The basic requirements to a resume are preciseness and briefness; it
should also be well-structured. A resume is usually enough for some
formal purposes because it only provides basic background information
about a person (normally the emphasis here is laid upon education and
work experience). It contains the name of the person, place of
residence, sometimes the data about his or her birth date and place,
marital status, as well as contact information - from home and mobile
telephone numbers to the personal web-page on the Internet. As
experience demonstrates, very often those candidates benefit who are
more accessible than the rest.
Writing a resume is a very important task, as
its primary goal is to advertise yourself, evaluate your potential,
and sum up your achievements. In a resume, you should be presented as a
purposeful personality, possessing certain positive qualities and able
to overcome the negative ones (if there happen to be any). However, it
is important to remember that in contrast to admission essays or
personal statements, a resume normally does not have to feature any
disadvantages of the applicant.
A resume is meant to provide more detailed information about yourself. If
it is written with the aim of applying for a job, it is sometimes
necessary to indicate at the beginning what is the position you are
willing to obtain. After that, in case no other form of resume is
specified by the organization you are sending it to, the order of the
resume parts is as follows:
• Personal details: a resume should include your name,
place of residence, and contact details.
• Education: from fundamental (higher or secondary) education in
reverse chronological order to different courses, seminars, and
trainings. In case you possess any academic degree, it should also be
indicated. You may also mention the competitions you took part in,
diplomas, scholarships, grants, certificates, prizes, etc. Here it is
necessary to indicate the time when you began and finished each stage
of your education: the year and preferably the month.
• Professional background is also described in reverse chronological
order according to the following scheme: the dates of working on a
particular place, place of work, position, and the scope of duties
(it is especially important as it provides the potential employer
with the information what you can and cannot do, and what your skills
are).
• Computer skills: nowadays they are of paramount importance for a
worker of practically any profession, so it is necessary to indicate
the level of mastering basic as well as special-purpose computer
programmes.
• Foreign languages: indicate the languages you speak, and the level
of your proficiency in them. If available, state what are the proofs
of your having mastered this language (certificates, diplomas,
courses, language schools, etc.)
• Additional information: achievements in sport, hobbies, links to
your internet homepage, etc.
• Referees: though this point of a resume is often regarded as optional,
it is preferable that you include it. Here you should name the people
who know you and can give you a recommendation. Ideally, these people
should be authoritative enough and work in the same sphere you are
going to work in.
There are some basic tips for describing professional
background - like, for instance, even if you had done one and
the same things at different workplaces, it is still necessary
to repeat them, but if possible elaborating upon the
specificity of your duties in each of these cases. Writing
about the period of your work with each company, remember to
indicate months as well as years - it will enable the reader
of your resume evaluate the duration of your obtaining this or
that position in a company.
It is very important to include into the resume the names of
particular companies you worked with, projects you developed,
if possible, and the circle of your business contacts. In case
you are engaged into scientific activity, especially connected
with the sphere you are willing to work in, including the list
of publications may be a good idea too.
Writing a resume, it is necessary to keep in mind that whether you will
get the job or not depends in the majority of cases upon the decision
of one or two people, and they should be viewed by you as a target
audience of your application, and you must keep asking yourself a
question - who are they, those who will judge me? You should prove to
them, therefore, that if they hire you, they will solve their
problems. Hence, in a resume it would be out of place to point out any of
your goals connected with the wellbeing of the whole country, for
example. It should rather prove that you will be able to solve the
company's financial, marketing, and/or production problems.
Resume |
Cover letter |
Letter of recommendation |
Admission Essay |
Personal Statement |
Scholarship essay |
Sample Resume |
Sample CV |
Sample Cover letter |
Sample Letter of recommendation |
Sample Admission Essay |
Sample Personal Statement |
Sample Scholarship essay |
|
