<<<Consultancy
Home <<Back
Resume Tips
Short Description:
How to create impressive resume
Resume Tips
Your CV is an essential career document needed to represent
yourself effectively in the job market. A good CV will
considerably boost your chances of getting a face-to-face
interview by highlighting relevant skills, experience and value to
a potential employer.
Each CV is as individual as the jobseeker it belongs to. However,
by following some basic principles you will be able to present the
information in a clear, concise and persuasive way.
You may need to put together more than one CV if you intend to
apply for different types of job in different sectors. This will
enable you to emphasize the particular achievements, skills,
experience and personal qualities that a particular employer is
looking for. It is usually possible to tell what an employer is
looking for from the job advertisement or job description -
alternatively, you may need to research the role and the company
yourself to ensure that your CV has the right focus.
Content
An employer will expect to find information covering the following
areas.
Personal details - include your name, address, phone numbers and
email address. You may wish to add details of your nationality,
birth date and driving license, but these are not obligatory.
Work experience - list the most recent experience first,
continuing in reverse chronological order. Describe your work
experience in short sentences using straightforward, positive
language. As well as describing the jobs, highlight any general
abilities you were required to demonstrate.
Education - list brief details of qualifications - GCSEs,
A-levels, degree - along with grades attained. Applicants looking
for their first job since school, college or university can
include their education information above their work experience.
Skills - include specific skills such as IT skills or languages.
References - it is usual to provide the names and contact details
of two referees, one of which should be your most recent employer.
Graduates and school leavers with limited work experience can
nominate college lecturers, teachers or managers during work
experience. Be sure to tell your referees of this in advance.
25 Things You Should Never Include on a Resume
Short Description:
Applying for a new job comes with its fair share of rejections,
setbacks, frustrations and perhaps even lonely periods of
unemployment. If you've been turned down for position after
position, you could be getting desperate and may want to shake
things up a bit so that your résumé will stand out from the piles of
others stacked quietly in HR.
Before you decide to get too creative, there are some rules to
résumé etiquette that you should follow. Read below for the 25
things that you should never include on a professional résumé.
1. What You Hated About Your Last Job: If you turn your résumé into
a ranting session, you're starting off on the wrong foot. During an
interview, the hiring manager will most likely ask you why you left
your last job, but you can use this challenge to remain positive.
Explain that you wanted to work with a company that promoted more
mobility within the business or that you felt your strengths weren't
adequately utilized at your last job.
2. What You Hated About Your Last Boss or Co-Workers: Even if your
last boss really acted like a tyrant or no one in the office could
stand that jerk next to the water cooler, complaining about the past
only makes you look like the bad guy. Showing that you are able to
work with all kinds of people will take you far in the business
world.
3. Irrelevant Job Experience: Job experience that is unrelated to
the position you're applying for only clutters your resume and
irritates the HR department. Did your lawn-mowing gig or high-school
job as a checker at the grocery store really prepare you to be a PR
professional? There are other ways to prove your people skills, so
stick with the jobs and internships that are most relevant.
4. Sexual Preference: Your sexual preference has no relevance on how
well you can perform the job. Leave it out when writing up your
résumé, because according to Emurse.com, "discrimination still
exists in the hiring process, and [including this information] may
lead to a premature and completely unwarranted disposal of your
resume."
5. Religion: Discussing religion in the workplace is another big
no-no for Americans. Including your religion, or lack thereof, on a
résumé is too controversial and is irrelevant to the job. So unless
you're applying for a job at a religious institution, exclude this
information.
6. Every Job You've Had Since You Were 16: Once you've been a member
of the workforce for a few years, it's safe to say that you can
exclude those babysitting jobs you had when you were in high school.
Employers look for relevant, recent work experience that will have
prepared you for the current position for which you are applying.
7. Age: Like it or not, some hiring managers will discriminate
against employees based on their age. Technically, this kind of
discrimination is illegal, but if you seem too young or too old to
do the job, you may not even get an interview — despite what the
rest of the résumé says
8. Political Identity: Again, asking your future employer to
acknowledge your political leanings is just too controversial.
Unless you're attempting to become the next big pundit, it's no
one's business if you're überconservative or irrevocably liberal.
9. Lies About Job Experience: If you haven't worked in a managerial
position for more than five years, you'll be outed with a simple
phone call to your last boss and immediately disqualified from the
rest of the hiring process. If you feel uncomfortable about your
lack of skill, focus on the positive and show how other great
qualities would make you a great manager or supervisor.
10. Lies About Educational Background: If you lie about where you
went to high school, the hiring manager might not find out, but if
you fake the fact that you have higher degrees than you really do,
someone is bound to discover your lie. Background checks are
standard at most offices, and even if you get the job, your lack of
skill will quickly be revealed.
11. Bad Grammar: Bad grammar absolutely does not belong on a résumé.
It shows that you are lazy, uneducated and don't care enough about
the job to pay attention to detail. Even if you think you have great
grammar skills, it's best to let someone else look over your résumé
as a precaution.
12. Hobbies: While some employers like to see that interviewees are
active in the community or have won nonprofessional awards, no one
really wants to know that you love knitting with your grandmother or
were named the beer-chugging contest winner in college. When in
doubt, leave it out.
13. Social Security Number: As a safety precaution, do not include
your Social Security number on your résumé. Chances are, your résumé
could be floating around a busy HR office where anyone could pick it
up.
14. Photograph: JobFairy.com reports that hiring departments
"legally cannot consider your picture in determining if you are to
be interviewed, or hired," and that "many companies won't even
consider résumés that are submitted with a picture to ensure that
they are in compliance with [the Equal Opportunity Employer]"
legislation. Keep in mind, however, that if you are applying for
jobs overseas, photographs may be the norm on résumés.
15. Physical Characteristics: Just as you should never submit a
photograph along with your résumé, it's also best to leave out your
physical characteristics, such as your height, weight and hair
color, in writing. Describing yourself as a "hot blonde" is asking
for trouble; conversely, overweight job seekers are sometimes
unfairly discriminated against.
16. Health Issues: Money-Zine.com reports that "an employer has no
legal right to know your health status. The only health-related
questions that an employer can ask are job related." If you and your
doctor feel that your health is adequate enough to complete your job
duties as expected, then your health issues are no one else's
business.
17. Information About Your Family Members: Whether or not you're
married or have children does not belong on a résumé. Some
supervisors automatically assume that a parent of small children
will be unavailable to work odd hours, but you should be the one to
make that call, not them.
18. Boring Words: Instead of writing that you are a "dedicated,
interesting person," jazz up your vocabulary to stand apart from the
crowd. In general, action words are best. Also, use a thesaurus if
you're stuck trying to find unique synonyms.
19. Negative Thoughts, Words or Ideas: Even if you have a hard time
believing in your strengths, your résumé is not the place to show
weakness. If you know that you're not a born leader, consider
writing that you work well in groups or that you take direction
well. Putting a positive spin on yourself will help the hiring
manager see you that way also.
20. Blanket Statements: Some companies require applicants to send in
their salary requests when they apply for a job; however, asking for
a six-figure salary "and not a penny less" marks you as being
stubborn and difficult work with. You never know what kinds of
negotiations can arise in the person-to-person interview, so keep
your options open and avoid making blanket statements.
21. Criminal Record: While it's generally best to be honest,
including any mention of a criminal record, however insignificant it
seems to you, is not advisable for a résumé. If the HR department
has a policy on criminal histories, they'll ask during the
interview.
22. Prejudices: If you harbor any prejudices against certain groups
or individuals, it's best to keep that to yourself (or consider
counseling). Advertising the fact that you don't work well with
others is not going to get you the job. Office managers want
employees who can blend into the workplace and relate to their
co-workers in a civilized manner.
23. A Messy Format: In this day and age of advanced but easy-to-use
formatting systems and computer programs, there is no excuse for a
résumé with messy indents, unequal spacing and other formatting
errors. If you're hopelessly inept at working with computers, ask a
friend for help.
24. Low GPAs: Unless you're fresh out of college and looking for
your first big job, don't bother including your GPA. A good track
record in your employment history will go much further in impressing
the hiring department than a GPA that shows you got A's and B's in
psychology eight years ago. This rule holds true especially if you
had a low GPA in school.
25. Sarcasm: Sarcasm does not often translate well through business
writing, and even if the hiring manager does get it, he or she
probably won't appreciate it. Résumés and the interview process are
not appropriate outlets to release your offbeat irony, since you
don't know how it will be received and it's just plain
inappropriate.
When creating a résumé, it's generally best to leave out overly
personal information like your marital status, physical
characteristics, Social Security number and any other attributes
that could be controversial. Ask someone you trust to edit your
résumé for grammar mistakes, typographical errors and formatting
discrepancies to make sure the hiring department can focus on your
skills and experience — not your carelessness.
Candidates can forward their resumes to careers@xsyssoftech.com |
