Choose the best CV format

There are two common types of resume:

1.Chronological – (jobs listed by time period)

2.Skills-based - (jobs listed by type of work.) Following is an overview of information to include on each type of resume:
Heading: List your contact information at the top of the resume. Include your full name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address. If you have a personal Web site, include the URL only if the site shows off your skills or applies to your career goals.

Objective: The objectives section gives recruiters an immediate sense of who you are and what you’re looking for, without forcing them to wade through the entire resume. If you decide to include an objective, stress what you’ll add to the company, not what you’re looking to take away.

Here’s an example of an effective job objective: Objective: To obtain an entry-level account management position in financial services utilizing my strong analytical and interpersonal skills.

Summary of skills: A summary statement is a one to two sentence overview that captures the essence of your skills and experience. It highlights what makes you a qualified candidate as well as what makes you different (and better) than other applicants.

Here’s an example of a strong summary statement:

Summary: Public relations professional with five years of experience managing PR campaigns across multiple media, working with national and local press and coordinating large-scale events.

Employment Experience: List your experience chronologically, with your most recent job first. If your latest experience wasn’t the most impressive, arrange your list by importance. Include the company name, location, your title and dates of employment. Also, give a brief description of your accomplishments.

Your resume should be customized to reflect the skills and experience desired for each particular job. If you do not have a lot of paid work experience, you may list volunteer and internship work. Use specific examples and numbers whenever possible.
Education: List most recent degree first, including type of degree, name and location of school, and dates. You may also want to add your GPA (if 2.8 or higher).

Skills: Today’s workers are more tech-savvy than ever, so make sure you mention your technical and computer skills. List programming languages, software programs and operating systems you’ve used as well as certifications you have. Don’t forget “soft skills” like foreign languages and public speaking. Always include memberships in professional organizations, because it shows you’re serious about your career. Mentioning your interests is optional. Listing activities and hobbies can portray you as a well- rounded person, but it can raise eyebrows, too. Be careful what you list. (You should probably keep your passion for professional wrestling to yourself.)
Awards and Affiliations: Include any honors you have received, or positions you have held in community organizations

References: Don’t waste valuable space on references. Employers assume you’ll provide them upon request. Finishing Touches:

• Create several versions of your resume, each tailored to the type of position you’re applying for. Writing multiple resumes can be time-consuming, but it’s a small price to pay for the job you want.
• If you’re applying for a specific job, research the position and company. Pay attention to the job requirements, and highlight your qualifications as they reflect the hiring company’s needs.
• Be concise. Stick to one page. Make sure every word is meaningful.
• Choose fonts that are easy-to-read, clean and consistent. Don’t use non-traditional or overly creative fonts.
• Read, edit and re-read your resume to make sure it’s well written, clear and typo-free. Do it again. Then, ask your friends and family to do the same.
• If you use an online resume, consider saving a text (“.txt”) version that will look good on any computer. Send your resume as an attached file and also paste the text into the body of the e-mail just to be safe. Online resumes should also include plenty of keywords, since they may be searched.
• With some self-evaluation, careful organization and savvy choice of words, your resume will rise to the top of the pile on any recruiter’s desktop.

Remember these tips:

• Emphasize your most important responsibilities even if they weren’t your primary duties.
• Use active voice. Strong sentences are those in which a subject performs an action (active voice) as opposed to an action being performed on the subject (passive voice). “I planned an event,” creates a stronger impression than “An event was planned by me.”
• Impress employers with cause-effect relationships and tangible results. Quantify your achievements with percentages and numbers like “increased enrollment 20 percent” and “supervised three-person staff.”
• Use descriptions to highlight your sense of initiative. Paint yourself as a “go-getter” with strong verbs like “proposed,” “launched” and “managed.”
• Objective and summary of skills information could, and should, be covered in a cover letter.

Resume Keywords:
Using “action words” is a guaranteed way to capture the attention of hiring managers by strongly highlighting your past accomplishments. Replace your bland and boring verbs with some of the powerful action words below:

Achieve Acquire Adapt Address Administer
Assemble Assist Audit Build Calculate
Conduct Construct Coordinate Analyze Create
Budget Change Devise Discover Cultivate
Develop Design Demonstrate Evaluate Establish
Edit Explain Forecast Guide Generate
Promote Hire Implement Improve Interview
Launch Manage Market Motivate Negotiate
Obtain Operate Organize Oversee Perform
Plan Produce Select Recruit Survey
Staff Solve Test Train Teach
Use

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