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RESUME
WRITING
Effective
Resume Writing
A lot of places
around the world call it A Curriculum Vitae, in North
America, it's a Résumé. This is definitely one of the
most important tools that any jobseeker has at their
disposal. You may be THE best candidate for a particular
job by a long way, however, if you don't make it to the
interview stages the company will never know.
Many companies (especially the larger corporations) will
use computer software to "read" all the résumé’s and
reject any that don't fit a particular template. This
may seem unfair, but it's cost effective.
So, for some jobs you have to beat the computer and
still read well enough for someone who may not have any
knowledge of the position you are applying for. It is
definitely worthwhile to adapt your resume for the
position that is advertised. There may well be some of
the "buzz" words the "filter" is looking for mentioned
in the job description.
It is very important that you can substantiate all the
claims you make, preferably with physical
examples or letters. This will be essential in any in
interview situation.There is now a wealth of information
available online, from books, local employment offices
and with professional writing agencies. You can also
access other people’s résumé’s that are posted online
which will give some great ideas for style and content.
Professional writers may seem the answer, but, all the
research I have done seems to lean away from them. I
have never used one and feel that it will give a good
impression if you have written it yourself (this will
display literacy). Apparently, if they are
professionally written, they are easy to spot; however,
they may be worth the expense if you are stuck. You can
always "customise" what has been written to make it your
own work.
In my case, I had been in the military since I left
school and had never written a resume or had an
interview. I spent a lot of time writing, copying other
people’s styles and changing things. I didn't realise
how difficult it is to catch up on 16 years - I'll never
allow mine to go out of date again! I found the hardest
part was to actually start writing. The best advice I
was given was to just write anything that you can think
of and it will soon start to flow. With modern word
processors it's relatively quick and easy to cut and
paste so you can keep on changing it until you are
happy.
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