| The Perfect Resume |
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CV's by the bucketful, resumes by the sack. Employers advertising vacancies are literally suffocated by them. They come in all shapes and sizes, from bound novels to postcards; printed in Gothic Bold or handwritten by spiders. In green, pink and fluorescent orange. How do you make your CV stands out from the rest; is placed on the 'probable pile' and not filed in the waste paper bin; gets you that all important interview ? Read on... A curriculum vitae (CV) is an outline of a person's educational and professional history. But it's more than that. It's an advertisement. A skillful presentation. Created to arouse the interest of a prospective employer. Designed to highlight your strengths and capabilities. Laid out for easy reading, extraction of important data and to show that you are the right person for that job. Most CV's are boring. A monotonous, matter of fact style of writing is used, listing down dull routine activities, sometimes even starting from primary school! A well written CV is a living thing. Changing with the circumstances. Your CV must be written in various formats. Tailored to enhance experience, highlight qualifications, show off your capabilities; depending on your assessment of the employer, the company, the job. A well presented CV will stand out from the rest, will encourage the prospective employer to read it, will be a pleasure to read and will convince the employer to meet you. It will show your future employer that you can communicate effectively; a much sought after quality. Before you even think about drafting out your CV you need to collect all the information about you. Jobs, accomplishments, responsibilities, dates, qualifications, skills, interests, personal attributes. Write them all down, don't be shy, brainstorm. Be positive, assertive, enthusiastic. Remember you are selling yourself. Don't be modest. Be truthful however, or you'll be caught out in the end. Then decide on the format you think best fits you and the target job. The chronological section lists life in date order. Reverse date order. Most recent events first. Emphasise your job history chronologically when;
The functional section highlights capabilities, achievements, goals. Focus attention on this section when;
Remember first impressions count. Your future employer's first impressions will be got from your CV. So the layout has to be good. More than good. Memorable. Also remember that once the onerous task of sifting through the mountain of CV's has started, the first filter will be visual. Yes, purely the look of the thing. Even during the second pass, decisions whether to 'reject' or 'consider further' are based more on presentation than content. Only then is the content analysed and CV's sorted in order of suitability for the job. The length of a CV is critical. Two sides of A4 size paper is the optimum. Any shorter and there's not enough of you. Longer and the will to read it disappears. A three page CV reduces readability by fifty percent. Longer CV's are only written by people who lack self confidence! And two sides of A4 does not mean the same sheet of A4. It means two sheets of A4 each typed on one side only. Use a standard business type face. Times New Roman or Aerial, twelve point type size. Leave good size margins on both sides. White space is important to the overall look of the document. A well laid out CV is much more easier to read and looks more attractive than one crammed full of text. On the first page, type your full name, bold, underlined, top, centre justified. Below your name give the all important contact information. Mailing address, telephone numbers. Your email address could impress. On the second page, type your full name, not bold, underlined, top, right justified. Include page numbers. Page 1 of 2 ; Page 2 of 2. Not bold, not underlined, centre or right justified at bottom of page. Use same type face as the main text. If you are using a complex word processor, page numbering can be in the 'footer' of the document. Please resist the urge to include all other information like date, file name, colour of socks. Section headings should be bold type, left justified. Paragraph text should be indented. But most of all be consistent.
Start with the strongest statements. Use active verbs like;
Use power words like;
Keep sentences and paragraphs short. Use indented and 'bulleted' lists. Use simple terms rather than complex expressions. Use quantities where they enhance achievements. Only use jargon if it is widely known in the target industry. Emphasise qualities that employers are looking for;
We have discussed the importance of a well presented resume. We described the two different types of resume, the main sections and we talked about action verbs and power words. Now we describe layout, style and how to present the completed resume to prospective employers. PresentationChoose a higher quality paper than normal photocopy paper, heavier, with a watermark. Colour - White, unless you consider the reader would be interested in something different. Even then a subtle pastel shade. No dramatics at this stage. After you have completed your first draft you will find that it is too long. So what do you leave out ? Consider the following;
Poorf read it, proff read it, proof read it!Print it. Proof read it. Correct it, print it; and then get someone else to proof read it. Correct it. Spellcheck it. Print it. Make sure the grammar is sound. Check the capitalisation and the punctuation. And be consistent. The Cover letterThe third page of your creation is the cover letter. It is as important as the CV itself, because it is the first that will be read; and as we know, first impressions count. Keep it brief and to the point. Print it, proof read it, get someone else to proof read it. Correct it, spellcheck it. Print it. And there you have, one perfect CV and one better than average chance of an invitation to an interview!
Jeb Riordan (c) 2001 About the Author: Jeb has worked in the telecommunications industry at supervisor or manager level for over twenty years. During this time he has recruited many, interviewed even more and doesn't want to think about the number of CV's he has read !
 Comments (2)
... written by Gordon Fredricks, May 19, 2009
This is a great work by you. The things mentioned are unanimous and needs to be appreciated by everyone. The above thought is smart and doesn’t require any further addition. It’s perfect thought from my side.
Gordon coverletter Write comment
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