Performance CV

A performance CV starts with an overview of your achievements, skills and abilities. This section should attract the reader's attention immediately. It is followed by an overview of your career in the reverse chronological order.

When to use

  • You want to find a job in a related career field.
  • You want to highlight your most relevant skills.
  • You have a good career history, but you also want to show that you have the right skills for the job.

Advantages

Disadvantages

  • It highlights your strengths.
  • It catches the reader's attention immediately.
  • It is flexible: you can adapt the CV to the job you're applying for.
  • Putting together a good performance CV is quite difficult.

Content

Below you can find more information about the different components of a performance CV. For more in-depth information, check the CV sections in the left column.

Content

1. Personal information

  • name and surname
  • address
  • e-mail
  • phone number
  • optional: date of birth, nationality, marital status, age, gender, date of availability

2. Profile

Especially when there is no room for a cover letter (e.g. online forms), people like to include a profile-section in their CV. In this section you briefly state what kind of person you are and what skills you have. The more you adjust your profile to each individual job the better.

3. Professional goal

This optional section allows you to briefly summarise what your ideal job and future career goals are like.

4. Skills

Organise your relevant skills for the job under different headings and give brief examples for each skill.

5. Professional experience / career history

Include the following:

  • job title
  • start and end date
  • name and location of employer
  • optional: tasks and assignments, accomplishments

6. Qualifications/Education

Use the reverse chronological order and provide the following information:

  • name of the program
  • start and end date of the program
  • name and location of the school

If relevant, you can include major courses and dissertations, but be brief with information about education if experience is more important.

7. Other skills

Use the "Skills" section to highlight skills and abilities that might otherwise go unnoticed.

8. References

Only include references if asked for. Note that a reference can refer to a person as well as a document.

The video below shows you how to read a job ad and process the information to create a custom-made performance CV.