Perfect Résumé

By Michael Liu

What employers look for in a résumé/CV

• evidence of achievement• in the four key skill areas : • Education

• Work experience• Other skills and achievements• Languages

Education

• details of graduate work • college/tertiary education first: degree subject, university, degree grades, or GPA @ each major mil

estone of your course major prizes or awards, specifying key d

ates significant academic projects (e.g., senio

r thesis, major research work, etc.)

standardized tests

• GMAT, LSAT, SAT, etc.• key: as much detail as possible here

Work experience

• emphasize what you have achieved in each major role

• beyond your key day-to-day responsibilities

• the impact you have had in your career • e.g., the key things that changed because

of your direct involvement• strength: your unique skills and experien

ce

Other skills and achievements

• any volunteer or charity work• positions of responsibility in professiona

l bodies• demonstrate leadership, initiative-takin

g, or extraordinary commitment• leadership positions, significant involve

ment in extracurricular activities• significant participation in sports, games,

societies, or hobbies

Sports & Hobbies

• a high level of achievement in a sport tells people something about your commitment and drive to achieve.

• tell people what you have achieved in pursuing your hobbies

languages

• Include any foreign languages for which you have business conversational ability or better.

• a good idea is to rate yourself as either basic, competent, or fluent.

Tips for résumé writing and layout

• Your résumé/CV should be neatly typed and clearly laid out.

• Use a reasonably sized font (e.g., size 10 or larger) and allow some margin around the text for reviewer’s notes.

• Do not be overly creative with the formatting—it will only distract from the real focus of the document, which is you.

• Write clearly and don’t forget to check your grammar and spelling.

Tips for résumé writing and layout

• Include your name and contact details at the top, with daytime and evening phone numbers and an e-mail address.

• Lay out your prior jobs (if any) in reverse chronological order, with your most recent role at the top.

• It is best to list dates on the left hand side. You should be able to explain any gaps in your career or educational history.

• The length of your resume/CV will depend on you and your achievements—but don’t pad it out! The trick is to be concise, but not incomplete.

Peer reviewing

• avoid using jargons: the reader may not be familiar with your specific professional credentials

• ask your friends from different backgrounds to read it through

• If they're impressed without being confused, you're looking good.

• important for your resume to be the best possible reflection of you and of your achievements to date.

• should not only accurately reflect your achievements to date, but also provide some sense of the scale of those achievements.

STYLES OF RESUMES

The Chronological : • Is the most common and conservative

form of presentation • Is often preferred by small to medium

sized organisations • Arranges your experience and

education in reverse chronological order

• Is good for demonstrating your growth and continuity in a single profession

• Is most suited to people who have not had long periods of unemployment

The Functional Resume

• Organises the job-related aspects of your background by the relevant functions you performed

• Headings relate more to your skills and competencies than employers or job titles

• Indicates that you are capable of making a significant change in your career

• Is well suited to students who have gained valuable experience through a number of unrelated jobs and courses

• Uses a common resume style, with which most employers are familiar and feel somewhat comfortable

• Is often preferred by large organisations

• Eliminates repetition of job duties

• Camouflages undesirable characteristics such as: lack of career progress or continuity, job hopping, lengthy/frequent unemployment, lack of required experience/education, age

The Academic Resume

• Emphasises academic qualifications, articles published, books written (if any), conference papers delivered, professional development

• Suited to academic staff or post graduate students seeking an academic position

Your Skills And Special Talentsfor College Students and Recent Grads

• learn to identify your transferable skills and marketable personal traits

• recognize achievements that you didn't previously notice or fully appreciate

Ask yourself these questions.

1. Good friends count on each other for lots of things. What do YOUR friends count on YOU for?

2. What does your FAMILY count on you for?

3. What DIFFICULTIES or barriers have you overcome, to get where you are now?

4. What COURAGEOUS things have you done that you feel good about?

5. IF one of your college friends were to BRAG about you, what would they say?

6. IF YOU felt totally comfortable bragging about yourself, what would you brag about? What are you most PROUD of?

7. What PRAISE or acknowledgment have you gotten from your instructors or from your employers?

8. If you suddenly had to move far away (say, your folks got a

job in a different part of the country) what would your friends or instructors or colleagues MISS most about you?

How would their lives be more difficult, less fun, or less int

eresting if you weren't there?

9. What CREATIVE things have you done that you feel good about?

10. Name about SIX QUALITIES or characteristics of OTHER people, that you most respect or admire.

11. Which of those qualities you named above are also true about YOU?

For each of those qualities, tell what you DO that gives people the impression that you have that quality.

12. Think of a PROBLEM that came up that had other people stumped, but that YOU were able to do something about, to improve the situation.

What did YOU do? What does that say about your abilities?

13. Which academic studies are you best at? Why do you like these studies?

14. What do you KNOW so well-or DO so well-that you could teach it to others? What's the main TIP you'd tell people about how to do that fabulously?

15. What achievements in your jobs or internships gave you the most satisfaction?

16. In those satisfying achievements (above), what skills were you using that you'd like to apply to future jobs?