Samantha Pearce is the owner of Words Worth Reading an online editorial service for Job Seekers, Students, Writers and Businesses. Words Worth Reading offer individually-tailored, comprehensive CV and application form writing and editing services.
Sam is also CaribbeanJobs.com’s resume expert. She reveals the basic rules for writing a first class resume.
Pulling together a first class resume that truly reflects your skills, abilities and experiences can seem like a very laborious task. And yet your resume is the most important marketing tool you have at your disposal. If compiled correctly, it can concisely highlight your talent, worth and potential to a future employer.
By the same token, if you have a poorly constructed or poorly written resume, it can lead to a potential employer disregarding you before he / she has even had the opportunity to meet you in person!
Fortunately help is at hand! Follow the resume writing tips below, and you’ll be well on your way to creating your very own, very powerful advertising tool!
The Basic Rules
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Keep your resume concise – choose your words carefully
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Stick to the truth! Don’t invent experiences or claim to hold imaginary qualifications
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Ensure your resume is inviting to the reader. Always keep in mind the fact that most employers will receive a significant number of application forms and resume’s for each job advertised. Trawling through hundreds of resume’s to find a first class candidate can be tedious, especially if the resume’s received are of poor quality. It pays to put some thought into the layout and formatting of your work – use a size 12 typed font, stick to a font type and make sure title headings are clear.
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Remember, a resume is more than just a summary of your qualifications and experiences to date. It is your very own PR representative. So use it to illustrate your achievements and demonstrate your success.
The Structure
Resume’s need to include the following sections, and preferably in the following order:
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Personal Details
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Educational Details, including your qualifications
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Any other, relevant Qualifications
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Work History – which should be focused around responsibilities and key achievements
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Any other, relevant skills
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Details of References
The Language
Ah, the language! This is where the power of your resume lies. You need to make the language you use in your resume work for you. Draw out your abilities with concrete examples, and minimise your weaknesses.
The two examples below illustrate how to do this!
Example 1 – Drawing out your abilities
Original line in resume
“Recruitment and day to day management of junior staff”
Amended line in resume to draw out abilities
“Management of a designated group of staff, including:
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Twice daily staff briefings
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Daily target settings
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Continuous encouragement to achieve
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Ensuring a high level of customer care, including complaint resolution
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Effectively managing conflict
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Carrying out the entire recruitment process for all junior members of staff
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Ensuring all training requirements for the staff were met
And under the “Achievements” heading for the role above:
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Successfully recruiting several members of staff for all departments and fulfilling all their training requirements
Example 2 – Minimising your weaknesses
Original line in CV
“The following GCSE results obtained:
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English – C
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Mathematics – D
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Science – D
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French – E
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Music – C
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History – D
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Religious Education – E
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Home Economics – B
Amended line in resume to minimise weaknesses
“8 GCSE grades B – E obtained, including English Literature and Language and Mathematics’.
By following the basic rules above, ensuring a coherent structure and realizing the power of language, you can very easily pull together a first class resume that you can use to silently sell yourself to a future employer! And don’t forget, small, quick amendments every now and then will keep your resume up to date, and save you buckets of time in the future!
Good Luck!
Sam is CaribbeanJobs.com’s resume expert.
Sam’s company Words Worth Reading offer individually-tailored, comprehensive CV and application form writing and editing services at fantastic prices, with quick turnaround times.
For more information visit www.wordsworthreading.co.uk
You can contact the team on sam@wordsworthreading.co.uk
Call them on 00 44 1277 824640.
Samantha Pearce
