Your curriculum vitae is more than just an extended resume; it’s a detailed record of your entire career in the healthcare industry. Some may think that professionals are better off relying on e-portfolios and application forms to let employers know of their accomplishments, but a Medical CV is still a must-have for any professional working in the medical field.
Details Define Your CV
What separates a good medical CV from a bad one is the amount of detail you can put in it. You have to keep in mind that the more detailed a CV is, the easier it is for the employer to assess your capabilities. It also makes it easy to see if you lack certain qualifications in order to advance your career. Here are a few tips on preparing the ideal medical CV.
- Figure Out the Length
You have to think ahead of how long your medical CV will be. For those new to the healthcare industry, this isn’t much of a problem, but for more tenured professionals, it could mean pages upon pages of information. Employers would want to be able to see your key strengths and you should be able to find gaps in your experiences or skill set, so your medical CV should be just the right length.
How long is an ideal medical CV? Depending on how tenured you are in the industry, it can be anywhere between three to eight pages long.
- Make Sure What’s in It Counts
By setting an ideal length to your medical CV in the first step, you’ll have an idea of how much information you can fit into all those pages. You have to remember that you only need the things that count. There’s no need for cover sheets or a CV Outline; an ideal CV won’t force employers to skip the contents because everything relevant matters to them.
What kind of info counts as essential? Personal details, a career statement, your education and any form of relevant certification. Other useful information includes: a list of your skills and experience, as well as a mention of training courses or relevant seminars that you’ve attended to build up your credentials
- Keep the Style Simple
One of the most common mistakes made by novice CV makers is that they try to complement the content with unnecessary styling. Employers appreciate a well-composed CV with a great layout, but that doesn’t mean you should go overboard with fancy fonts and unnecessary change in color.
Always keep things simple when making a medical CV. Stick to the default fonts (Calibri or Arial) and your employers will thank you for making your CV a lot easier on the eyes.
- Never Exaggerate
Some may feel tempted to make their credentials look better by adding extra accomplishments or claiming that they attended training courses that they actually never went to. The least that can happen is that an employer will find out that things were fabricated. At worst, it could cause major trouble with the medical authorities, which could even lead to loss of license and paying fees.
Don’t feel bad if you don’t have a lot to put on your CV; it shows that you have plenty of potential and tells you that you need to get more experience or attend more seminars. Sure, this may not seem that impressive, but any employer worth their salt would rather have an honest applicant than a fraud.
Since different professionals have different levels of experience, the ideal medical CV differs from person to person. Nevertheless, medical CVs must have these four points covered to make them a valid point of reference that will reflect your entirety as a medical professional.
