Resume
A Resume is a very important job-hunting tool. It is a summary of your work experience (if any), education, volunteer work and any other accomplishments.
A Resume can also be called a Curriculum Vitae or CV for short.
Your employment history is listed in reverse chronological order (most recent job first), with company/job titles/accomplishments/dates of employment.
The most important point to remember is to always link your skills and experience to the job ad.
What to include:
1. Details of part-time or casual jobs, extra curricular activities, and club or society memberships are all valuable achievements. Don’t sell yourself short just because your professional experience is limited. Give employers a well-rounded view of your talents by including all relevant experience.
2. List your volunteer history. Committing your personal time to a cause you feel passionate about demonstrates your values, moral and ethics. It also shows your willingness to go that extra mile, which is something employers look for.
3. Tailor your CV to the job you are applying for. Although you may not have worked in this area you would have developed some transferable skills that you could apply to this role.
4. Include details of your computer skills and any training courses you might have already completed.
5. Include other talents, hobbies to show that you have outside interests and skills. Emphasise your commitment, energy and enthusiasm.
6. Include referees.
When a company takes on a new employee (you!) they are taking a risk because, although they may have interviewed you, they don’t know what you’re really like. That’s why they often want to check with people who have known you for a long time, and preferably supervised you at work, to find out what you’d be like to work with.
If you have had a job before and you’ve gotten along well with your old boss, that person would be the ideal referee. Otherwise anyone that’s worked with you in the past and has supervised you.
What if I’m going for my first job?
Think of an adult who would be viewed as a respected person, who is not related to you and who knows you well.
Some ideas would be:
- a sporting coach of a team you’ve been in
- a teacher or school principal
- a volunteer manager if you’ve ever done any volunteering
Only put down the names of people on your CV as referees when:
a) you’ve already asked if they are ok for you to do so; and
b) you know they will say good things about you
Important points:
Do NOT lie about or make up anything in your resume. If you should get an interview, it will only take the employer a few short moments to figure out that what your resume says and what you can actually do are very different. Not only are you wasting yours and the employer’s time but you are setting yourself up for disappointment.
If you are not getting any interviews after sending off your resume, chances are you are either applying for jobs you are not qualified for or your cover letter and/or resume needs work to link your skills and experience to what is being asked for in the job ad.
How to write your resume:
Please refer to sample resumes below:-
Writing your resume
http://career-advice.careerone.com.au/resume-cover-letter/careers.aspx