CV/Resume Development Guide

The CV/Resume is written for the employer and prepared with his/her needs foremost in mind. Its purpose is to get you in for the interview. The recommended format is designed to help the employer quickly determine if you are worth talking to. In todays job market you have less than 30 seconds to convince the employer that you are. Step 1: NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE, EMAIL (How you can be contacted). Put in caps and bold at top of page. Step 2: Summary of Skills/Qualifications Provide a brief me in 30 seconds POWER statement as a summary or profile of your qualifications that meet the Job Posts requirements and identifies why you believe that you are the best candidate for the job. Go over the job post carefully and underline what the key skills the employer is looking for. For most CVs, received by an employer, this is the only information on the CV that is ever read. If it does not contain the information, using the wording the employer is looking for it will be quickly discarded. Put a lot of thought into its preparation. Review with a mentor. Have you covered the key needs which are most critical to the employer? See the Me In 30 Seconds tip sheet for further tips on how to put together this statement. Step 3: Experience/Skills A. Identify your Hard Skills. List your Duties and Responsibilities for each past job (both work and volunteer) on a separate sheet of paper, including education or training and church jobs, This information is the heart of your resume. List all you did including special training skills you developed. Be thorough. Dont discount anything. At this stage dont be concerned about exact words. Get the ideas down. Write down points describing what you did. Begin with an action word (Can, Have, Installed, Hired &etc.). You are not writing a sentence so dont start with a cap or end with a period. Write only a phrase, as shown in the examples below. B. Now Collect your Duties and Responsibilities into Skill Sets like: CONSTRUCTION framed homes installed drywall operated forklift ADMINISTRATION/SUPERVISION supervised up to 3 staff hired/fired carried out performance reviews awarded advancements and pay increases EDUCATION AND TRAINING journeyman carpenter (list course work as applicable)

C. Study the job post carefully to determine what skills would be needed for the job. List your skills in an order from most important to least important according to the employers needs as identified in the job post. Avoid using soft skills like good team player, good interpersonal skills, etc. These will not get you an interview or a job. But you better have them if you hope to keep the job. Most employers prefer to see listed only those skills that are relevant to the job being applied for. Step 4: The rest of the CV/resume is historical information and. A. Employment or work history Job title first Employers name Location Contact information Employment dates Include short job description in point form. What were the key duties you performed? Remember anything that is beyond 10 years and not relevant to the job being applied for, is ancient history and belongs there. B. Education List degree obtained first Name of institution Years attended List any special awards or recognitions you received. List any skills you developed through education that may be pertinent to the employer C. References Always include at least 2 references. List name, title, company, address and contact information. D. Optional Volunteer experience (List just like a job, title and all, especially if your experience can be added to your skills set). Hobbies/Interest (If space allows hobbies and interest can give the employer an indication of your broad skills). E. Length Two pages maxim Make it easy to read If the CV is to long or it is difficult to find what the reader is looking for, it will not get read

Sample CV 1 (Combination Skills/Chronological CV)

NAME
ADDRESS Phone EMAIL
Summary of Qualifications I am a thoroughly experienced accounting professional with a diversified background including receivables, payables, cost of sales spreadsheets, and inventory records. I have the extensive education and training required to meet all your requirements with proficiency in detail and accuracy. I have the required experience in Excel and other in-house accounting software. I am reliable and responsible and I work well independently and on a team. Professional Skills and Experience Accounts Payable/Payroll Completed trial balances to general ledger, manually reconciled 60-100 accounts daily Posted payments to assigned payable accounts and payable transactions to set ledgers Efficiently and accurately coded, calculated and verified field employee wage information Revenue Accounting Verified voucher checks and overcharge claims, matching to receivable accounts Balanced prepaid accounts and prepared bank deposits Posted payments and credit card charges to assigned receivable accounts Reviewed invoices to verify freight car movement Handled register transactions, including cash and credit card purchases Inventory Accounting Updated master lists, posted inventory transactions & managed administrative tasks Generated senior management reports and prepared cost of sales reports per unit sold Designed and implemented use of master reporting forms and prepared data entry forms Employment History Senior Accountant Grand Silo Industries, Oakview, Ireland 1999-present Supervised a staff or 6 Handled all accounts payable and receivable Posted all payroll records and issued pay stubs and cheques Generated all management reports as required by management committee Designed all reporting forms used in the business Accountant Hillcrest Accounting, Springdale, Ireland 1993-1999 Completed trial balances to general ledger, and reconciled all accounts daily

Using Simply Accounting package posted all daily all payments, sales invoices and payable transactions to ledger accounts daily. Reviewed all invoices received to ensure good received and processed.

Sr. Accounting Specialist Estrada Bookkeeping, Dublin, Ireland 1989-1993 Using Quick Books Accounting package posted all financial transactions to assigned receivable and payable accounts. Balanced prepaid accounts and prepared bank deposits Prior to 1989 employed by World Accounting and Bureau Tax Services Education Bachelor of Science, Management Elmridge College, Belfast, N Ireland 1989 Specialized in management accounting Awarded the student with the highest grade average of the class of 1989 AAA Accounting Birmingham College, Birmingham, UK 1986 Shimley Award Computer Operation and Data Entry Applications, Dublin University, Dublin Ireland 1985 Volunteer Work Experience Volunteer Missionary for my church in Scotland 1983 1984 Religious teacher to groups of individuals from 1 to 30 Dorr to door sales District leader for a group of 10 working out plans and actions for achieving the goals of the group. Hobbies and Interests Golf, hiking, camping and outdoors sports References/Referees Don Blow President of Hillcrest Accounting Springdale, Ireland Ph. +353 (0)87 901 2345 Dblow@hillcrest.ie Susan Friend 10 Finglas Road Dublin 11, Ireland Ph. +353 (0)1 234 5678 Sfriend@hotmail.com