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Your Résumé or
Curriculum Vitae (CV) is a structurised listing
of vocational facts. Its purpose is to provide
convenient and quick reference to information
of yourself to a reader of it. It is your mission
to make it the best way possible.
Make it clear, easy to read, well
organized and neatly typed. Do not over-embellish
- two fonts are usually optimal - and each one
must be used for its purpose. For example, one
is used for section titles, and the other for
body text. To keep the text readable, avoid using
a font size of less than ten points. You may also
use indentions, space, alignment, bold and italic
text, but remember to be consistent.
Though they are similar documents,
the résumé and Curriculum Vitae
have their differences. Résumés
normally present a few essential sections, discussed
below: "Personal," "Experience,"
"Skills" or "Capabilities"
(including languages), "Extracurricular Activities"
and "References." Whatever combination
you choose, it is not to exceed one page in length.
Because résumés concentrate on the
specific data and accomplishments of past jobs,
include the most relevant and substantial for
each potential position. The Curriculum Vitae
(sometimes called just vita) provides a comprehensive
list of information necessary for perfect candidacy
by listing your experiences in extensive detail.
It is used more often than a résumé
for presentation of a biography for academic positions.
Vita may be up to four pages in length. However,
short versions of CVs are not unheard of.
Another difference between a CV and
a résumé is format. While CVs adhere
to chronological order, résumés
present information in several different formats.
The key résumé formats are chronological,
functional and focused (the latter is less widespread,
though there are even less traditional forms of
résumé: a letter, article, etc).
Chronological order is the most acceptable
and widespread résumé presentation.
It is characterized by the presentation of sections
in connection with studies, jobs, and so on listed
in reverse chronological order. It offers the
most convenient reference alongside one's fact
sheet.
Skills or areas of qualification
as a stem organize the functional résumé.
In the functional résumé one splits
his activities and accomplishments into domains
of competence in sections titled, for example,
"Assets or Capabilities." Professional
history then follows, with brief statements of
the employment data.
Finally, the focused (or targeted,
analytical) résumé depicts all that
candidate has done and known (skills, accomplishments,
etc) in relation to the targeted position by distributing
it into sections like "Attainments"
and "Accomplishments."
There is no strict rule in presenting
information; the goal is to do so in the most
positive, comprehensive and simultaneously concise
way. Do anything that you believe will be appropriate
regarding the position for which you are applying.
Be specific with your information;
it gives reliability to your credentials. Communicate
dates, titles of positions and names of institutions.
However, omit irrelevant information: for example,
your height, weight and health usually bear little
relation to your qualifications.
Information in résumé
or CV is given under sections. Depending on your
objectives and the kind of document you're presenting
- résumé or CV - you may in any
section give the full listing of facts or provide
information for a certain period of time (for
example, for the last five years, indicating this
in the section title), or even selected information.
Your résumé or CV will
start with the header, which comprises your name,
surname, and contact information: address, telephone
number and email (your home email address is mandatory;
you may also include your work email address if
appropriate). Do not forget to provide contact
information, or your perspective employer may
not be able to reach you.
The following are basic suggestions for possible
resumé or CV sections:
Objective (optional)
Some people start their résumé or
CV with the "Objective" section, but
it is not always necessary. It is needed, though,
if you know that there are several positions open
at the company to which you are applying. It is
particularly useful when you do not provide a
cover letter. Objective should consist of a short,
definite statement (usually merely the title of
the position you are applying for).
Personal
This section gives the most basic information:
your origin, age, etc. Consider whether it is
necessary section in your résumé.
State here your date of birth and place (city,
country) of birth. If you are applying to an international
program or job overseas, it is important to include
your citizenship information here. Follow with
your marital status and number of children, if
any (these are even more optional items).
Education
Along with the "Experience" section
(see below), this is a mandatory one. In this
section, list all significant certificates received,
beginning with your most recent studies. Include
school education only if you are an undergraduate
applicant. Graduates do not usually mention pre-college
education. Entry contents may be represented in
two ways, depending on what you want to emphasize.
One way is to list the dates of attendance (years
and probably months) and name of institution at
the beginning, followed by the city of location
(and probably country if preparing an international
application), then the department, specialty,
degree earned and date when earned. Alternatively,
list the date the degree was earned first, then
the degree (and field of specialization), department
and institution. If you are recent graduate, you
may also include the title of your thesis and
GPA (Grade Point Average) if it is high enough.
Here you may also include scholarships and honours
you have received, or you may place this information
in a separate section (see "Awards,"
below). If you studied at several schools before
you obtained a degree, it is not necessary to
list every institution you attended.
Along with information about your higher education,
name any courses taken and certificates earned
that you believe necessary, including the institution
having issued credentials, and the month and year
of issuance.
Entry may also begin with the name
of the degree earned, not with the university.
In this case, giving the date of the program completion
at the start seems more appropriate.
Experience
(Professional Records)
Here you give positions you have held in reverse
chronological order. You may specify all of your
previous jobs or make a selection of the significant
ones (in CV format you usually provide a comprehensive
list). Begin with the dates, then provide employment
information, starting with the position title
(which is usually highlighted). Then give the
name of the institution and its form of establishment
(e.g. joint-stock company, limited, etc). Abbreviations
must be spelled out. (You may briefly describe
the activities of the institution in parentheses.)
Indicate the institution's address (including
country for international applications). Students
and recent graduates who have previously only
held unqualified jobs may wish to start their
job entries with the institution name instead
of the position title. If you are a recent graduate,
you need to denote every professional job you've
held, whether an internship or summer job. Be
explicit with your information: it is highly recommended
(especially when the position title is not explicit)
that, in addition to job title and company information,
you include a brief description (in incomplete
sentences) of your job responsibilities, using
present-tense verbs for current jobs, and past-tense
verbs for previously held positions. To escape
monotony, diversify the action verbs you use.
Incorporating bullets for itemization will break
up solid text and make the text easier to read.
For added effect, do not just describe
your job responsibilities but provide quantifiable
rate indicators, or better yet, your achievements
- concrete results, if possible - in measurable
terms as well. For example, rather than writing,
"advised on taxation," instead write,
"advised on taxation approx five clients
daily (15 in peak of submitting quarterly reports)."
Or, instead of "designed company's web site,"
you write, "designed company's web site,
which increased company's overall product sale
by 50 percent." If your accomplishment resulted
in promotion, bonus, salary raise (in percentage;
do not refer to the monetary amounts of salary),
be sure to mention that as well. Describe the
extent of your responsibilities (for example:
"Managed purchase budget of $[number],"
or, "Supervised [number]-people staff").
List the most impressive notes first to evoke
reader interest. Again, omit irrelevant information:
phone numbers or names of employers (though you
may name supervisors of postdoctoral work). Finally,
do not mention reasons for leaving former jobs.
Conferences
You may present a set of only relevant or selected
conferences attended. Alternatively, you may name
only conferences visited abroad, and then title
this section "International Conferences."
Give the name of the conference, date (or you
may start the record with the date) and place
(city and, selectively, country), title of delivered
paper, if any (do not forget to include this in
"Publications" section as well and refer
to this section), organizers, and organizers'
location. In this section and format you may also
indicate seminars and workshops attended.
Languages
First, indicate your native language (or languages),
then mention any foreign languages you know, accompanied
by your level of proficiency: basic or introductory,
intermediate, working knowledge, reading or audible
understanding (or understanding text, speech),
fluent.
Skills
In this section, you may want to emphasize your
specific skills pertaining to the position of
your application. Or you may describe other skills
and their level (probably mentioning certificates)
not denoted elsewhere in your résumé
or CV, i.e. typing skills, computer skills, driver's
license, First Aid or Lifeguard certificate. Everything
listed here should be vocational.
Computer Skills
In this section, name all significant software
(and probably hardware) you are familiar with.
Make sure the names are spelled correctly. Begin
with operational systems and continue with MS
Office programs; Word and Excel are the most valuable
ones. If you are able to program, under subdivision
Programming Languages, indicate programming languages
you know.
Extracurricular
Activities
If you are a student applying to university, any
information representing you as an all-round person
will be beneficial. If you are not a student,
a brief description of the activities beyond your
main ones will convey your energy and involving
character.
References
This is not a vital part of your résumé
or CV; however, if you are applying for a job,
under the title of this section you may insert
the phrase "Available upon request."
If you have space, it is even more helpful to
provide a list of referees with names, positions,
and work contact information. This information
may also be listed on an attached sheet, titled
"References." Referees must be from
the professional sphere or academia, and not your
friends or relatives.
You may also include other relevant
information in your document, listing it under
specially designed sections. For example, researchers
may provide the sections "Research"
or "Research Interests," and those having
worked abroad may choose to include a section
titled "Research Experience Abroad"
(indicating time span, position and place). Professors
may include "Teaching Experience," "Foreign
Lecturing," or "Lectures and Presentations";
likewise, physicians may include sections such
as "Community Service," "Licensure,"
or "Qualification Examinations."
Make sure your paper has no grammatical
or orthographic mistakes. If you are not a native
English speaker, let someone with high proficiency
in English (say, native speaker or English teacher)
proofread it. In any case, let many people look
at it to trace probable shortcomings.
Remember that with this document
you must make a good impression on someone you
do not know. If you do not represent yourself
well, you may be rejected from the position you
are applying for. A well-written résumé
or CV substantially increases your chances of
obtaining the desired position.
Author: RUSLAN ZALOGIN, EDUCATIONAL
ADVISER, OSVITA EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION &
ADVISING CENTER, DNEPROPETROVSK, UKRAINE
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