Resumè Help?

[nightprowler10]

As some of you might know from another thread I went to look at a pharma company last week for a tour. The human resources lady asked me to email her my resumè. Even though I'm not entirely serious about working at that place, I figured it'd be nice to have a resumè on hand if I ever need one. So, I'm looking to type up a resumè for pretty much the first time in my life as I've been at this job for 5 years and my last job was at Wal-Mart.

Anyhoo, I'll sacrifice a thousand ants from my basement for anyone willing to help. Cheers.

[Barney Rubble]

It's "resumé", not "resumè".

Oh, and I can't really help as both my jobs have been inconsequential and not really reliant on my CV. Sorry mate.

[pinchy81]

good on yah mate im "attempting" to look for my first jib atm as well

[PY]

I don't mind helping if you like, I've done it quite recently too for quite a few engineering graduate schemes though I'm not an employer so can't see it from that perspective.

[Matt79]

I don't have time to work on it with you, but can give you some general pointers based on my experience in applying for jobs/promotions, and hiring people (some of which may be stating the obvious to you, but I'll start basic and work on from there):

1) seems obvious but check and double check your spelling and grammar - get someone else who's competent to re-check it as well (you can't properly proof-read your own work). I know several managers who automatically bin any application they get that contains a spelling mistake or egregious grammatical error.

2) keep the formatting simple - white paper, only black print, Time New Roman script at 12 point. The guys doing the hiring are likely to be looking at dozens, if not hundreds of these things, and after the first two CVs with colour WordArt everywhere, multi coloured fonts, and tiny writing, you just get annoyed and that's not the effect you're trying to produce.

3) keep paras short, use clear headings and dot-points to make it easy to navigate and digest. Headings can vary but should include: Personal and Contact Details, Work Experience, Educational Qualifications, Skills and Attributes, Hobbies and Interests, and Referees (make sure you indicate if you are happy for them to contact your current employer or not).

4) keep the whole thing short - two pages of well-spaced out stuff absolute maximum. Remember, the CV isn't going to get you the job - its only going to get you an interview.

5) Don't lie/exaggerate. Or make claims you won't be able to back up or speak to in interview. Nothing makes you look foolish or unprofessional faster, and you'd be surprised how quickly and easily some of the more common lies are uncovered.

6) When listing your work experience, especially given you don't have a huge list of jobs, include a few lines on what that job entailed, and any recognition, bonuses, or promotions you got for doing it well. Remember, don't sell yourself short - if you don't present as thinking you're good at your current job, why will they want to hire you to work for them. At the same time, again, don't make claims that you can't back up at interview.

7) Don't include a photograph unless you've been expressly asked to.

8) Do a covering letter stating: which job you're applying for, that you think that the job sounds like an opportunity you'd suit and that you'd look forward to the chance to meet with them and discuss the issue further. Thank them for considering your application.

9) Be careful with your language when describing your talents and skills. I personally avoid "excellent" like the plague on CVs and job applications. It is, in this context, a meaningless qualifier that is pretty much automatically discounted by seasoned hirers. Use words like "experienced and successful" (if you can show/explain that this is true), "well-developed", and particularly "demonstrated". Also phrases like "I had the opportunity to develop my strong skills in this area by...", ie provide some explanation to demonstrate that you do have the skills/ability you're claiming. Demonstrated is a big one if you can mention something that DID demonstrate you have those skills. Anyone can claim they have excellent skills, but a much smaller set of people can honestly say they have demonstrated those skills in a context the hirer is going to care about.

10) Do mention any extra-curricular activities you have that could be relevant to showing that you have the skills they're looking for, or that you'd fit in well to their org. Participation in team sports/social activities shows you're a rounded person who can cooperate with others. Any admin/volunteer work you do for any clubs, groups etc might give you an opportunity to talk about skills that are relevant to what you're talking about. Few organisations want to recruit boring or socially stunted people if they have a choice. Use your judgement here - saying you are a kick-ass Worlds of Warcraft player is unlikely to impress them.

Ummm... that's about all that occurs at the moment, if I think of more, I'll post them.

[age_master]

Ive seen alot of different styles of resume, and different styles can all be effective. You can do a search on the internet and you will find heaps of different examples.

[PY]

Originally Posted by Matt79

Use your judgement here - saying you are a kick-ass Worlds of Warcraft player is unlikely to impress them.

Haha, it took my careers advisor an hour to say what you've just written and it took me 60 seconds to read that and I learnt more.

Top stuff and I agree with most of it, even if I don't manage to follow all of them to a fine point. And I laughed at the WoW thing as one of the my mates mentioned at an interview for a job he didn't want and the guy who was interviewing him turned out to be into it.

[cpr]

Great post! I thought my CV was pretty decent, certainly done alright off it, but after reading that, i'm going to give it a bit of a tweak tomorrow, some great points!

[nightprowler10]

Wow. A helluva lot more help than I expected. Will start working on it tonight hopefully. I'll try to post it here for you guys to nit-pick.

I saw an example of a very bad one where the guy actually misspelled his own name.

[nightprowler10]

Originally Posted by Barney Rubble

It's "resumé", not "resumè".

Damn, and it took me forever to locate that too.

[Barney Rubble]

Originally Posted by nightprowler10

Damn, and it took me forever to locate that too.

Haha.

Whilst I know little about actual CV writing, I'd be happy to look over what you've got once you've finished it to see if I can think of anything that might fit better - did a unit at Uni last semester about the effects of certain types of language on perception, and it gave me a few ideas of things to change on my own CV. If I can pass anything on, I will.

[adharcric]

Originally Posted by nightprowler10

I saw an example of a very bad one where the guy actually misspelled his own name.

Anyways, I am busy as hell with engineering these days but I can help whenever I have time for viewing OT.