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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Resume is a brief written summary of a job applicant’s past employment history, education,
and other pertinent information. The term resume is used primarily in America, where it has
taken the place of the Latin expression curriculum vitae, or CVA. Resume is a document used
and created by person to present their background, skills and accomplishments. Resumes
can be used for variety of reasons but most often they are used to secure new employment.
A resume is a one- or two-page formal document that job hopefuls submit to hiring managers
and employment recruiters as a means of itemizing their work experience, educational
background, and special skills. Successful resumes entice potential employers to invite
applicants to interview for the position. Resumes are traditionally accompanied by cover
letters, in which applicants champion their relevant skills and tout their specific qualifications
for a given position.

The resumes are our primary method of communicating with prospective employers.
It announces our desire to fill an existing vacancy and describes the qualifications ours
possess that allow us to meet the requirements of the role successfully. If our resume
effectively communicates to a prospective employer that you are an ideal fit for the open
position, you have a strong chance of being called for an interview and could eventually be
offered the job you seek. Employers should use a candidate's resume to weed out unqualified
candidates for advertised positions. Savvy candidates customize their resume and cover letter
to help the potential employer, quickly determine that they are qualified for job opening. A well-
crafted resume should immediately demonstrate an applicant's suitability for a job interview
for the open position with company. Resumes are written and laid out according to the strength
of the applicant’s credentials and the personal circumstances that determined their need for a
job search.

There are two basics types of traditional resumes which are targeted and general.
Either type can have a chronological, functional or combination arrangement. Chronological,
functional and combination are format of resumes. Each formats have their personal
advantage and use. But, nowadays a lot of people lack of knowledge making a resume. This
is because they do not know differentiate between chronological, functional and combination
formats.
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2.0 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

A resume is a self-marketing tool that summarizes your qualifications. Your resume should
clearly and convincingly translate what you have done in the past into what you intend to do
in the future. It is hard to know the precise reasons why you aren't getting called in for a
particular interview. However, it can be helpful to reflect on some of the most common reasons
why candidates aren't selected as you hone your job search skills. One of the reason rejected
for an interview is about resume. Even if you're a qualified candidate, one seemingly small
resume mistake could mean the difference between a job-landing interview and a missed
opportunity. If you want your job application to make it past the gatekeepers and into the hiring
manager's hands, avoid these cringe-worthy resume-writing mistakes.

There are a lot of common mistakes that people do when making a resume such as
spelling and grammatical errors, incorrect or missing contact information, using an
unprofessional email address, including outdated or irrelevant information, failure to
demonstrate and quantify results, annoying buzzwords and obvious keyword stuffing, being
too generalized or not customizing to match the job listing and others. This happened because
people lack of knowledge about format of resumes, content in resumes and styles of resumes.

Undergraduate or postgraduate students should have good skill in making a resume.

But, nowadays students still lack of knowledge format for resume. They do not know either
chronological, functional or combination format that can use to making a resume to apply for
a job. Also, students are very dependent on technology in making resume. For example, there
are a lot of templates of resume available on the internet. People take advantage of the
resumes that have provided in the internet without thinking about suitable format, style and
content in the resume. They just fill up all the things in the templates provided. This shows that
undergraduate or postgraduate students are not concern about the format of resume.

Due to the problems that happened among undergraduate and postgraduate students,
we decide to make a research about the challenges in making a resume among undergraduate
students. Respondents for this research consist of semester 7 students from Geography
Department. The objectives of the study are to:

i. To identify the level of knowledge about formats for resume among semester 7
students
ii. To determine the challenges that student face to prepare a resume
iii. To identify the level of concern among students towards the resume format.
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3.0 LITERATURE RIVIEW

A resume is a self-marketing tool that summarizes your qualifications. Resume should clearly
and convincingly translate what we have done in the past into what we intend to do in the
future. According to Ashraf (2008), a resume presents a summary of your education,
professional training, experience, skills, abilities, achievements and references. The primary
purpose of a resume is to obtain a job interview. Resumes can take many different forms.

3.1 Styles Of Resumes

There are two basic types of traditional resumes which are targeted and general. Either type
can have a chronological, functional or combination arrangement (Ashraf, 2008).

A targeted resume is prepared for a specific position. It is individually keyed and

printed, and it contains information to show specifally how a person qualify for that one job.
Accomplishments and skills on the resume are written to highlight the skills, qualifications and
experience requirements described for the position. In addition, for college courses completed
within the last five years, list those that apply to responsibilities of the specific job. A targeted
resume is powerful and should be used for a solicited position. A word processing program
makes it easy to prepare, personalize and update your resume.

A general resume is a description of our qualifications that can be used for any job
related to our career objective and sent to more than one potential employer. It is use for
unsolicited jobs. It is appropriate for use when applying for unsolicited jobs that have similar
characteristics.

3.2 Formats For Resume

Ashraf (2008) said there are three acceptable resume consists of chronological, functional and
combination. Choosing an appropriate resume style depends on the qualifications, career
goals and personal preferences. The chronological resume is referred to also as a traditional
or traditional reverse chronological resume. The functional resume may be called a skills-
oriented, skills-based or nontraditional resume. The third format, which is combination resume
uses features of both the chronolological and the functional resume.

Chronological resume are organized by date, with the most recent listed first. Most
employers prefer the chronological format because it gives the information they need in a
familiar sequence and helps them compare resumes. This format enables employers to
identify gaps in your work experience, as it emphasizes dates of employment, names and
addresses of employers, job titles and responsibilities.
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According to Kennedy (2011), the functional format is a resume of ability-focused

topics such portable skills or functional areas. It ignores chronological order. A functional
resume provides information in a format that emphasizes qualifications categorized by skills
and knowledge and related accomplishments. The functional format for resume works well for
an individual who has been out of the job market for a number of years, has little employment
experience, or has held several jobs and needs to combine them to make the presentation
more concise or more favourable than separate listings.

Some applicants use a combination resume, which blends the strengths of the
chronological format with the strengths of the functional format. Combination resumes work
well for individuals with little work experience who are just entering the job market.

3.3 Preparing A Resume

Choosing an appropriate resume style depends on the qualifications, career goals and
personal preferences (Ashraf, 2008). The format you choose depends on the job you are
seeking. There are several sections that are common to all resumes. There are opening,
education, experience, activities/honors/special skills and references.

The Opening

The opening of a resume should include a heading, career objective and if appropriate, a
summary of your qualifications. The purposes of the opening are to get potential employers to
read the remainder of the resume to inform them briefly of your interests and qualifications
and to make it easy for them to contact the applicants.

A resume heading includes information for contacting the applicants. The heading
must include your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. Most prospective
employers like to see a career objective in the beginning of a resume so they can tell whether
their interests match yours and where they may fit in their organization. The objective can be
either specific or general.

Besides that, a summary of qualification also important in the opening. This section
provides a brief abstract of applicant’s qualifications. In this section include statements or
phrases that describe the applicants and their accomplishments. Items should be specific or
general due to type of job application.

Education

Education may be the strongest section for a recent graduate. Following the resume opening,
present the strongest qualifications. For a college graduate, they have limited experience.
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Education and related activities will be the strongest qualifications. The applicants should
place the most recent information first on a chronological resume.

Experience

Experience is rated highly by employers. Employers rate work experience as the most
important information in a resume for applicants other than new graduates. More decisions to
interview or not to interview an applicant are based on the quality of work experience than on
any other factor.

The accomplishments should be the focal point of the experience presentation,

including what they learned from the experience, achievements and the contributions to each
position. The responsibilities for each position may also be listed briefly. For each position
should include dates of employment, job title, employer and employer’s location.

Activities, Honors, Special Skills Or Other Appropriate Titles

Include additional sections in the resume if the background justifies if related to the
qualifications for the job. Any additional section that include should be one that employers
would consider positively. If the applicants have a variety of activities, they may combine them
into one section simply labelled activities. The heading of the section should reflect the
contents accurately. Special sections should be placed near related information or at an
appropriate point of emphasis. Omit information not relevant to the job. Present only the
information that will strengthen the application.

References

Careful development of a list of references is a vital part of a job preparation. Applicants need
to list the most previous employers as references. It may list different references for different
job applications.

Instead of taking up valuable space on the resume, develop a separate reference list
to accompany the resume. It must be provided full information, including a telephone number
and e-mail address. Reference information should make contacting references easy for
emloyers.
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4.0 DATA COLLECTION AND DATA ANALYSIS

This research are using quantitive method to collecting the data. We are using questionaire
form as our intruments to collect the data. Data that have been collected are focuses on
semester 7 of Geography Students. The questionaire provided has 4 section consists of:
i. Section A: Respondent’s Demographic
ii. Section B: To Identify The Levels Of Knowledge About Formats Of Resume Among
Semester 7 Of Geography Students
iii. Section C: To Study The Challenges In Preparing A Resume Among Semester 7 Of
Geography Students
iv. Section D: To Identify The Levels Of Concern About Preparing A Resume Among
Semester 7 Of Geography Students

4.1 Respondent’s Demographic

This section are describes about respondent’s demographic consists of gender, age and race.
The demographic data were analyse through SPSS software and transferred into pie chart.
Diagram 1 shows the gender of resondent. From the pie chart, we can see that 40%
of the respondents are male and 60% are female. It shows that most of the respondent in this
research are consists of female students than male students.

Diagram 1: Gender of respondent

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Diagram 2 shows the age of respondent. The pie chart show that most of the
respondents are 23 years old (66.67%). Although, 10% of the respondents are 22 years old.
The smallest amount recorded for the age of the respondents was 25 years old (3.33%).

Diagram 2: Age of respondent

Diagram 3 shows that only two categories of races include in this data collected which
is Malay and others. Most of them are Malay which is 66.67% and others is 33.33%. It shows
that Geography Department are conquered by Malay students and not consists with variety of
races.

Diagram 3: Race of respondent

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4.2 The Levels Of Knowledge About Formats Of Resume Among Semester 7 Of

Geography Students

This section will discuss about the levels of knowledge about formats of resume among
Semester 7 of Geography students. Table 1 shows the results of data about the level of
knowledge about formats of resume among semester 7 of geography students.
From the table, we can analyse that most of students know about the 5 major sections
commonly used in resume such as opening with mean 0.33. Most students do not know about
there are three types of resume mean of 0.87.

Table 1
The Levels Of Knowledge About Formats Of Resume Among Semester 7 Of Geography
Students

N Mean Std. Std. Error Mean

Item
Deviation
I know there are three 30 .33 .479 .088
types of resume
I know chronological 30 .43 .504 .092
resume are more to
traditional reverse
I know functional resume 30 .73 .450 .082
are more to skills oriented
skills bas
I know combination 30 .73 .450 .082
resume are using
features of the
chronological
I know a chronological 30 .70 .466 .085
resume has information in
each section
I know a functional 30 .73 .450 .082
resume provides
information in a format
that
I know combination 30 .77 .430 .079
resume blends the
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strengths of the
chronological
I know 5 major sections 30 .87 .346 .063
commonly used in
resume such as opening

4.3 The Challenges In Preparing A Resume Among Semester 7 Of Geography

Students

From this table, we can conclude that most of the student think that challenges in preparing a
resume is there are too many types of format on the internet with mean 4.40, they confuse
which one is the correct one. They think not challenging in making a resume is that resume is
too short with mean 3.07.

Table 2
To Study The Challenges In Preparing A Resume Among Semester 7 Of Geography
Students
N Mean Std. Std. Error
Item
Deviation Mean
Do not know the correct form of 30 3.50 1.009 .184
resume
Too many types of format on 30 4.40 .855 .156
the internet
Do not know the important 30 3.40 .932 .170
parts in the resume
Do not know how to generates 30 3.73 1.048 .191
a resume for new graduates
Do not know how to generates 30 3.63 .850 .155
a resume for someone that
have work
The resume is too long 30 3.17 .913 .167
The resume is too short 30 3.07 1.015 .185
Put in significant parts in 30 3.53 .973 .178
resume
Do not use different or new 30 3.57 .971 .177
resume for different positions
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4.4 The Levels Of Concern About Preparing A Resume Among Semester 7 Of

Geography Students

This part will discuss about the levels of concern about preparing a resume among semester
7 of geography students. Table 3 shows the results of the data towards it. From the table, we
can conclude that most of students concern that they will organize a resume properly with
mean 4.50. They not too concern about to create a resume by themselves than use a template
(3.13) which mean that they rather using a template than create by themselves.

Table 3
To Identify The Levels Of Concern About Preparing A Resume Among Semester 7 Of
Geography Students
N Mean Std. Std. Error
Item
Deviation Mean
I researched information on the 30 4.27 .740 .135
internet before creating a resume
I am preparing a resume using 30 4.20 .805 .147
template that provided on the
internet
I will make sure I am using the 30 4.40 .621 .113
right resume format
I will make sure I put the right 30 4.43 .679 .124
parts in the resume
I will make sure I organize a 30 4.50 .682 .125
resume properly
I will be constantly updating a 29 3.83 .889 .165
resume
I do rather create a resume 30 3.13 1.106 .202
myself than use a template
I will prepare an attractive 30 3.77 .774 .141
resume using my own creativity
I will follow the tips that given 30 4.17 .592 .108
from internet when preparing a
resume
I use the same resume when 30 3.63 1.066 .195
applying for a job
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5.0 FINDINGS

Diagram 4: Mean of the levels of knowledge about formats of resume among semester 7 of
geography students

Diagram 4 shows the mean of the levels of knowledge about formats of resume among
semester 7 of geography students analyse the levels of knowledge about formats of resume
among semester 7 of geography students. From the bar graph, the data show that most of
students know about the 5 major sections commonly used in resume such as opening with
mean 0.33 according to the data collected. Most students do not know about there are three
types of resume mean of 0.87. From this finding, we can conclude that knowledge of our
respondents which is UPSI’s Geography students about formats of resume only know that
resume have 5 major sections commonly used in resume because it is too general that UPSI’s
student have done that using template in internet during English Proficiency 4 at semester 7.
They only know about 5 major section but not three types of resume. In template does not
state the types of the resume.
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Diagram 5: Mean of the challenges in preparing a resume among semester 7 of geography

students

Diagram 5 shows the mean of the challenges in preparing a resume among semester 7 of
geography students. From the bar graph, the data shows the highest and the lowest of
challenges in preparing a resume among semester 7 of geography students. Data show that
most of the student think that challenges in preparing a resume is there are too many types of
format on the internet with mean 4.40, they confuse which one is the correct one. They think
not challenging in making a resume is that resume is too short with mean 3.07. Like just state
in the literature review, resume should clearly and convincingly translate what we have done
in the past into what we intend to do in the future. The primary purpose of a resume is to obtain
a job interview. Resumes can take many different forms. From this text, we know that the
resume is really important for the job interview. That is why, we want to know what is the
challenges in preparing resume among semester 7 of Geography students, so that we can
give some suggestions in this research.
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Diagram 6: Mean of the levels of concern about preparing a resume among semester 7 of
geography students

Diagram 6 shows the mean of the levels of concern about preparing a resume among semester
7 of geography students. The bar graph shows the highest and the lowest mean of the levels
of concern about preparing a resume among semester 7 of geography students. From the
data, we can conclude that most of students concern that they will organize a resume properly
with mean 4.50. They not too concern about to create a resume by themselves than use a
template (3.13) which mean that they rather using a template than create by themselves. In
this graph we can prove that our respondent is concern about their resume but they more to
choose using template than created it by themselves because using template we can just fill
in the blank no need to think more about the format, that is why most of our respondent do not
know about the 3 types of resume’s format.
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6.0 SOLUTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

When apply for a job, you will be judged on the appearance of your resume which it is a
potential employer’s first impression of you. There are guidelines that we can use to making a
good resume. Firstly, we would like to suggest each institution or university to require a special
course that provide knowledge about the preparation in applying a job. For example, in UPSI
we have Business Communication course that provide a syllabus about Job Preference and
Resume. We believe that this chapter are so important for students especially among final
year students because they will face the real situation on applying a job. Due to this
phenomena, this course will help them on how to do the preparation on applying jobs
especially in preparing a good resume. By this course, assignments and examination provided
will make students study hard about it and will understand more effectively.

Although, students have to make sure they are arranged information simply but
attractively. Use capitals or different font size for major divisions of the resume. Your goal for
resumes that are to be scanned is to prepare a plain-vanilla resume. Because many
companies now scan resumes into a database, using a simple format improves its chances of
compatibility with a database file. Do not forget to use action verbs and strong phrases rather
than complete sentences. Emphasize relevant achievements, accomplishment and special
skills.

Besides, draft your resume carefully to show the employer that there is a clear match
between your qualifications and the job requirements. It is important that you learn the jargon
of the industry and use those keywords in your resume. It is better before you make a real
resume, consider giving draft of your resume to a classmate whom you do not know well and
asking that person to review it. After two or three minutes of this review, ask the reader
questions about your resume. If the reader cannot answer the questions or locate the answers
quickly, the resume is ineffective.

Next, use a Summary Qualifications to highlight your accomplishments. Many

business people prefer a one-page resume for new college graduates with limited experience.
If your resume is two pages or longer, a Summary of Qualifications section is essential. If you
know that an employer specifies the number of pages in applicants resumes, limit your resume
length accordingly. In most cases, limit the resume to one or two pages. Be sure that
information is not overcrowded or does not appear so dense as to discourage reading.

In conclusion, the knowledge about the preparation in making resume is important

among students. Every parties should take part to make sure students are not lack of this
important section for applying jobs after graduated.
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REFERENCES

Ashraf, M. R. (2008). Resumes and Interviews: The art of winning. New Delhi: McGraw-Hill

Education.

Kennedy, J. L. (2011). Resumes for Dummies: Nationally syndicated careers columnist and

author of job interviews for dummies and cover letters for dummies. Canada: Wiley
Publishing, Inc.