CV / Resumé

So you're looking for a job...great! Perhaps the first question that comes to mind is: where do I start? Well, although it might not be very delightful to hear, looking for a job nowadays can be a job in itself. A useful place to start is creating a thorough yet concise CV or resumé.

The following post on creating a good CV is based on information found on WikiHow

WikiHow: to do anything

A resumé or CV is a one-page summary of your experiences, skills, and acheivements which demonstrate the qualifiactions you have to contribute to a specific job or position.

There are three ways that you can organize your CV: chronological, functional, or a combition of the two styles.

• Chronological resumes are used for showing a steady growth in a particular career field. These are best used for someone applying to a job within their career-path to show an increase of responsibility over time.
• Functional resumes are focused on skills and experience rather than job history. This type of resumé could be useful for someone who may have holes in their work history or who have gained experience from being self-employed for a time.
• Combination resumes are a mixture of both a chronological and a functional resume. These are used to depict specific skills and how they were acquired. This type of resumé could be a good option if you have developed a specific skill set from working in a variety of related fields.  

General content

• Choose fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri 
• Use font size 11 or 12 for content and 14 or 16 font size for the title or heading
• Instead of changing between fonts to distinguish headings, try making specific sections bold or italicized 
• Your margins should be 1 inch all the way around with 1.5 or 2 point line spacing
• The body content shouold be aligned to the left whereas your header/title should be centered

 Tips

• Think about descriptive job titles, for example, “Manager,” doesn't describe who or what a person manages, adding adjectives like “Sales Staff Manager” or “Executive Manager” may be more descriptive and desirable job titles on a resumé.
• Many employers use special software programs to scan for particular keywords in or to filter through CVs. Therefore, you want to be sure that your resumé contains specific words related to the position for which you are applying. For example, look at the words employers use in the job description.  
• When describing your previous positions, choose verbs that explain your responsibilities. For example, if you were a receptionist, you may want to include ‘scheduled appointments’ ‘assisted clients’ and ‘provided administrative support’ as part of your professional experience.
• Proofread your work and have a friend read your resumé as well. Look for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, typos, and incorrect contact information

WikiHow video on  How to write a resumé

Types of Resumés

Chronological Resumé

Functional Resumé

Combination Resumé

For more information:

WikiHow: Make a Resume



Bringing Unemployment to the top of the Charts

Or Billboards at least (France)

A French man who was unemployed tried a new way to get a job.

He put his CV (résumé) on a giant billboard.

The billboard was next to a very busy road.

It was four metres long and three metres high.

There was a photo of the man wearing a Santa Claus hat.

There was a message on the billboard that said:

"Trilingual operations manager seeks position in hotels, restaurants, tourism and leisure."

About 70,000 people a day could see the CV from their car.

Jobseeker Laurent Le Bret, 41, said: "All I want for Christmas is a job." His idea worked. A holiday resort contacted and interviewed him.

He started his new position as an operations manager ten days after

he put his résumé on the billboard.

 

Mr Le Bret had help from the owner of the billboard. He was going to pay to put his CV on the billboard. However, the advertising company decided to give him the space for free. Mr Le Bret saved 2,000 euros (about $2,700) because he did not have to pay. The advertising company is called Pisoni Publicité. The company's CEO spoke to the France 24 news agency. He said: "We thought it was an interesting idea. When people come up with ideas like this we are always keen to see what we can do. We're very happy to prove that what we do works, and that Mr Le Bret is back at work." Many people contacted Mr Le Bret after he got his job. They want to try the same thing. There are 3.3 million unemployed people in France.

This article has been taken from Breaking News English. For more information, click on the link below

Breaking News English