This group will provide useful writing tips
5 Things Your CV or Resume Must Have
Preparing a good CV or resume can be compared to preparing a fine meal. An “uneducated” chef may have the best ingredients in his/her kitchen, but the dish that is presented is dull, unflavorful, and without interest.
The “educated” chef, on the other hand may have nothing but leftovers in the pantry, but knows how to present those ingredients in the most appealing way possible.
If you can learn…and you WILL learn…how to “whip together” a good CV or resume, despite undistinguished qualifications and uninspiring experience, you will be much more likely to land an interview than the super-candidate who has “killer” credentials, but a “dead” CV or resume. Our first advice it’s to look for some examples of resume at such a websites as resumebros. There you can find help with proofreading, useful advices and templates.
There are certainly exceptions, but in general, the content of today’s CV or resume is limited to:
1) Contact Information
All your contact information should go at the top of your CV / resume.
§ Name (Avoid nicknames & including middle name - KEEP it simple AND professional)
§ Address Use a permanent address…even if it’s not yours. (Use your parent’s address, a friend’s address, or the address you plan to use after graduation if you’re still “between residences”)
§ Telephone Number Use a permanent telephone number and include the area code. (If you have an answering machine on both your home phone AND mobile, record a neutral greeting during your job search)
§ Email address - Choose an e-mail address that sounds professional
§ Website address - Include your web site address only if the web page reflects your professional ambitions.
2) Objective or Summary
An objective tells potential employers the sort of work you’re hoping to do. This is your chance to be specific. If you have skills that you want to use in a specific industry, say so. Rather than an objective that says, “To obtain my first job and make a significant contribution to my new company,” try this…
To obtain an entry-level position within a prestigious financial institution that will utilize my strong analytical and organizational skills.
In essence, your objective is always, “To get hired.” But you’ll want to customize that message, but tailoring your objective to each employer you target and every job you seek. The new-and-improved message is “To get hired by YOU.”
3) Education
Your most recent educational information is listed first. Include your degree (A.S., B.S., B.A., etc.), major, institution attended, minor/concentration.
Add your grade point average (GPA) if it is higher than 3.0.
Don’t forget to mention academic honors.
New graduates without a lot of work experience should list their educational information first. If you’ve been out of school for more than a year or two, education should be moved to the end of your resume, after the work experience section.
4) Professional Experience
ALWAYS use the heading PROFESSIONAL EXPEREINCE - using the heading work experience makes you look like a college student.
List your professional experience in reverse chronological order–that is, put your last job first and work backward to your first, relevant job.
Important: Account for any gaps in your CV. It is critical to ALWAYS ensure that your dates of employment flow and if there is a gap for any reason always explain why. (If you were unemployed at anytime throughout your career explain it by stating that you were on a career break or relocating or spending time with your family etc.)
The details of each experience should be presented in a consistent manner with details including:
§ Your title/position
§ Name of organization
§ Location of work (city, state, and country, if appropriate)
§ Dates of employment
§ Description of work responsibilities with an emphasis on results and achievements.
The goal is to provide a showcase of your professional experience using relevant industry buzzwords where you have utilized your skills.
5) Skills
Don’t miss this opportunity to list any special, job-related skills you may have.
Some examples include:
§ What computer programs do you know?
§ Are you familiar with both Mac and PC?
§ Are you bilingual?
§ What presentation equipment have you used or what is your typing speed?
COMMON PHONE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Tell me a little bit about yourself?
In this case you're going to present yourself and it must be impressive, generally this question will open the interview and will capture the attention of the interviewer. Your answer must be short and contain only pertinent information, highlight your skills and potential value to the company. To make this easier you can consider these words: I am, I have, I can. It's a good idea to write your presentation before, study it and revise it before the phone call in order to suit to each interview.
2. Why did you leave your last job? Why do you want to leave your current job? How did you lose your last job?
At this time it's important to keep the positivism, and enthusiasm, don't talk negative things about your last job or the company in which you are currently working (even if you have reasons to do so), you need to be honest but recognize the good stuff in your job; remember never talk unkindly about a past experience or employer you can replace negative thoughts with ideas such as: a better opportunity, a better fit for you, a step in your career.
3. What interests you in this position? What do you know about us?
This question is the perfect one to let the interviewer notice your interest in the job and in be part of the company, you must have at least basic information about the company, and the position that you're applying. You can take advantage of the question and talk about your achievements related to the position and show interest in processes in the company including things you probably have researched.
4. What are your career goals?
To answer this question you can start with your graduation and explain the thinking process that went into take each path or career moves. Then you can also explain your dream job; include why you want to get there and how the previous steps will help you.
5. Tell me about your experience, or tell me about your experience at ______?
Explain about your past experience relevant to the job you want to apply, and how your skills helped in doing it correctly. You can give examples of preventing and solving situations during your last job. All information related to the job will help you let the interviewer know you're able to take the job and the responsibility.
6. Give me an example of when you did _______ ?
The employer might take some information from your resume and ask you for experiences in each one of the jobs you had before the interview or maybe, the interviewer will take any of the experiences you said before and ask you when you applied certain skill, ability or knowledge.
Possible question can include: a time when you managed a difficult employee and resolved it?, a time when you had to overcome an objection?, etc.
7. Tell me about your strengths and/or weaknesses?
It's easy to talk about one's strengths in this case you should emphasize on the aspects related to the job, communication skills, multi-tasking, critical thinking. On the other hand when talking about weaknesses you must prepare yourself to give honest but positive answers at the end, it means for example indicate how you addressed or are addressing the problem. Explain how your weaknesses are in fact strengths for you. It's also important to reveal the right weakness or choose something in which you are working currently.
8. What was your greatest accomplishment? Also, what were your 3 greatest accomplishments
It's an important tip to include in your greatest accomplishments some situations in previous jobs in which you can demonstrate your ability to save money, time or earn money for benefit of the company. It's important to organize your ideas through a structure starting with the situation then your tasks and actions to solve the situation and finally the result. If it's not enough, you can include other situations such as: A new experience your tried, volunteering, any awards, etc.