applying only to find work.

For example, if you decide to apply to a company whose idea and principles you don’t share, building a custom CV could be more difficult and above all you have to omit your real feelings towards the company itself to get the job. Remember that in the long run, even if you get the job, the aversion towards the company will come back.

In summary

  • The personalized CV helps you make a better impression about the company you are applying for;
  • A targeted CV should be consistent from start to finish and only contain relevant information;
  • Language used in this type of CV is essential;
  • Lying in this case is not only incorrect but can also be harmful to you as a professional.