Winning CV's
The purpose of your resume
Your resume is a tool with one specific purpose: to win you an interview. Your resume should establish you as a professional with high standards and excellent writing skills, convincing the employer you have what it takes to succeed in the position.
To be most effective, the resume must be focused on the specific job for which you are applying. Be concise and selective, include only the most relevant experiences and omit personal or sensitive information.
Some Tips
- Make your resume concise, clear and 'user friendly' - easy to read and understand
- Write no more than 2,3 pages - even if your career spans over 20 years.
- Use a tone that is self-confident without resorting to clichés, gimmicks, or bragging
- Stress your accomplishments and strengths honestly without exaggeration, using factual evidence drawn from your experiences to support your points
- Do not use negative phrasing or an apologetic tone
- Use action verbs and emphasize skills: "designed new techniques for..." rather than "was responsible for design plans."
Format
Use the following sequence:
Use the following sequence:
- Your name and contact details
- One paragraph summary of skills and experience
- Education
- Work experience - several bullet points for each job, referring to your responsibilities and your achievements in that role
- Special skills
- Professional qualifications /Affiliations
- Honours and Awards
Let your draft sit for a while (a day or a few hours), then look at it again critically; what would potential employers be most likely to notice first? What parts of your resume would attract them? Where would they be bored or confused? The answers to these questions might prompt you to rearrange sections of your resume so that the most important things come first or to clarify and condense some job descriptions.
Remember!
Your prospective employer is going over stacks of resumes, allocating probably not more than a few minutes to reading each. Make sure yours is well written and formatted, so it grabs the employer's attention. The idea is at a glance they can see everything that is relevant to the vacant job.
Your prospective employer is going over stacks of resumes, allocating probably not more than a few minutes to reading each. Make sure yours is well written and formatted, so it grabs the employer's attention. The idea is at a glance they can see everything that is relevant to the vacant job.