The document provides guidance on writing curriculum vitae, personal statements, and discusses important elements to include such as education history, work experience, skills, and why the applicant is suited for the target job or academic program. It emphasizes showing enthusiasm for the chosen field, highlighting relevant accomplishments and skills, and reflecting on experiences to demonstrate understanding of the field in the personal statement. Tips are also given on formatting the CV clearly and standing out from other applicants.
1. HOW TO WRITE
CURRICULUM VITAE &
PERSONAL STATEMENT
P R E S E N T E D B Y: D R . R A H A F N A J J A R
B D S , M S C
R A H A F . S . N A J J A R @ G M A I L . C O M
5. RESUME
• Provides a summary of your education, work history, and other accomplishments and
skills.
• Should be as concise as possible.
• 1-2 pages.
6. CURRICULUM VITAE (CV)
• Information on your academic background, degrees, research, awards,
publications, and other achievements.
• Include MORE information related to one’s academic background.
• 2-3 pages.
• When applying for international, academic, education, scientific, medical, research
positions ,fellowships or grants.
7. IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU
CV is an opportunity to show an employer why you are an IDEAL candidate for the job.
A GOOD CV will:
• Stand out from the crowd.
• Draw attention to your relevant skills, experience, achievements and potential.
• Create an impression on the employer that they will not be able to turn you down for
interview.
11. CONTENT OF CV
• Contact information
• Objective
• Education and qualifications
• Honours and awards
• Work history and/or experience
• Interests, achievements or hobbies
• Research experience
• Conferences and workshops
• Relevant skills
• Languages
12. CONTACT INFORMATION
• Your Name
• Nationality
• Marital status and number of kids
• SCHS registration number
• Date of Birth
• Address
• Telephone number
• Mobile number
• Email
15. EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS
• Graduation year
• Degree awarded:
Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS)
Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD)
Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS)
Bachelor of Dentistry (BDent)
• School name
• GPA
16. Postgraduate Degrees:
• Master of Science in Dentistry (MSD)
• Master of Dentistry (MDent)
• Master of Dental Surgery (MDS)
• Doctor of Clinical Dentistry (DClinDent)
• Doctor of Dental Science (DDSc)
• Doctor of Science in Dentistry (DScD)
• Doctor of Dentistry (DDent)
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
17. Postgraduate Certificates and Memberships:
• Certificate, GPR/AEGD/Dental Anesthesiology
• Certificate, Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology/ Endodontics/ Prosthodontics/
Periodontics/ Orthodontics/ Dental Public Health/ Pediatric Dentistry/ OMS.
• Membership in Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons (MRACDS)
• Membership in Orthodontics, Royal College of Surgeons (MOrth RCS)
• Tricollegiate Membership in Paediatric Dentistry (MPaed Dent)
• The Saudi Board in Restorative Dentistry (SBRD)
• Saudi Board in Pediatric Dentistry (SBPD)
• Saudi Board of Endodontics (SBE)
18. What is the difference between Degrees and
Certificates?
20. HONOURS AND AWARDS
• Include the awards you have won, the date they were received, the purpose, the
significance of the awards and their scope (local, regional, or national).
• If you are in college, try to AVOID using honours you received in high school.
• If the only honours or awards you’ve received are from high school, it’s a good idea
to include them rather than leaving this section blank.
21.
22. WORK HISTORY AND/OR
EXPERIENCE
• It should only include PAID experience.
• Full-time, part-time jobs, self employment, internships, and projects for which you
were a part of temporarily.
• NOT include volunteer, unpaid, charitable work.
• If unpaid experiences is important to your application, the information should go in
its own section.
• Label it “Relevant Experience” or “Other Experience”.
23. • Names of organizations where you were employed.
• City and country of each organization.
• Positions and/or titles you held.
• Employment periods for each job, written as Month/Date – Month/Date.
• Brief description of responsibilities.
25. INTERESTS, ACHIEVEMENTS OR
HOBBIES
• DON’T write a list of hobbies and interests; elaborate a little bit on each one.
• Be careful with controversial hobbies and interests.
• DON’T be afraid to include unusual hobbies to help you stand out.
• DON’T lie as you'll quickly get caught out!
26. Interpretation of Hobbies and Interests:
Martial arts: You have discipline and humility, focused and confident.
Painting: You have a creative mind.
Photography: You’re artistic and patient.
Yoga: You’re calm and in control.
Cooking: You’re creative and an excellent improviser.
See other examples
27. RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
• Position and supervising faculty member.
• Last name, First initial. (Year published). Article
title. Journal, Volume (Issue), Page(s).
• Date , type of participation, conference name ,
city and country.
Research
Publications
Posters/ Oral
presentation
30. CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS
• Name of the conference / workshop you attended.
• Training institute you attended and the city it is located in.
• Start and finish date of conference / workshop.
36. RELEVANT SKILLS
There are some skills that are applicable to almost every job.
If you've got these general skills, they will enhance your marketability.
• Thought Processes
• Communication and Interpersonal
• Leadership and Management
• Personal Skills
• Teamwork
• Technology
40. DO
• Use a standard font size.
• Include recent and relevant work experience (paid or voluntary).
• Be consistent in your layout.
• List your skills and achievements and back up with evidence.
• Keep it short.
• Be honest but positive.
• Proof-reading.
• Get someone to check it for you.
• Print your CV on plain, white paper using a laser printer.
41. • Be specific in discussing your clinical and technical skills, abilities, expertise and
knowledge in dentistry.
• State the dentistry practices that you were confident and able to do.
• Compare your CV to others in the field so you can assess whether your CV will stand
out from those of your possible competitors.
42. DON’T
• Do it in a rush.
• Use informal Email address
• Leave gaps in employment experience.
• Lie.
• Simply write a list of duties under work experience (remember you are selling
yourself!).
• Use flashy or large font.
• print your CV on both sides of the paper .
43. CV FORMATTING
• Put your name in bold letters one or two font sizes bigger than the rest of the CV.
• Use 11 or 12 point font.
• Set your margins to approximately 1 inch.
• Don’t be afraid to bold, underline, or CAPITALIZE important information.
• Include a header with your name and page number on each page in case the pages
get separated.
44. REMEMBER…
• There is no single way to write a CV.
• It is your document and can be structured and presented as you wish within a basic
framework.
• The important thing to remember is that this is the first impression an employer will
have of you.
50. PERSONAL STATEMENT
• Your strengths, your achievements and share your career aspirations.
• Your personal statement should be a small, bite-sized representation of who you
are as a professional, and what you have to offer in terms of experience and
ambition.
51. WHY IT IS IMPORTANT?
• While many students may apply to the same postgraduate program with the same
grades as you, they AREN’T you as a person, with your skills, experiences and
thoughts.
• You need to stand out as a real person to an admissions tutor.
• It is where you can distinguish yourself from other candidates.
• It is where you can fill in the picture a tutor has of you in their head, and where you
can leave a real impression that makes them want to meet you, or offer you a place.
52. HOW IS PERSONAL STATEMENT
USED BY UNIVERSITIES?
• You need to meet the formal entry requirements of a course, as laid out by the
university.
• However, if the FINAL spot on a course comes down to you and someone else with
the same grades, what you write in your statement could nab it for you.
53. HOW TO START ?
Questions to ask yourself when writing statement
54. QUESTIONS TO ASK
(1) What are the reasons for choosing the specialty?
(2) What are my career plans?
(3) What accomplishments do I want to emphasize?
(4) What outside interests do I have?
(5) What contributions can I make to the specialty and the residency program?
Answers 2-3 of these questions should give you enough material for first draft.
55. HOW LONG SHOULD IT BE ?
• You have a maximum of 4,000 characters.
• 400 – 500 words.
• 4- 6 paragraphs.
• 47 lines.
• Keep to one page – anything else and people are not going to read it.
56. THINGS MUST-HAVES
1. Explain why you want to study the speciality
2. Explain how you're right for the speciality
3. Say what you’ve done outside the classroom
4. Why it’s relevant to your speciality...
5. … And relevant to your chosen career
6. Can you demonstrate transferable skills?
7. What’s the long-term plan?
8. Keep it positive
57. EXPLAIN WHY YOU WANT TO
STUDY THE COURSE
• What motivates you to take this speciality ?
• Talk about how your interest developed, what you’ve done to pursue it or how
you’ve drawn inspiration from your current studies.
58. EXPLAIN HOW YOU'RE RIGHT FOR
THE SPECIALITY
• Provide evidence to show that not only do you meet the selection criteria, but also
that you’ve researched the speciality and understand what studying the subject at
postgraduate -level will involve.
• Show that you're prepared for this by giving examples.
59. SAY WHAT YOU’VE DONE OUTSIDE
THE CLASSROOM
• Outline how you’ve pursued your interest in your chosen speciality beyond your
current syllabus and developed your understanding as a result.
• DON’T just give a long list of things you’ve done; it’s important that you give your
critical views or reflections too, so admissions tutors can see how you think.
• You could talk about specific books, websites, blogs, periodicals or scientific journals.
60. WHY IT’S RELEVANT TO YOUR
SPECIALITY...
• Reflect on your experiences, explaining what you’ve learnt from them or how
they’ve helped develop your interest in the speciality.
62. CAN YOU DEMONSTRATE
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS?
• It could be your ability to work independently, teamwork, time management,
problem-solving, leadership, listening or organisational skills.
63. WHAT’S THE LONG-TERM PLAN?
• What your longer term goals are if you can do it in an interesting way.
• If you’re not sure, just talk about what you’re looking forward to and what you want
to gain from your speciality or from university life.
64. KEEP IT POSITIVE
• It can be difficult to get started with your personal statement, but DON’T PANIC.
• Start with your strengths, focus on your enthusiasm for the speciality and talk
positively about yourself.
65. PERSONAL STATEMENT TIPS
• Be straightforward in writing.
• Edit and proofread your work carefully.
• Don’t crowd with too much text.
• Choose appropriate font.
• Second Opinion.
Find someone in the area of interest you are going into and ask about competitiveness,
number of programs available, etc..
66. KISS OF DEATH
• Self-congratulatory statements.
• Emotional stories.
• Non specific or no research goal.
• Failure to proof reading.