Writing an Know yourself

Effective What is a
Resume’ resume’?
Know the job
How to create an
effective
resume’? Organizing the
information

Presenting the
information
What is a Resume’? • To learn about the most
appropriate people for a
It is also called a CV or Curriculum Vitae given job they ask for:
[Vitae means course of one’s life].
• Resume’s
Your resume’ shows to the employer: • Application forms
• What you know? • Written tests
• What you have done? • Performance tests
• What you can do?
• Medical Examinations
Employers want to hire people who can
do a particular job. • Interviews
• Reference checks
 Provide written evidence to your
Creating employer about your qualifications.

Effective Completion of both requires:

Resumés • Facts about yourself, and
• Facts about the job that you want.
and You can present yourself in terms of the
Application job requirements.

Forms A resumé gives you more freedom to

highlight your best first.
Know Thyself – Facts about yourself
• Current address and Phone Number
(Email Address)
• If you are rarely at home during
business hours, get an answering
machine.
• Leave a message that reflects well on
you – No jokes.
• Give the phone number of a friend
or relative who can take messages
for you.
• Job Sought or Career Goal
• Experience (paid and volunteer)
• Date of Employment
• Name and Full Address of
Employer
• Job Title
• Starting and Finishing Salary
• Reason for leaving
• Moving, returning to school
and seeking a better position
Know Thyself – Facts about yourself
• Education
• School’s name and the city where it’s
located.
• Years attended and diploma or certificate
earned.
• Course of studies pursued
• Other Qualifications
• Hobbies
• Organizations you belong to
• Honours you have received
• Leadership positions you have held
• Office machines, tools, software, you
have used and skills that you possess
• Skills and Achievements
• More than duties and responsibilities what
have you accomplished?
• What are your marketable strengths?
• These are most likely related to your work
experience but could be related to your
education or outside interests.
• Other information such as CNIC number
may be asked on Application forms but
is rarely presented on resumés.
 • Gather specific information about the job you’re applying
Know thy job for:

– facts about • Pay range (make their top your bottom)

• Education and experience usually required.
the job you’re • Hours and shifts usually worked.
• Job duties so that you can describe your experience in
applying for terms of those duties.
• Carefully study the job description or ToR (Terms of
Reference) or advertisements
• You can call the employer if there is something vague.
Organizing information on your resumé
Chronological Functional Combination
• General Advice
resumé resumé resumé • Use specifics: a vague description will
• Usually reverse • Focuses on skills • Highlight make a vague impression.
chronological and experience, relevant skills • Identify accomplishments: if you headed
• Mostly shows mostly what while providing
what you’ve you can do. chronological a project, improved productivity,
done not what • Group similar work history. reduced costs, increased membership, or
you can do. skills together achieved some other goal, say so – be
• Use it only • Preferred when
when you have you’re changing honest and back up your claims with
progressed up a careers or there evidence.
clearly defined are gaps in your
career. employment • Use action verbs: Combine the specifics
• Not suitable for history OR and accomplishments with action verbs,
beginners when you are e.g., supervised staff of 15, increased
just entering
the job market sales by 50% in two years, set new
record in assembling 2000 widgets on
schedule without a flaw.
Presenting the information – appearance
counts
• Choose an attractive format
• Explore built in templates in Microsoft Word, alternatively you can use a Latex template.
• Preferably keep the length down to two pages though it may not always be possible,
especially in academia
• Don’t say anything if it is not nice – leave out all the negative or embarrassing information
but be ready to deal with it in a positive manner during interview.
• Proofread it carefully.
• Have a friend proofread it for you.
• Have someone else proofread it for you.
• Use good quality paper for printing and copying.
 Name

Contact information

What
Job or Career sought
information
appears on a Experience

typical Education

resumé? Special Talents

Often just a statement that references are available suffices.

References If your references are likely to be known by the person who reads your
resumé then their names are worth listing.
 • Reverse chronology is often the easiest method to create a
Chronological resumé.
Resumé • It is often the least effective
• It makes what you did more important than what you can
do.
• Poor format if you have gaps in your employment history
OR
• If the job you seek is different from your current job OR
• If you are just entering the job market.
• It is good for people who have progressed up a clearly defined
career ladder and want to move up a rung.
 • They are also called
Functional analytical, skill oriented,
creative or some other
Resumé name.
• All these stress what
you can do.
• Easy for the employer to
see how you’ll fit the
job.
• It hides gaps in paid
employment and avoid
giving prominence to
irrelevant jobs.
• You begin writing a
functional resumé by
determining the skills the
employer is looking for.
• Review your experience
and education to see
when you demonstrated
the ability sought.
• Prepare the resumé by
putting first the
information that relates
most obviously to the job.
 • The result would be a resumé with headings
like
• Communication Skills
Functional • Design Experience
• Programming Languages
Resumé • Software Development
• Web Development
• Such headings are more impactful than the
dates you’d use in a chronological resumé.
 • List brief answers to the following • Generate a page of
Changing questions:
• What tasks do I enjoy the most?
answers for each question,
if possible; don’t settle for
careers and • What tasks do I dislike the most?
• What do I do best? less than eight items on
any list.
not sure • What do I do poorly?
• What characteristics do I possess?
• On each list, rank the
about skills
(e.g., cheerful, competitive,
friendly) three to five answers that
• How do others perceive me? (Past are the most important to
performance reviews, teacher you.
evaluations)
• What do I want from the
workplace? (outdoor work,
independence, close supervision,
smoking building, nursery for kids,
flexible work environment)
Fit yourself to a form
• General Advice
Some organization esp. government agencies
might ask you to fill up an application form
instead of submitting your resumé.
• They may ask for both.
• Resumé can always serve as a ready reference to fill up a
form so always have one.
Applications forms may seem inflexible but
you can still use it to your advantage.
• Always think positive – person reading the form is
looking for reasons that qualify you for the job not that
disqualify you for it.
• Have two copies of the form
• Read the whole form before you start
completing it.
• Prepare a master copy if the same
form is used by several divisions
within the company or organization.
• Type the form if possible.
• Leave no blanks; enter n/a (for not
applicable) when the information
requested does not apply to you. This
tells the people checking the form
that you did not just skip the question.
 • Write your vita in third person.
Writing Task • A single paragraph would be enough.

[Homework] • Create your resumé. You can use any

good template in Microsoft Word.