Prepare a CV

of High-Achiever
Your Step-by-Step Guide
to Preparing a Powerful CV regardless
of your age, education and work experience
by Nina Solomatina // 2013

NINASOLOMATINA.COM
Helping you prepare your best to enter your dream university

Imagine this situation: you finally prepared all your admission documents, it was
overwhelming and frustrating process when you had to get organized with so many
different papers in different languages, so at some point you decided to take the easy road.
Meaning that you decided not to customize your each document, but use the ones you
already had in order to save time and make it quicker. Sounds familiar?
Yep, youve probably had your CV already and you just translated it into English. You think
its all right because anyway you have great experience and admissions officer is going to
spot it immediately. Or if you dont have that great experience, you probably think: But
what they expect of a 22 y.o. guy who was studying all these years up to now?
The truth is that nobody would care how old you are and whether or not you had a
possibility to obtain any professional experience on top of your studies. And whether you
had enough time to prepare all your admission documents!
You can not change your grades, you can not change the ranking of the university you went
to, nor can you invent any work experience that you didnt have. But what you can do is to
take your chance to reveal every meaningful experience from your life and present it in a
way that would convince the admission committee that you are a thoughtful, ambitious and
result-driven graduate with lots of interests outside your study life.
You are in a drivers seat and it is your decision to take every opportunity to sell yourself
with every document you submit. Your CV counts, so make it work for you. All the steps on
how to do it are provided for you below.
Good luck & work hard to stand out,
Nina

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Before you get started pay attention to this:
Your CV is not a list of all your activities up to now. It is your short presentation of
yourself in a given form. The format gives you many limitations, but you still can and
should be creative about it in order to make a necessary impression with your CV.
Your CV should also be highly targeted, so to say, the CV you prepare now for the
admission to a graduate program is slightly different to a document with which you apply
for jobs. You should include only the relevant information for your audience.
Length: You CV should be no longer than 1 page! In some exceptional cases it might be
one and a half pages or two pages (absolute maximum!). If its any longer that only means
that you list all your activities without thinking if it brings any value for your audience.
And yes, in some cases you may have indeed made many internships and finished several
professional courses that directly relate to the program you apply to, then you can use a bit
more space (no longer than 2 pages anyway!). But consider then not to outline too much
information about each CV entry.
At the end of the day, you want your CV to be reviewed, right? Even with one page thats
already a lot of information to consume, if its any longer no one is going to read it for
hours.
Wording: Since you are so restricted with the space every word should earn its place on
your CV. Do not use general words and phrases that bring no value, but use a laser-focused
language that drives a point home.
Format: You can use any of the templates given below, or you can use yours. Just make
sure it looks clean and professional, and information is presented in a structured and easily
readable manner. Make it easy to read and try to avoid a busy-looking document.
Nevertheless, what matters most is not the way you present your information graphically,
but rather how you present it qualitatively.

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Herewith is a step-by-step guidance on how to prepare your powerful and focused CV

that would provide a reader with a necessary impression about you.

1. Personal Information
Here you include the basic information about yourself. Just make sure you include the
phone numbers with area code and at which you can be really contacted (so if you
never use your home landline, no need to include it here).
As well, try to include a more professional looking e-mail address as
yourname@anydomain.com. It is not as critical, but if you include your address that is
something like sweetgirl91@smth. it doesnt give the best impression.
If you have a good representative photo of yourself include it in your CV as well. A picture
with a smiling face in a professional outfit is always appealing. But if you do not have a
more or less professional photo, do not include just any picture here. A photo, which is cut
out of a bigger photo and where you can still see a shoulder of another person standing
next to you, is not the best, so keep including your photo as an option.

2. Work Experience
2.1 Employer
When you state the name of the company you worked for, do not just write its name, but
give also some characteristics. Exception here if youve worked for McKinsey & Co or
Louis Vuitton, or other big name international company which is already well-known.
Then you do not need to explain further about the company. But for any other organization
you shall indicate the industry, companys position in the market and any other relevant
details.
Remember also, that even though your employer could be a well-known company in Russia
(e.g. Retail Group X5), admission officers in another country may have no clue about it.
Therefore, in order to demonstrate how meaningful your work experience actually is, you
have to present your employer.

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See the difference here:

Bad example

09/2012 till p.t.

JSC TEKHSOL

Good example

09/2012 till p.t.

JSC TEKHSOL (Leading company in Russian market for providing customized
IT solutions and infrastructure for banking segment)

In the first example, nobody would ever guess what is that company about and if it could be
called company at all. In the second example, you immediately get an impression that it is a
solid organization and understand what it is actually doing. No question about the viability
of this firm.
2.2 Your position
Never include just the official name of your position without telling what it actually is,
unless the name is self-explanatory. That is the biggest mistake of many of us, since we
assume the name of a position would be clear for everyone. But firstly, someone with no
knowledge on your industry may have no idea about the indicated position, secondly, in
another country the same position may imply totally different responsibilities.
Consider the difference:
Bad example

09/2012 till p.t.

Manager Assistant

Good example

09/2012 till p.t.

Business Development Manager Assistant responsible for small and
medium banking segment

In the first example you may wonder what the person was really doing. Did he do a
secretary work like arranging meetings in Outlook and booking flights for his manager?
Could be anything.
In the second example you get the point. Ok, that person was on a serious side of business,
he was responsible for a particular area and assisted the manager in growing the business.
Sounds good, right?
If you were an intern, never state just an intern or summer intern. You will be better out
by saying Analyst Intern or Marketing Operations Intern. If you outline the area of your
responsibility next to the name of your position, it would add much value and
understanding for those who review your CV.

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2.3 Your responsibilities at work

Here you provide more insights into what you did at your work, what you learned
and what you achieved, therefore this part is much more important than actually the
name of your employer and your position. Never skip this section even if you think the
name of your position explains everything, because it doesnt.
Sometimes we wish we could have done more at our jobs, so we could be more proud when
we put down on paper all what weve done. But the principle here is not to outline
everything as it is, but to present it in a meaningful way that would make your reader
think: Wow, this gal seems to be able to accomplish a lot!
On the other hand, if you consider that you were challenged at your work and you were
always involved in important tasks, do not forget to show it to the reader.
On you draft paper write down absolutely everything that you did at work (even if you just
sorted papers, printed out the presentations or just sat during the meetings). Then, think
now how can you package it differently (without inventing unrealistic tasks!), so that it
gives a solid impression.
If you sat during the meetings, you can say that you helped to prepare and assisted during
the meetings with key clients. If you sorted out the papers, you can say that you performed
the analysis of the relevant documentation for specific projects.
Be a bit more creative about your duties at work, try to look at it not through how you feel
about it, but how you want others to perceive it. Then pick the relevant duties in
accordance to the degree you apply for, and present everything from a necessary
prospective.
2.4 How can you achieve the required impression?
Firstly, use verbs when outlining your duties. Instead of saying research and analysis on
the markets, say that you performed profound research and analyzed the key drivers of
the market X. If you did information input into systems, outline that you performed and
ensured accurate information input into marketing database of company X.
Secondly, focus on results, rather than processes. Your reader is interested to know what
you actually achieved with what you did during your work. It doesnt matter that you were
monitoring and analyzing the competitors of company X, what matters is the result you
brought did you create a matrix that allowed to ensure a competitive positioning for
firm X or did you identify the key growth areas for company X?

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If you state the results you achieved, you give the impression to your audience that you are
a result-oriented ambitious professional. Any admission officer would want to add such a
promising candidate to the University community.
See the difference:
Bad example

Main activities and responsibilities at work:

Generated sales to individual and corporate clients, provided customer
service & support; developed companys database of clients and partners;
performed market and consumer research and assisted in developing
companys strategy

Good example

Main activities and responsibilities at work:

Generated sales and delivered exceptional customer service to individual
and corporate clients (9 out of 10 clients would recommend our service);
ensured competitiveness of company products by close monitor and
analysis of the rivals and market trends, identified new business
opportunities for the company in areas of online trainings and small
prep packages selling

By reading the first example you think: So what? What do all these ongoing daily
activities mean? Were there any results, any outcomes or achievements?
In the next example you see that this person is an achiever, he is making sure he gets to a
valuable outcome and is not just being involved in the process of doing something.

3. Education and Training

Here you list all the relevant educational degrees youve already obtained up to date or are
still in the process of obtaining.
You can also include the appropriate to your objective non-degree courses. But make sure
what you include is indeed a necessary information for the admission committees. For
example, when you apply to a graduate program there is no need to include details about
your secondary school. Everybody goes to school and it was 5-6 years ago, so what? Unless
you had a very untypical experience (i.e. you did your last high school years abroad), you
really shall not include the details about your secondary education.
Although if you want to outline that you finished the school with distinction and were the
best pupil, you can always include it in the Achievements section. Or if you want to show
your commitment to a particular discipline from early ages (e.g. you went to a technical
lyceum, then did your bachelor in Physics and are now applying to a Master in the same
area), just include a single line about it in the Education part.

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For you entry into Education section you shall include the dates of your study, the
official name of your degree and the official name of your University. Bear in
mind also, that even if you attended the most prestigious university in your country,
admissions officer in another continent may have no idea about its ranking and he is not
going to do a research on it for you. Therefore, it pays the effort to include some kind of
qualitative information to give an idea about the status of your University (e.g.
ranking).
Equally important is also to include the key disciplines you took or indicate your
specialization since majority of degree names are very broad.
Additionally, if you have good grades at your University, include a GPA (grade point
average) score. Or you can state that you are within top n% of students. But this entry is
really optional in case you want to impress with your scores.
Have a look at the following examples:
Bad example

National Research University Higher School of Economics

Degree in Management (Bachelor)

Good example

National Research University Higher School of Economics

(3rd University in Russia by Webometrics Int. Ranking, top 10 Russian
Universities by Forbes 2010)

Bachelor in Management (Focus on Finance, Private Equity and

Asset Management)
BA Thesis: Investing in small-cap value stocks in South Korea
In the first example you obviously assume that anybody would just now how strong this
University is and how competitive it is to get in. Also, the name of the qualification is way
to broad and seeks for the specifics was it a financial management, HR or Marketing
Management?
In the second example you immediately get an understanding of the level of the University
(great job!) and you further understand what the person actually studied. On top of it, this
is your opportunity to show a commitment to a specific professional path just by stating
your focus areas during your studies. Makes totally different impression, right?

4. Achievements
If youve done your job by presenting your education and professional path in the resultoriented manner, your CV should already look pretty impressive. But go a bit further and
include some more information with the achievements you are especially proud of and that
would give even better impression to admissions.

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Helping you prepare your best to enter your dream university

If nothing pops up in your mind immediately and you are not even sure if there is
something that may be relevant for your graduate admission, think again - everybody has
achieved something in their life, sometimes we just do not consider it achievements! Also,
remember the way you present the information also makes a difference (instead of saying
participated in business competitions, state the specific outcome e.g. a finalist of a
particular competition).
Consider the following example where you can learn that actually arranging interviews
with top end professionals for your Thesis may well be considered an impressive
achievement.
Good Example

Achievements:
McKinsey Business Diving Competition Finalist (was directly invited for
a last round interview to join the company); managed to arrange inperson interviews with 14 private equity world leaders (level
Partner/Managing Director and up) for Bachelors Thesis research

5. Personal Skills and Competences

This is your another chance to shine and present some more qualitative information about
yourself and to introduce any other interests outside of your academic and professional life.
Specify your language skills on a clear scale (from Basic to Fluent). If you passed any
language exams in the past, indicate also your official results.
For any other skills (social skills, technical skills) outline what you consider would
characterize you more. Just try to avoid too much of generic words like team-player,
result-driven, etc. You obviously cant avoid all of them, just make your best to sound a bit
more personal and not just jot down the best characteristics.
Indicating any volunteering activities, sports, travel, unusual hobby of yours would play a
favor for you.
A good entry in this part may look like this:
Good Example

Languages:
Russian (native), English (fluent, TOEFL ibt 106), French (upperintermediate)
Computer skills:
Excellent MS Office skills (Excel, Word, Power Point), advanced
knowledge of SPSS

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Extra-curricular activities:
06/12-09/12 - Volunteering work at ARCA Cultural and Educational
Centre (CEC): Teaching French to children in the Favela of Vila
Prudente, So Paulo
Personal interests:
Strong Interest in Finance and Banking, Passion for Sports (Cycling,
Golf, Tennis), travelling (wide travel experience on 4 continents)

This is it! You made it to the end and you are now fully equipped to prepare a powerful CV
that would help you get admitted to a Masters Degree at your dream university.
Start taking action now:
- pick one of the templates below (or use yours),
- begin crafting your CV step-by-step with recommendations above.
It should take you couple of short hours to prepare everything from scratch, then you
should allow another hour or so for polishing and improving it. Good luck!

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Curriculum Vitae

Insert photograph if relevant

Personal information
First name(s) / Surname(s)
Telephone(s)

First name(s) Surname(s)

Include area codes

Mobile:

E-mail
Citizenship
Date of birth

Work experience
Dates

Add separate entries for each relevant post occupied, starting from the most recent
(remove if not relevant)

Occupation or position held

Main activities and
responsibilities
Name and address of employer
Type of business or sector

Education and training

Dates

Add separate entries for each relevant course you have completed, starting from
the most recent. (remove if not relevant)

Title of qualification awarded

Principal subjects/occupational
skills covered
Name and type of organisation
providing education and training

Achievements

Include here any relevant achievement (Remove heading if not relevant, see
instructions)

Personal skills and

competences
Mother tongue(s)
Other language(s)

Specify mother tongue (if relevant add other mother tongue(s), see
instructions)
Specify level of proficiency (Advanced, Working knowledge, Intermediate,
Basic)

Social skills and

competences

(Remove if not relevant)

Organisational skills and

competences

(Remove if not relevant)

Technical skills and

competences

(Remove if not relevant)

Computer skills and

competences

(Remove if not relevant)

Other skills and competences

(Remove if not relevant)

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First Name LAST NAME

Address
Phone number (include area codes)
Email address
Education
From YYYY
To YYYY

University Name
Degree and discipline

GPA

Subjects

Thesis and grade

Student achievements (eg head of Student Council) and

scholarships

Internships/Work Experience (state whether full-time, part-time or internship)

MM/YYYY
MM/YYYY
MM/YYYY
MM/YYYY
MM/YYYY
MM/YYYY

Company name
Department

Details including role, tasks and responsibilities

Company name
Department

Details including role, tasks and responsibilities

Company name
Department

Details including role, tasks and responsibilities

Languages

Language ability (eg native)

Language 2 ability (eg fluent)

Extra Curriculum Activities & Additional Information

Sports:
Volunteer work:
Awards:
Interests:

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Your name, surname

Phone numbers
E-mail address
Current residence

Education
Dates, Name of the University
Name of your degree

Additional Courses
State any additional relevant non-degree courses

Work Experience
Dates, Name of employer
Position
Duties

Achievements
List any relevant achievements during your studies, your professional achievements or any other

Languages

Russian: Native

English: Fluent (Confirmation by exam)

Other language

Computer Skills
Include relevant computer skills

Personal
Date of birth
Personal characteristics
Professional and non-professional interests

References available upon request

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