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Workshop material: preparing a CV for a job posting
Print each sheet (A4). All the data in the exercise is made up.
Workshop guide (1 hour)
- Before you start · For the group activity, use the fictional CV. If you prepare another example, remove the name, email, phone number, address, ID number, photograph and any details that could identify the person; do not share real CVs in the group. When you finish, delete the copies and sign out of shared computers.
- 10 min · Read the exercise posting with sheet 1: what it asks, what it values, the conditions.
- 10 min · Review your CV (or the sample) with sheet 2.
- 20 min · Fill in sheet 3: for each requirement, the CV sentence that shows it, or what is missing.
- 10 min · Decide what to do about each missing thing (sheet 3, last column). Nothing untrue is added.
- 10 min · Discuss only the fictional example as a group. If you want to try your own CV on nextvitae.com, do so individually without showing it to the group.
Material from NextVitae (nextvitae.com). The tool helps you prepare; it does not guarantee a job or any particular outcome.
Sheet 1 · Reading a posting
- ☐ Job title and company
- ☐ What it asks (highlighted requirements): studies, experience, languages, licences and credentials
- ☐ What the advert lists as preferred, not required
- ☐ Conditions: hours, pay, contract, place
- ☐ How to apply and by when
- ☐ Is there anything I don't understand or only I can confirm?
Sheet 2 · Reviewing my CV
- ☐ The final CV I send to an employer includes the contact details I choose to provide. In the group exercise, these are fictional.
- ☐ Each job has dates (month and year) and specific duties
- ☐ Sections are easy to find: experience, education, languages
- ☐ No line is too long or repeated
- ☐ No empty phrases (“proactive and dynamic person”) without a specific example
- ☐ There is a figure or a real example in at least one job
- ☐ Everything it says is true
Sheet 3 · What it asks, what I show, what is missing
| What the posting asks | The sentence in my CV that shows it | Only in part | Not stated | What I will do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
What to do about each missing thing
- I have it but haven't written it: I add it with a specific case.
- I can do it in part: I explain exactly what I do.
- I don't have it: I look for a course or work experience, and I don't put it on the CV until it is true.
Sheet 4 · Exercise with a made-up posting and CV
Posting (made up)
- Restaurant waiting staff · Restaurant Fictici (Vic)
- Requirements: 2 years of experience in a dining room; customer service; English B1; category B driving licence.
- Preferred: food handling training.
- Conditions: full time, afternoon shift and weekends, temporary contract.
CV (made up)
- Marta Vila Soler · marta.vila@example.com
- 2020–2024 · Waitress, Cafeteria Fictícia: table service, till operation and customer service.
- 2019 · Food handling course.
- Languages: Spanish and Catalan; basic English.
- Category B driving licence.
Task: fill in sheet 3 with this posting and this CV. Which requirements does Marta show? Which only in part? What should she do about English?
Material from NextVitae (nextvitae.com). The tool helps you prepare; it does not guarantee a job or any particular outcome.