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CV versus Resume – describing the differences

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What’s the difference between a Resume and a Curriculum Vitae (CV) – CV versus Resume?

This depends on where you are living and what you do for a living. There are as many explanations as there are different ways to use a CV versus Resume. There are although some simple rules in the discussion about a Resume versus a CV. Below we will try to enlighten you and give you an insight in the biggest differences.

Differences from Geographical point of view

If you are living in Europe including the United Kingdom, you will be able to use the terms CV and Resume rather interchangeably. There is little difference between them for people living in EU/UK. Although CV is more used than Resume here. If you live in the United States, the differences between a Resume and a CV can be big; you could say that a CV in a way is a special type of Resume.

In North America, most professionals in the business world would always have a Resume, being a two pager, consisting of the most important information about you and your expertise.

If you are working in more specialized areas like highly academic jobs within for instance research, medicine or similar, you would probably know a CV as a presentation of everything that you have done in your career including, all work experience, all educations, diplomas, honours, project you worked on and concepts created in your work. A CV will be a substantial longer document with all this information.

Differences in the Length of a CV / Resume

There are off course more specific differences then how many pages a CV/Resume would consist off. Depending on if you have for instance listings of scholarly accomplishments, publications (academic or business), articles this would be considered a CV. On the other hand more business achievements, skill, and credentials would be part of a Resume.

A basic guideline for a North American Resume would be a 1-2 page document consisting of the most important information, trying to sell you to potential employer. A North American CV, as used mostly for academic positions, will contain a substantial amount of information about everything that you have done, and all educations you have, and typically consist of several pages. Instead of a Resume which is the major accomplishments you have done the CV will have all the relevant and mandatory achievements and credentials.

In EU/UK, CVs can be very short or extremely long, depending on what you want to achieve and what you want to share. It is mostly depending on what position you are applying for.

It is rather confusing what to do

It can be confusing what to do, but instead of just trying to do the right thing, consider sending an email to the employer and simply ask for what level of details they are asking for and offer them further details on request. The only thing that can happen is that they will remember your name and this might give you an opportunity to be seen as professional because you asked what they were looking for – an interview opportunity might not be as far away as it was if you had not asked or if you had made the wrong assumptions and had send your CV/Resume in the wrong format / level of detail.

You should also be aware of the fact that the cover letter or the application will be seen as you trying to get the employer to read your CV/Resume to see if your competences are the right ones for the position.

Reference guide to the major differences between a CV and a Resume

North America

CV or Curriculum Vitae

  • Typically 6-15 pages (can be even bigger)
  • Usually used within academic or science
  • Complete listing of all achievement and experience
  • All elements are thoroughly described
  • Must be read thoroughly and not easy to get a simple overview

Resume

  • Typically 1-2 pages (max. 3 pages)
  • Usually used within business (administration)
  • Summary of accomplishments, credentials and achievements
  • Highlighting the important elements
  • Easy to get an overview

Europe

CV or Curriculum Vitae

  • Can range from a simple 1-2 pages to as long as necessary
  • Can be used in any area of business
  • Depending on what job you are applying for it can be detailed or simple

Resume

  • Not used in Europe

Main objective

The main objective of a CV or Resume is to give the employer all necessary information for him to create an overview of the person applying for a job so that he can decide whom to choose for an interview.

If ever in doubt, call the potential employer and ask them what they need then you already have a “toe” in the door.

Let Comoto help you do it the easy way

Remember that when using Comoto, you can always put all information about yourself and you work life in there and then just pick the most important for the position at hand. Easy and convenient create a specific CV / Resume for you. Have multiple CV / Resume ready for you to use in different application. You can even have them in different languages and different specifications. When using our CV Templates you can export to these and then make minor adjustments afterwards, taking the hassle out of making CV / Resumes.

Different writing styles of Curriculum Vitae

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Different writing styles of Curriculum Vitae writing

It can be difficult to search around in the enormous amount of ideas, opinions and guides that is available today. Here you can find descriptions on the different writing styles of CVs that is recommended. There is not one optimal or correct version – the right style depends upon a lot of different factors and to find out what will work best for you, will be something you discover when you have tried different versions.

The final result should hopefully be that you gain full control of your CV and get the job of your dreams.

There are three styles you could choose from:

Functional Curriculum Vitae

This CV style is based mostly on your skills; it concentrates on the acquired skills you have gathered in the past, but also how you have used these skills in your previous positions. This style would be the best style to use if you have gaps in your employment history and/or want the recruiter to focus on your expertise/skills rather than discovering your visible gaps in your employment history. Not that you should withhold any important information, but you don’t need to make it obvious for the recruiter to see these negative facts in your CV.

You could say for whatever reason – if your skills / expertise are more important for a recruiter / headhunter than your qualifications or employment history, then a functional CV is the obvious choice.

Performance Curriculum Vitae

The performance Curriculum Vitae style mostly focuses on past performance. This is often the case if you’re a major achiever or very often seen in “sales” or “economic” related positions. With this type of CV you will focus the attention of the recruiter on your performance/achievement during each chronological job listed in your employment history. For example if you have been on the same step on the ladder for some years and achieved a lot at your work, but now you want to take the next step in your career. You can – by using this type of Performance CV – , show that you are a high performer and have achieved goals; that you have done this for some years and now you’re ready to take the next step. If the recruiter / headhunter recognize this, he knows you’re committed and will do the little extra “something” to achieve your next goals.

Targeted Curriculum Vitae

A targeted type of Curriculum Vitae would focus on the requirement of the vacant position and exclude most other unnecessary information that could distract the recruiter / headhunter from judging you to be the perfect match for the vacant position. Sometimes this could be the case if you’re from a completely different sector or your employment history is too diversified to be a perfect match. The skills and expertise you have acquired during your professional working experience has helped your professional capacity, but it is not directly applicable to the vacant position unless you illustrate why. That’s why in this case the best idea would be to have a CV targeted for that specific job.

Which CV type is the best?

Standards, guides or rules are almost not best used as they are, and this is especially the case with regards to your CV or Resume. The best thing that you can do is to take these good ideas and put them together to become what will be called a “Combination Curriculum Vitae”. This style of a CV is the most used format. You basically use a little of all the above styles when you are trying to make that perfect CV. It is rare that a clean type would be used, as the job vacancies are fairly complex and your employment history would need to be targeted every time to answer the requirements of the recruiter / headhunter.

Tailor make your CV to the job you want – and get it!

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Tailor make your CV to the job you want – and get it!

Your CV is probably the most important part of your application to get the job of your dreams. The cover letter will be the place where you convince the recruiter/headhunter/company to read on, and read your entire CV.

A very good idea will be to Tailor make every job application with a Tailor made CV, if you want the job of your dreams, the employer should also read a “dream of a CV”.

The basic principle of your CV is to Tailor make it to the job:

  • Be sure to cover the most important job skills, qualifications, and experience in your CV.
  • Be certain that most parts of your CV relates to the job you apply for.
  • Use the same skills, experience, and qualifications description as in the job ad.
  • Ensure that your previous experience is clearly and relevant to the job application.

This is a lot easier to do when using Comoto, you can have several CV in the system and specialize them to the current application.

You have the basic material available from your basic CV (maybe your LinkedIn profile), and then you should just adapt that material to the wishes to you dream job.

An Outline of the basics in a CV is seen below:

Professional Summary

The professional summary is the part where you describe your overall motivation. Here you should describe that the current job would fit into your career choice. This is should show the employer that this job is the next step on your career ladder.

Skills

Skills are mostly seen as keywords in a job add; they are essential criterias that you have to have to fill this position. It is not a question if you have them all, most people don’t or just barely, but you must include all the required skills as much as possible. Highlight the skills where your expertise really supersedes the demands highlighted and mention the rest.

Work Experience

Your former work experience needs particular care and you should try to reuse some of the skills or goals explained in the job ad. Explain you experience very concise and clear, write the roles and tasks you had. Be sure to use the same wordings as in the requirements for this job.

Use several examples, and where it is possible show how your skills where developed and refined through your previous work experience. Make it extremely clear that you have gained extra expertise through your previous experience.

Achieved goals

Goals that you have achieved on top of your work experience for each job description are extremely positive, it shows that you aim for the goals the employer puts up and that you are dedicated to the relevant tasks. Try to use examples that are related to the new job application if possible.

Educations / Qualifications

A lot of job ads describe a certain set of required qualifications. You should try to provide qualifications that meet these requirements. Sometimes you have similar qualifications, try to convince them that they are good enough. Either do it by email beforehand so that you are sure that your qualifications are good enough. This also gives you the opportunity to have a talk with the employer before you send your CV.

Your qualifications need to be direct and to the point, and if the employer describes them very details, you do the same. Make it look like you’re obviously qualified and the best choice for the job.

As described above it is not that hard to make your CV targeted to the job your applying for. Using Comoto to do this is very easily, you have the opportunity to have several distinct CVs and you can change them and have as many as you like in your portfolio. You can even make them online versions, so that you can refer to a link if you talk with an interesting person.

How to Use: Spell check your Comoto CV for typos and misspellings

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How to Use: Spell check your Comoto CV for typos and misspellings

Spell check CV: We have launched a new feature to make this easier for you, we have created a solution with a build-in a spell checking routine, that is available on all multi line text areas in Comoto. When you create or build your CV you will see a bar at the top of the edit area, like the one below to Spell Check CV.

spell check CVs

All you have to do after you have created your CV is to activate the icon then it will perform a spellcheck marking the misspelled words with a red line beneath it. When you hold the mouse over the misspelled word and click the mouse you will be able to change it using a selection of alternative wordings. In this example it was “industry” spelled like “industri”.

Creating a professional and great CV without any misspellings and typos has newer been easier. Just remember using Comoto to build your next CV or make the next targeted CV with our multiple CV feature.

Please notice that this new feature also have additional editing capabilities – for instance the option to have bullets and lists in your CV, align text areas or even make special indention of paragraphs – just to mention a few. We will make a description on these editing capabilities later.

Hope you like the new spellchecking feature when building yourself the best CV, and we also hope that we have removed some of the hassle and made it easier for you to create your next CV.

How to Use: Create CV or Import your CV before you pick a Template

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Create CV or Import your CV before you pick a Template

create cvs

“Comoto offers you an exciting new way to present yourself and apply for jobs with an online CV, CV file or a printed CV.  It also becomes easy to create multiple CV versions and to control who can see what information on your Comoto Web Profile.”

create cvsGet started with our CV Wizard

If you want to create a new CV, the Comoto CV setup wizard will take you by the hand. Step by step it will help you to enter all important information for a professional looking CV.

create cvsImport your CV from LinkedIn

Create your first CV within seconds by importing your LinkedIn public profile. It will import all your current work experience, education, professional summary, skills and even your picture in just two clicks.

create cvsDetailed work experience
and education

Describe your work experience and education choosing the level of details you want. To get a complete CV, remember to add and rate your language skills and other competencies.

Tag Yourself with Keywords!

With our SkillsTags you can simply describe yourself and your experience with just a couple of keywords. By rating these SkillsTags you can show how good you are in an area. Using tags is often faster than writing a long text both for you and an employer, and it will help your CV to be better found on Comoto.

Gather all your CV related Documents

Add (attach) all sorts of documents and certificates like letters of recommendation, diploma, projects, work samples and many more to certify and authenticate your CV. It will raise your credibility with employers.

How to Use: The Comoto CV Commenting System

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The Comoto CV Commenting system consist of 4 parts – learn how to get CV Comments, get References or get your CV Verified

  • CV Comments
  • Recommendations
  • A Verify feature
  • For giving References

The principles behind the Comoto CV Commenting system

At Comoto, we believe creating and managing your CV should be an ongoing process where you regularly improve and upgrade your CVs (yes more than one CV) to the specific situation and your latest status. If you want to read more about the Comoto principles go here.

Comoto Verify CVAs part of the CV creating and optimising process it is important that you get feedback on your CV data text in general and the latest changes or you might have a new draft version you would like to get some comment on. Of course, you can do that by sending email with a downloaded version (don’t know how to download your CV – go here) of your CV but you can also do it in a much more structured way and ask for comment via the Comoto Commenting system. Hereby you also avoiding the risk of a having draft version of your CV floating around outside your control (notice at Comoto it takes a few clicks to delete a (draft) web profile or may you just want to hide it then it show a red dot at the right of the name). We know you can easily send the URL to the web profile you want to test (and feel free to do that) by why not ask for comments to your CV as some of the people you ask for this might be the same you ask for recommendations, a reference or to verify. Want to learn how to use the Commenting feature – go here LINK

As part of the overall quality system of our CV system but also for you to increase the quality of your CVs we also have added a recommendations and reference feature. Hereby you can ask relevant piers to support you. Want to learn how to use the Commenting feature – go here LINK

As part of both Comoto’s fight against fraudulent information, omitted important information and dedicated lies in CVs and for your CV to stand out and also reduce your risk of having a CV being read with “sceptical eyes” we have added a Verify feature. Hereby you can emphasise which parts of your CVs that have been verified and by whom.

Comoto Comments

All these features are combined into the Comoto Commenting System which you can find here as part of your web profile

The feature can be accessed without log in to the Comoto CV Manager but the person you ask for comments, ref. etc. must identify her/himself (the picture shows how it looks if you have not logged in).

 

 

How to Use: The CV Comments – Comoto CV Commenting System

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The Comoto CV Commenting system for CV Comments
Principle behind and background for CV Comments feature:

As part of the CV creating and optimising process it is important that you get feedback on your CV data text in general and the latest changes or you might have a new draft version you would like to get some comment on. Of course, you can do that by sending email with a downloaded version (don’t know how to download your CV – go here) of your CV but you can also do it in a much more structured way and ask for comment via the Comoto Commenting system.

Hereby you also avoiding the risk of a having draft version of your CV floating around outside your control (notice at Comoto it takes a few clicks to delete a (draft) web profile or may you just want to hide it then it show a red dot at the right of the name). We know you can easily send the URL to the web profile you want to test (and feel free to do that) by why not ask for comments to your CV as some of the people you ask for this might be the same you ask for recommendations, a reference or to verify. Want to learn how to use the Commenting feature – read below

How to use CV Comments:

First log in to the Comoto CV Manager application here

To be able to use the Comoto CV Commenting you need to have created a least one CV. You will then have to go to your web profiles like shown below.

CCS_Web_profiles(The name on the CV / Web profiles) shown in bottom of the picture above is not the same on yours as it will show the names you chosen for the CV).

Notice the little red square at the right bottom corner of the picture – here you can decide if the Web profile is public or private (to have the Web profile password protected or not use the icon – red = protected – green public)) – want to learn more read here.

Next step is to press the Web profile to open it – you do that by clicking the web profile and wait for it to open. Then evaluate the web profile – is it ready for comments?

Look at the right for the Comoto CV Commenting SystemCV comments. See example below (when logged in as a Comoto user)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giving CV comments

Now I change to be acting as if I was another person asked for commenting Michaels CV (labelled “CV Comoto Examples/A Comoto example – Lorem Ipsum”).

Michael invited me by mail / sms / skype or similar and sent me the Web profile link – here  (fell free to try and add a comment).

I then have (as the commenter) to log in – there is several different options

Login_commenting_SystemPress Log in if you are a registered user else you can use several alternatives among others Facebook and Twitter (remember the purpose is only to identify you and to inform you about the comment should it be used by another person in your name)

I then logged in (as I have a log in I used the log in)

 

 

I have made the following Comment (see picture below)

CCS_Comment_Example

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comoto then send me (my name here is Test) the following mail

“Hi test Test!

Thank you for leaving a comment on Lorem Ipsum CV at Comoto. This helps the person get better quality in his/her CV.

You left the 1/22/2013 on this CV http://app.comoto.com/cv/Comoto Examples/A Comoto example – Lorem Ipsum and if accepted by the user it will be seen on this profile in the future… Best regards The team“

Michael receives this mail

“Hello, Michael!

Test added a comment to your Lorem Ipsum (mother and parent CV) resume.

You can check it at the Web Profile page on app.comoto.com.

With best wishes,

The Comoto Team“

Checking a comment

You remembered this picture from above before I made the test comments

CCS_Web_profiles

 

 

 

 

Now look here (below)

CCS_Web_profiles_with_comments

 

Notice the  CCS_number_of_post – now I have 3 comments – the click the 3 number and you will be able to see the comments as shown on the picture below (only show the first of the 3). Notice CCS_Icon_types  – the darker third icon illustrates there is Verify comments as well.

CCS_Comment_Example_detailed

If you press the little black > in the comments like above it will show all details (see below)

CCS_Comment_Example_detailed_open

If you press Show you can turn the comment showing on and off in your relevant web profile – if Show is marked you can under” Feedback on my CV” see the number of Comments (2) – see further below.

Notice – Here you can also send a fast comment or even ask for changes if you don’t like the word (it will be sent to the email received (if any) depending of the log in / authentication method)

CCS_Comment_Example_detailed_reply

Back to the comments on the web profile (public if set as public – remember to consider that for received comments) !

CCS_Comment_webprofileAnd if you press Comments you can see them in further details as shown below

CCS_Comment_webprofile_open

That’s all !

Now you are ready to get comments to your CVs – feel free to send us your comments – by mail or on the system as suggested above.

Read more about the other features in The Comoto CV Commenting System

  • Recommendations
  • A Verify feature
  • For giving References

How to Use: CV Verifications and Verify CV

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The Comoto CV Commenting system for CV Verifications
Principle behind and background for Verify CV feature:

As part of both Comoto’s fight against fraudulent information, omitted important information and dedicated lies in CVs and for your CV to stand out and also reduce your risk of having a CV being read with “skeptical eyes” we have added a Verify feature. Hereby you can emphasise which parts of your CVs that have been verified and by whom.

Want to learn how to use the Verify feature – read below

How to use CV Verify:

First log in to the Comoto CV Manager application here

To be able to use the Comoto CV Commenting you need to have created a least one CV. You will then have to go to your web profiles like shown below.

verify cv

 

 

 

 

 

(The name on the CV / Web profiles) shown in bottom of the picture above is not the same on yours as it will show the names you chosen for the CV).

Notice the little red square at the right bottom corner of the picture – here you can decide if the Web profile is public or private (to have the Web profile password protected or not use the icon – red = protected – green public)) – want to learn more read here.

Next step is to press the Web profile to open it – you do that by clicking the web profile and wait for it to open. Then evaluate the web profile – is it ready for comments?

Look at the right for the Comoto CV Commenting System. See example below (when logged in as a Comoto user)

verify cv

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giving a CV Verification

Now I change to be acting as if I was another person asked for Verifying Michaels CV (actually a web profile labelled “CV Comoto Examples/A Comoto example – Lorem Ipsum”).

Michael invited me by mail / sms / skype or similar and sent me the Web profile link – here  (fell free to try and add a verification).

I then have (as the verifier) to log in – there is several different options

verify cvPress Log in if you are a registered user else you can use several alternatives among others Facebook and Twitter (remember the purpose is only to identify you and to inform you about the comment should it be used by another person in your name)

I then logged in (as I have a log in I used the log in)

 

 

I have made the following Verification (see picture below)

Comoto Verify

Comoto then send me (my name here is Test) the following mail

“Hi test Test!

Thank you for leaving a verification on Lorem Ipsum CV at Comoto. This helps the person get better quality in his/her CV.

You left the 1/22/2013 on this CV http://app.comoto.com/cv/Comoto Examples/A Comoto example – Lorem Ipsum and if accepted by the user it will be seen on this profile in the future… Best regards The team“

Michael receives this mail

“Hello, Michael!

Kren Nielsen, Comoto added a verification to your Lorem Ipsum (mother and parent CV) resume.

You can check it at the Web Profile page on app.comoto.com.

With best wishes,

The Comoto Team“

Checking a comment

You remembered this picture from above before I made the test comments

verify cv

 

 

 

 

Now look here (below)

verify cv

Notice the  CCS_number_of_post – now I have 3 comments and 1 verification – the click the 1 number and you will be able to see the verifications as shown on the picture below (only show the first of the 3). Notice CCS_Icon_types  – the darker third icon illustrates there is Verify comments as well.

Comoto Verification

If you press the little black > in the verification like above it will show all details (see below)

Comoto Verify

If you press Show you can turn the verifcation showing on and off in your relevant web profile – if Show is marked you can under” Feedback on my CV” see the number of Comments (2) – see further below.

Notice – Here you can also send a fast comment or even ask for changes if you don’t like the word (it will be sent to the email received (if any) depending of the log in / authentication method)

Comoto Verification

Back to the verification on the web profile (public if set as public – remember to consider that for received comments) !

CCS_Comment_webprofile

And if you press Verifications you can see them in further details as shown below

Comoto Verification

That’s all !

Now you are ready to get verifications and verify CVs – and feel free to test verifications on the system with the team’s profile as suggested above or send us your comments by mail.

Read more about the other features in The Comoto CV Commenting System

Comoto – How should you handle CV Privacy versus getting a new Job

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Comoto Newsletters

This newsletter is all about how you should handle your CV Privacy versus getting a new Job – what should be considered to avoid risks like identity theft, cyber stalking, scams and other misuse of your CV information.

Last week on the Comoto’s blog we received a complete CV as a blog post with personal data, detailed private information and phone and other private numbers

My first thought was rather negative – but then I started to consider that in a world with more than 200 million unemployed, you might decide to take all risks in the hope of a job and instead I decided to help! Therefore, I have compiled the following advice on how you could handle your privacy issues and on our blog you can find an article with general advice for you to consider – reading more here.

CV privacy
What needs to be done!

As part of your CV Creating, Managing and Optimizing you should always consider which details you should include and/or show in your CVs (in Comoto this is easier, you have detailed control on both). Please read more here, if you should include among other your full address, phone numbers and also how to use a correct email address.

Remember that one of the many strong points on Comoto is the ability to handle both multiple CVs and Web online profiles – therefore, on Comoto you can have different approaches to CVs – CVs with full details, some CVs with limited details and CVs or Resumes with only few private details to be used in the public (web) space. Comoto also makes it possible to control the access to your web profile with a password.

The level of details in a CV can be handled in two different ways on Comoto – You can either make a copy (clone) of your current CV and remove certain parts or you can manage the visibility with on/off switches with the red/green buttons – see the picture

Why should you care about what you show ! Is this important ?

A few statistics and related information on identity theft

It is expected as many as 10 million Americans a year are victims of identity theft. The United States Department of Justice states that in 2010, 7% of all United States households had at least one member of the family at or over the age of 12 who has been a victim of some sort of identity theft. As many other issues this is now spreading all over the world – consider this happened for you! (read more here).

But what can happen if your identity has been stolen!

  • 47% of victims had trouble getting credit or a loan as a result of identity theft
  • 19% of victims had higher credit rates and 16% had higher insurance rates because of identity theft
  • 11% of victims say identity theft has a negative impact on their abilities to get a job
  • 70% of victims have trouble getting rid of (or never get rid of) negative information in their records

You can find out more about identity theft and how to handle it here.

Similar precautions to which information you show in your CVs/Resumes should be considered when you publish or share/send CV information or update your CV/Web profile.

Carefully consider if there are there any information that could harm you or somebody else – read more about the correct levels of details in your CV here and read more about the correct time to update your CV/Resume here

Now you properly have made the appropriate number of CVs – worked with the CV Data and the layout (template) and you are ready to start using the CV – you have taken the correct precautions, considered the proper information for each CV and are ready to share it with everybody in the world – or are you ?

I am afraid there are way too many job scams, fake jobs and bogus recruiters and suspicious CV databases (see our evaluation here) out there you should consider first. I have collected some relevant information and tips for you here

Your Privacy is important for Comoto

Remember, at Comoto we regard our user’s privacy very high and give you numerous options and features to help you handle your CVs/Resumes privacy – like you can have many CVs – for example (and remember the CV Data can be intelligently linked for easy updates). For example

  • One CV without many details that can be broadly used
  • Another CV with more details for X, targeted for a specific job type
  • And one made for your current employers file (to illustrate you can build your CV history/log on Comoto)

You can have many web profiles – for example

  • One or more profiles with very little details for public access – see here what to include and not to include
  • Other CVs with little differences – yes why not have several – each made with a different password

The Comoto CV Manager also ensures your privacy

  • All access to your information in password protected (remember to have a strong password – here)
  • All information on the Comoto CV Manager application is secured (try here)

In the next version – which we are working hard to finish – we will be adding further features for you to be in full control of your CV/Resume privacy and risks involved in the management of your CV/Resume.

Thanks for your time – comments and suggestions will be highly appreciated
Kren, CEO

Tweets 24-1-2013

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Spelling error

 

 

 

 

 

Comoto on twitter – see our tweets here on the website or on @comotocom or from our CEO at @comoto

Read more

Comoto CV Funny Friday: Don’t Lie if you get caught like John

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Honesty is a virtue especially when your lies is obvious – Comoto CV Funny Friday

In some of our Comoto CV Funny Friday posts, we state the importance of not lying and being honest all the way through the recruitment process. We still think this, and we all have seen a lot of examples of CVs or Resumes where public people people are caught lying !

I believe sometimes bad habits start early – at least this little guy is worth a laugh when he was caught lying!Comoto Funny

See here

 

 

Kren

Comoto‘s aim is to become “The Central Place” where you can create, clone, copy, manage, backup and distribute your CV and Cover letters fast and easy. To create your first Comoto CV, signup for free and just add your data (or use one of the many easy import features), pick one of our special designed templates, preview your CV and finally export to your favourite format (.DOC – .PDF – .PNG) or publish it in a Web Profile (Public/Private). Now you are ready to have full control of your CV. Notice other unique features – like multiple CVs – a few clicks and you can create a CV targeted for a specific job or Export to many different formats.

  • Free CV Builder and Manager »
  • Free CV Templates also download »
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  • Free Import/Export (Fast & Easy) »
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How to avoid Identity Theft based on your CV information

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How to avoid Identity Theft based on your CV information

Identity Theft, whether it is by gathering personal information or responding to the resumes and pretending to be a recruiter, it is a growing issue in the area of identity theft.

identity theftA few statistics and related information on identity theft

It is expected as many as 10 million Americans a year are victims of identity theft. The United States Department of Justice states that in 2010, 7% of all United States households had at least one member of the family at or over the age of 12 who has been a victim of some sort of identity theft. And as many things this is now spreading all over the world – that why you should consider (see more at http://s.tt/1bcsI).

But what happens when and afterwards your identity have been stolen!

  • 47% of victims have trouble getting credit or a loan as a result of identity theft
  • 19% of victims have higher credit rates and 16% have higher insurance rates because of identity theft
  • 11% of victims say identity theft has a negative impact on their abilities to get jobs
  • 70% of victims have trouble getting rid of (or never get rid of) negative information in their records

Identity thieves are using your information in a number of ways.

  • Uses your geographical information on the CV to go to your home (you show the address) and sort through your trash in the hope of obtaining more personal information or account numbers in trashed documents that were not shredded before being thrown away or even stealing new post as it comes in.
  • Use phone and job details it to call your former employer claiming to be a potential new employer checking references in order to get more information.
  • Use your CV information to search for you in public records databases in order to find more detailed information.
  • Use is to contact you as a job seeker and pretending to be a recruiter asking for more sensitive information like Social Security Number, Bank account or driver’s license numbers claiming they need it for background checks for potential employers.

How to avoid it – consider what you show and where to whom. Read more here

 

 

Tailor CV to the job you want – and get it!

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Tailor CV to the job you want – and get it!

Your CV is probably the most important part of your application to get the job of your dreams. The cover letter will be the place where you convince the recruiter/headhunter/company to read on, and read your entire CV.

A very good idea will be to tailor every job application with a tailor-made CV, if you want the job of your dreams, the employer should also read a “dream of a CV”.

The basic principle of your CV is to tailor it to the job:

  • Be sure to cover the most important job skills, qualifications, and experience in your CV.
  • Be certain that most parts of your CV relates to the job you apply for.
  • Use the same skills, experience, and qualifications description as in the job ad.
  • Ensure that your previous experience is clearly and relevant to the job application.

This is a lot easier to do when using Comoto, you can have several CV in the system and specialize them to the current application.

You have the basic material available from your basic CV (maybe your LinkedIn profile), and then you should just adapt that material to the wishes to you dream job.

An Outline of the basics in a CV is seen below:

Professional Summary

The prof. summary is the part where you describe your overall motivation. Here you should describe that the current job would fit into your career choice. This is should show the employer that this job is the next step on your career ladder.

Skills

Skills are mostly seen as keywords in a job add; they are essential criterias that you have to have to fill this position. It is not a question if you have them all, most people don’t or just barely, but you must include all the required skills as much as possible. Highlight the skills where your expertise really supersedes the demands highlighted and mention the rest.

Work Experience

Your former work experience needs particular care and you should try to reuse some of the skills or goals explained in the job ad. Explain you experience very concise and clear, write the roles and tasks you had. Be sure to use the same wordings as in the requirements for this job.

Use several examples, and where it is possible show how your skills where developed and refined through your previous work experience. Make it extremely clear that you have gained extra expertise through your previous experience.

Achieved goals

Goals that you have achieved on top of your work experience for each job description are extremely positive, it shows that you aim for the goals the employer puts up and that you are dedicated to the relevant tasks. Try to use examples that are related to the new job application if possible.

Educations / Qualifications

A lot of job ads describe a certain set of required qualifications. You should try to provide qualifications that meet these requirements. Sometimes you have similar qualifications, try to convince them that they are good enough. Either do it by email beforehand so that you are sure that your qualifications are good enough. This also gives you the opportunity to have a talk with the employer before you send your CV.

Your qualifications need to be direct and to the point, and if the employer describes them very details, you do the same. Make it look like you’re obviously qualified and the best choice for the job.

As described above it is not that hard to make your CV targeted to the job your applying for. Using Comoto to do this is very easily, you have the opportunity to have several distinct CVs and you can change them and have as many as you like in your portfolio. You can even make them online versions, so that you can refer to a link if you talk with an interesting person.

Multiple CVs is a unique feature – that can change how you manage your CVs

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Multiple CVs is a unique feature – that can change how you manage CVs

The unique Comoto feature to handle multiple CVs is an integrated part of the Comoto CV Manager.

We give you a possibility to have more than one CV. Information from one CV can be inherited (linked) to new CV or you can use a existing CV to make a new CV instead of creating it from scratch.

This new feature is very dynamic and only the sky is the limit on what you can use it for:

  • Multiple CVs to describe the different competences you have
  • Multiple CVs – one for each and different type of jobs with special focus on requirement in each job
  • Multiple and different language versions

You are more than welcome to try it out here

The Team

Comoto‘s aim is to become “The Central Place” where you can create, clone, copy, manage, backup and distribute your CV and Cover letters fast and easy. To create your first Comoto CV, signup for free and just add your data (or use one of the many easy import features), pick one of our special designed templates, preview your CV and finally export to your favourite format (.DOC – .PDF – .PNG) or publish it in a Web Profile (Public/Private). Now you are ready to have full control of your CV. Notice other unique features – like multiple CVs – a few clicks and you can create a CV targeted for a specific job or Export to many different formats

How to handle your CV privacy and avoid CV risks like Identity theft, cyberstalking or CV misuse

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How to handle your CV privacy and avoid CV risks like Identity theft and CV misuse

To ensure you have full control over your CVs risk likeidentity theft

Our thoughts on privacy – read here

And consider the information you include in your CVs (Remember on Comoto you multiple CVs – this is another reason for having more than one CV – see here).

Should you include – remember to make this evaluation for each CV based on purpose and receiver?

  • Name
  • Full Address
  • Email
  • Twitter, Facebook and other social network information
  • Phone number (land line or mobile)
  • Social security number or central register personal number or similar
  • Tax payer number
  • Password number
  • Picture
  • Mothers Maiden name
  • Drivers’ license number and information
  • Bank account number or the information that you have one

What about:

  • Marital status.
  • Height
  • Weight
  • Religion
  • Professional license number.
  • Gender
  • Age
  • The reason why you left a past employer.

You should also consider whom you are sending an application and a CV or when you fill out their web based application form with your CV data

  • Who is the recruiter or the company – a real or a fake job
  • Who is the company having the job – a scam ?
  • How are they handling my CV data
  • What can the use my CV data for
  • How long time can the keep my data
  • How can I ensure they have updated data over time / always ?

You should also consider the CV databases you are sending the CV or when you fill out their form with your CV data

  • Who is the CV Database– a real or a fake job
  • Who is the company behind – a scam
  • How are they handling my data
  • What can the use my CV data for
  • How long time can the keep my data
  • How can I ensure they have updated data over time

When you get a job offer you should still be cautions – first consider if it is a real or fake offer – but also accept to show (avoid copies) more detailed information like:

  • Passport
  • Birth certificate

as the company need to ensure you are who you say you are and the company also need to get you registered correctly in the company record.

Always remember – Sounds too good to be true? It probably is. Be careful!

The Team

Tweets 24-1-2013

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Comoto on twitter – see our tweets here on the website or on @comotocom or from our CEO at @comoto

Read more

Tweets 24-1-2013

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rain

Comoto on twitter – see our tweets here on the website or on @comotocom or from our CEO at @comoto

Read more

It’s all over the news that Armstrong lied – but actually 46 % CV lies or false information in their CV/Resume a recent study shows!

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Comoto Newsletters

Lance Armstrong lied do you? – NO…
It’s all over the news that Armstrong lied – but actually 46% have lies or false information in their CV/Resume a recent study shows. Read below on how not to be regarded as a liar in your CV/Resume! Lance Armstrong’s many years of lying have put focus on lies as well as incorrect information from famous people once again. Quite similar to the focus the now former CEO of Yahoo had when he lied in in his CV some time ago – (see here).

Study shows 46% “errors” in CV/Resume.
As mentioned, a recent study showed that 46% of the CVs/Resumes submitted by job applicants contained some kind of false information. It also showed that 21% state fraudulent degrees, 29% have altered wrong employment dates, 40% have inflated their current salary terms, 33% are using inaccurate job descriptions and 27% used false references. At Comoto, we are surprised but not chocked as other surveys and studies have shown similar levels of fraudulent behavior. Actually, I still remember that one fact from a UK study that really surprised me – that the female rate of whom that use fraudulent information is higher than male!

Anonymous Survey
With these high percentages it would be interesting with further studies of this – including one missing though important factor that to needs be measured: the rate of applicants whom by purpose omit important but negative facts or information. Therefore, we would like to survey our users in general (anonymously off course) about lies in their CVs/Resumes and for this purpose we have constructed a small survey – please attend the survey here: http://comoto.questionpro.com

Comoto can help
At Comoto we believe in keeping the truth and do whatever we can to reduce this bad behavior – and remember when fraudulent behavior is discovered in a CV/Resume it normally results in very serious consequences for the person – one example is the – yes, now former – CEO of Yahoo – an outcome which everybody who is taking the easy road should consider as well as the implications for his/her further career, if any further career. For an employer it is equally bad and the consequences on the employer’s professionalism, brand and ethical standards can be widespread therefore every employer should do their homework and for example check references and documentations. For you as an applicant there is not anything more annoying than losing in a job process for that a particular job to someone you later learned was dishonest!

Guide to a better CV/Resume
At Comoto, we believe that keeping some of our overall guiding principles helps always help finding the right person (and right for both the application and the company) – for example

  • Have a full CV/Resume not just a public profile to ensure a detailed precise evaluation basis

A applicant is it important to make sure you don’t send the wrong signals hereby increasing the likelihood that somebody reading your CV/Resume regards you as omitting false information or worse (lying!)

  • Make sure your CV/Resume always is fully updated (easy on Comoto for now and in the new version we kick a…)
  • Make sure your CV/Resume and other public information is consistent – it is OK with differences in level of details (use a remark). Another reason for not only having one but having several CVs/Resumes (and intelligent linked data like on Comoto)
  • Try searching yourself and read it together with your CV/Resume with the eyes of a recruiter – any red lights or can any text be misunderstood?

Verification Feature
Comoto launched the CV/Resume verification feature (see here) to offer our users tools for improving their CV/Resume quality hereby helping our users in getting that particular job they want.Comoto Verify

The verification system can be found on the page for your Web-profile in the Comoto CV Manager (see here)

The principle behind the CV/Resume verification tools is that you can ask a former boss or colleague to verify (confirm) that the particular text you use in your CV/Resume for a past job, education or…is correct also in their opinion. An example is shown to the left.

Comoto VerifyYour CV/Resume – in your public/password protected Web-profile will then show, that this information has been verified by a specific person.

You manage the verification and decide if you want to show the verification on your public or password protected Web-profile.

 

 

 

 

 

Comoto VerifyIf you choose so it can be seen publicly on your Web-profile like the example to the right.

If you want to read more about the verification feature here or if you want to test it on your CV/Resume log in here and go to your Web-profile.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your time – comments and suggestions will be appreciated

Kren, CEO

CV/Resume Study:
As mentioned, a recent study showed that 46% of the CV/Resumes submitted by job applicants contained some kind of false information. If you want further details on the recent study – go here.

Honesty is a virtue
Earlier as part of our CV Funny blog we have shown an example of full details in a CV/Resume – it is rather
funny – go here

How to Use: The CV Recommendations feature – Comoto CV Commenting System

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The Comoto CV Commenting systems CV Recommendations feature – Principles behind and background for the CV Recommendations feature:

As part of the overall quality system of our CV system but also for you to increase the quality of your CVs we also have added a recommendations feature. Hereby you can ask relevant piers to support you. Want to learn how to use the Recommendations feature.

Want to learn how to use the Recommendations feature – read below

How to use CV Recommendations feature:

First log in to the Comoto CV Manager application here

To be able to use the Comoto CV Recommendations feature you need to have created a least one CV. You will then have to go to your web profiles like shown below.

CCS_Web_profiles

 

 

 

 

 

(The name on the CV / Web profiles) shown in bottom of the picture above is not the same on yours as it will show the names you chosen for the CV).

Notice the little red square at the right bottom corner of the picture – here you can decide if the Web profile is public or private (to have the Web profile password protected or not use the icon – red = protected – green public)) – want to learn more read here.

Next step is to press the Web profile to open it – you do that by clicking the web profile and wait for it to open. Then evaluate the web profile – is it ready for Recommendations?

Look at the right for the Comoto CV Commenting System. See example below (when logged in as a Comoto user)

CV comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giving a CV Recommendations

Now I change to be acting as if I was another person asked for Recommendations to Michaels CV (actually a web profile labelled “CV Comoto Examples/A Comoto example – Lorem Ipsum”).

Michael invited me by mail / sms / skype or similar and sent me the Web profile link – here  (fell free to try and add a verification).

I then have (as the Recommendator) to log in – there is several different options

Login_commenting_System_verPress Log in if you are a registered user else you can use several alternatives among others Facebook and Twitter (remember the purpose is only to identify you and to inform you about the Recommendations should it be used by another person in your name)

I then logged in (as I have a log in I used the log in)

 

 

I have made the following CV Recommendations feature (see picture below – Recommendations works like wise)

Comoto Verify

Comoto Commenting system

Comoto then send me (my name here is Test) the following mail

“Hi test Test!

Thank you for leaving a CV Recommendations on Lorem Ipsum CV at Comoto. This helps the person get better quality in his/her CV.

You left the 1/22/2013 on this CV http://app.comoto.com/cv/Comoto Examples/A Comoto example – Lorem Ipsum and if accepted by the user it will be seen on this profile in the future… Best regards The team“

Michael receives this mail

“Hello, Michael!

Kren Nielsen, Comoto added a CV Recommendations to your Lorem Ipsum (mother and parent CV) resume.

You can check it at the Web Profile page on app.comoto.com.

With best wishes,

The Comoto Team“

Checking a Recommendation

You remembered this picture from above before I made the test CV Recommendation

CCS_Web_profiles

 

 

 

 

Now look here (below)

CCS_Web_profiles_with_comments

Notice the  CCS_number_of_post – now I have 3 comments and 1 verification – the click the 1 number and you will be able to see the CV Recommendations as shown on the picture below (only show the first of the 3). Notice CCS_Icon_types  – the darker third icon illustrates there is Verify comments as well.

Comoto Verification

If you press the little black > in the Recommendations like above it will show all details (see below)

Comoto Verify

If you press Show you can turn the Recommendations showing on and off in your relevant web profile – if Show is marked you can under” Feedback on my CV” see the number of Comments (2) – see further below.

Notice – Here you can also send a fast comment or even ask for changes if you don’t like the word (it will be sent to the email received (if any) depending of the log in / authentication method)

Comoto Verification

Back to the CV Recommendations feature on the web profile (public if set as public – remember to consider that for received comments) !

CCS_Comment_webprofile

And if you press Recommendations you can see them in further details as shown below

Comoto Verification

That’s all !

Now you are ready to get CV Recommendations and use the CV Recommendations feature – and feel free to test Recommendations on the system with the team’s profile as suggested above or send us your comments by mail.

Read more about the other features in The Comoto CV Commenting System

How to Use: The CV Reference feature – Comoto CV Commenting System

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The Comoto CV Commenting systems CV Reference feature – Principle behind and background for the CV Reference feature:

As part of the overall quality system of our CV system but also for you to increase the quality of your CVs we also have added a recommendations and reference feature. Hereby you can ask relevant piers to support you. Want to learn how to use the Reference feature.

Want to learn how to use the Reference feature – read below

How to use CV Reference feature:

First log in to the Comoto CV Manager application here

To be able to use the Comoto CV Reference feature you need to have created a least one CV. You will then have to go to your web profiles like shown below.

CCS_Web_profiles

 

 

 

 

 

(The name on the CV / Web profiles) shown in bottom of the picture above is not the same on yours as it will show the names you chosen for the CV).

Notice the little red square at the right bottom corner of the picture – here you can decide if the Web profile is public or private (to have the Web profile password protected or not use the icon – red = protected – green public)) – want to learn more read here.

Next step is to press the Web profile to open it – you do that by clicking the web profile and wait for it to open. Then evaluate the web profile – is it ready for comments?

Look at the right for the Comoto CV Commenting System. See example below (when logged in as a Comoto user)

CV comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giving a CV Reference

Now I change to be acting as if I was another person asked for Verifying Michaels CV (actually a web profile labelled “CV Comoto Examples/A Comoto example – Lorem Ipsum”).

Michael invited me by mail / sms / skype or similar and sent me the Web profile link – here  (fell free to try and add a verification).

I then have (as the reference) to log in – there is several different options

Login_commenting_System_verPress Log in if you are a registered user else you can use several alternatives among others Facebook and Twitter (remember the purpose is only to identify you and to inform you about the comment should it be used by another person in your name)

I then logged in (as I have a log in I used the log in)

 

 

I have made the following CV Reference feature (see picture below – Reference works like wize)

Comoto Verify

Comoto Commenting system

Comoto then send me (my name here is Test) the following mail

“Hi test Test!

Thank you for leaving a CV Reference on Lorem Ipsum CV at Comoto. This helps the person get better quality in his/her CV.

You left the 1/22/2013 on this CV http://app.comoto.com/cv/Comoto Examples/A Comoto example – Lorem Ipsum and if accepted by the user it will be seen on this profile in the future… Best regards The team“

Michael receives this mail

“Hello, Michael!

Kren Nielsen, Comoto added a CV Reference to your Lorem Ipsum (mother and parent CV) resume.

You can check it at the Web Profile page on app.comoto.com.

With best wishes,

The Comoto Team“

Checking a comment

You remembered this picture from above before I made the test CV Reference

CCS_Web_profiles

 

 

 

 

Now look here (below)

CCS_Web_profiles_with_comments

Notice the  CCS_number_of_post – now I have 3 comments and 1 verification – the click the 1 number and you will be able to see the CV Reference as shown on the picture below (only show the first of the 3). Notice CCS_Icon_types  – the darker third icon illustrates there is Verify comments as well.

Comoto Verification

If you press the little black > in the verification like above it will show all details (see below)

Comoto Verify

If you press Show you can turn the verifcation showing on and off in your relevant web profile – if Show is marked you can under” Feedback on my CV” see the number of Comments (2) – see further below.

Notice – Here you can also send a fast comment or even ask for changes if you don’t like the word (it will be sent to the email received (if any) depending of the log in / authentication method)

Comoto Verification

Back to the CV Reference feature on the web profile (public if set as public – remember to consider that for received comments) !

CCS_Comment_webprofile

And if you press References you can see them in further details as shown below

Comoto Verification

That’s all !

Now you are ready to get CV References and use the CV Reference feature – and feel free to test References on the system with the team’s profile as suggested above or send us your comments by mail.

Read more about the other features in The Comoto CV Commenting System