Bamako, Mali

Recruitment & Advice

General information about CVs

22 June 2026
  • The effectiveness of a CV

 There is no such thing as a perfect CV. When writing it, you should first ask yourself: what is your aim, and who is your target audience?

  • Sales pitch

The aim of a CV is to make the reader want to find out more about you by meeting you, so it doesn’t need to be exhaustive. Its purpose is to secure an interview.

  • The reader

You know nothing about your future reader when you’re writing your CV, and neither do they. It’s up to you to spark their desire to meet you. How? By presenting a sales pitch designed to showcase your strengths.

Its distribution is no longer limited to ‘hand-to-hand’ delivery or ‘postmarked’. (Paper, USB stick, the internet, multimedia combining text, sound and images).

  • The two main rules

You must find out what the standard is in your profession and sector so that you can comply with it. The more creative and meticulous you are, the more likely you are to miss the mark or put your reader off.

Whatever medium or format you use, stick to market standards. CD-ROMs and floppy discs are now rare on the market.

  • Style

The way you say something is just as important, if not more so, than what is actually said. ‘Language is just as important…’.

The CV, the main part of which is a description of your career path, must include a hook and develop a case for why you’re the right candidate. “What I can do, what I’m aiming for”.

1. THE CONTENT OF THE VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE CV.

Which sections should a CV contain, and how much weight should be given to each?

As the order of presentation is arbitrary, you should start by organising your own CV.

  •  Personal details
  • Surname and first names 
  • Age: state your date of birth, as this makes it easier to update your age. If you are applying for a managerial role, it is best not to state, for example, that you are 20 years old, as an experienced manager needs to have ‘cut their teeth’ to be taken seriously.
  • Marital status
  • Gender

If you play on ambiguity, the reader will tend to see deception or ambiguity throughout your CV.

  • Education

Distinguish between initial education and further training, and stick to a brief and precise description: school/course (preferably the acronym if it is widely recognised), qualification/date, limiting yourself, if possible, to the baccalaureate, which serves both to mark the end of secondary education and as the first university-level qualification)

  • Languages
  •  Miscellaneous

 Do not lie; in any case, the recruiter has every means of finding you out.

2. PROFESSIONAL SKILLS / WORK EXPERIENCE / PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

  • Presentation of professional experience

 Work experience is presented in a CV either in chronological order from most recent to oldest or vice versa. Whether you use a forward or reverse chronological order, there’s no definitive answer. You can choose the reverse order when, for example, this could be the deciding factor in whether a CV is accepted or rejected.

So, when deciding on the order of presentation, do as you see fit, bearing in mind what showcases your strengths best.

The duration of each role should be stated in months and years.

How to summarise each stage of your career: the further back the experience is, the shorter the description should be; the more recent it is, the more detailed and well-reasoned it should be.

 3. STANDARD PRECAUTIONS

  • Should you include a photo? If it looks professional, why not? It will help make your CV less impersonal.
  • Should you supplement your CV with attached documents? No, unless the attached document provides additional context, such as a copy of an article.
  • Should you mention any work placements? Yes, if you’re just starting out and if the placement is relevant to the role you’re applying for. It’s up to you.

4. BE CAREFUL!

  • Updating an old CV: simply adding your most recent work experience to the top. Nothing really fits properly, leaving the impression of a ‘sloppy’ CV.
  • Technical profiles: take IT professionals, for example, who think they’ve covered everything by listing terms that add nothing to the application. Some terms are well-known; others are just filler.

5. SALARY 

It’s just as well to include it in the cover letter as in the CV.


Source: Collection, Le Figaro, Economy

← Back to list