How to make a good resume

CV vs. Resume

Long

Covers your entire career

Static

Short (1-2 pages max)

Customizable for job

Concise

Why should I make a good resume?

“I am marketing myselfin my resume”

you are marketing something: yourself! You need to "sell" your skills, abilities, qualifications and experience to employers.

I should highlight my accomplishments to show a potential employer that I am qualified for the work I want

I have to Stand out from the crowd

First CV may be by Leonardo da Vinci

Before doing all these famous work, Leonardo da Vinci was an artificer and, like you, he had to put together a resume to get his next gig. So in 1482, at the age of 30, he wrote out a letter and a list of his capabilities and sent it off to Duke of Milan.

Bit of a history

Here how itLooked like

The good newsThere is no "one best way" to

construct a Resume

It is your document and can be structured as you wish within the

basic framework.It can be on paper or on-line or even

on a T-shirt :-D

http://www.nina4airbnb.com/

It’s a part of your professional identity

45% Previous related work experience35% Qualifications & skills25% Easy to read16% Accomplishments14% Spelling & grammar9% Education(these were not just graduate recruiters or this score would be much higher!)9% Objective: individuality/desire to succeed3% Clear objective2% Keywords added1% Contact information2% Personal experiences and Computer skills

What aspects they look for in a Resume?

What I should include?

•The Past• How have I spent your life so

far?• What have I achieved?

•The Present• What are I am currently

doing?

The Future Where do I want to end up?

Types of Resume

Functional Resume

• The information is organized by the skills set• Used by when your experience and education do not obviously match

their career objectives or when there are noticeable gaps in work experiences

Chronological resume

• Organized by job titles with the most recent position comes first• Most effective when you have a solid experience and a logical job

history

Combination resume

• Merges the chronological and functional styles• Represent the knowledge, skills, and abilities gained• Widely used format

The basics

• Relevant and concise content• Proper structure• Good design!• Use white spaces• Short and sweet• No errors

Typical structure

A. Name and contact informationB. Personal profile (career objective)C. Career history / technical projects experienceD. Educational qualificationsE. Professional certificationsF. Awards and achievementsG. Skills and talentsH. Relevant personal detailsI. Referees information

Name and contact information

• Name, address, email, phone numbers comes first• Other relevant personal information can be included towards the

latter part of your Resume• Make your email address a professional :-)• Photograph (optional)

Personal statement

• Clear, concise, and targeted to your career goals or clear statement that matches the needs of the potential employer

• Who you are: a statement one sentence long, that describes you truthfully but powerfully

• Skills and qualities that you process

Which Candidate Impresses you more?Candidate 1:"I want to spend four years working in web design and development to get experience of the technologies and the business. After that I intend to become an internet entrepreneur.“

Candidate 2:"I'm not really sure what I want to do. I thought about web design but then I didn't know if there would be any jobs. Maybe I'm more suited to management."

Career history

• Start with the most recent first• Briefly describe your roles and responsibilities• Use action verbs• Don't mention the routine, non-people tasks

Educational qualifications

• Your degree subject and university, plus A levels or equivalents.• Mention grades unless poor!

Professional qualifications / achievements• Include relevant significant ones• Most recent achievements comes first• Mention the date of achievement

Skills and interests

• Those matters!• Keep this section short and to the point• Indicate level – Basic Knowledge | Working Knowledge• Don't use the old boring clichés here: "socializing with friends“• Don't put many passive, solitary hobbies (reading, watching TV, stamp

collecting)• Hobbies that are a little out of the ordinary• Any evidence of leadership is important to mention: captain or coach

of a sports team, course representative, chair of a student society.

Referees

• Normally two referees are sufficient• Many employers don’t check references at the application stage• You may also provide referees upon request from employer

How long a Resume?

• Ideally two A4 pages, no more than 3 pages!• Recommended fonts: Times New Roman, Calibri, Thoma

Recommended font sizes: 10-14 max• Use one or two fonts only

The person reading your resume is busy• Keep the structure, formatting simple, logical and consistent• Use layouts of white space, indentation and bullet points –make it

easy to read• Keep the text of each item brief and self contained

Some common mistakes

• Grammatical mistakes• Improper font size• Missing important details• Spelling mistakes• Too many pages

Poor Presentations Can

• Hide your most important background and skills from the recruiter• Stop your Resume from being read fully• Convey a poor standard of work impression in the mind of recruiter• Ultimately stop your application form going to the next stage

Resume Don’ts..

• Unnecessary personal information –age, heights etc..• Items of controversy –political affiliation, controversial employers or

activities• Salary requirements• Errors!

Some tips

• Know the purpose of your Resume• Start with cut and clear objective• Put most important information

first• Highlight your strengths• List the technical knowledge first• Be clean and clear• Avoid abbreviations and acronym

No fancy fonts, binders, layout

Be positive! Concentrate on what you can do, not what you can’t

Be truthful –Do not fake

Backup your claims with good evidence from your own experience

Include something exciting about yourself

Write, Read, Revise.. Repeat..

Package your Resume

• Send it in PDF format• Rename file name appropriately• Accompany with a cover letter

Cover letter

• Need to be short and sweet – one to three paragraphs• If an email, make it the email body• Opening paragraph – express your interest in the job• Second paragraph – very brief highlight of key qualifications• Closing paragraph – asking for an interview

That’s It, No big deal :)

IsuruS@99x.lk / RashmikaN@99x.lk