RÉSUMÉS
INTRODUCTION
The résumé is meant to introduce you and your
background to somebody who does not know you and barely has time
to get to know you. It should present you in the best possible
light, in a concise and well-structured manner. There are plenty
of good résumé-writing guides on the Internet.
Their regular problem is that they do not agree with each other
when it comes to details. This guide has a number of generally
agreed guidelines, plus some specific details that could help
Moldovan students. A regular résumé for business
purposes should definitely not go over one A4 page. If you intend
to use it for academic purposes and not for a job, the
résumé can pass that limit, on the condition that
you use the extra space to describe your academic activities,
such as conferences and seminars attended, publications, etc. A
well-written résumé shows first what is most
important, but contains all relevant information. To this goal,
it should be adapted to your target (a specific type of job or
scholarship). Cut information from your résumé only
as a solution of last resort, but pay attention to the order in
which you present it in your résumé. Have someone
proofread your résumé. If there is a typo or
grammatical error on your résumé, you may be
eliminated as a candidate.
Print the résumé on plain-white A4 paper on a laser
printer, save some of the same type for the cover letter - you
should never send a résumé without a cover letter -
and find matching A4 envelopes. If the announcement does not say
anything about a cover letter, you still should send one. It
introduces your résumé to the reader, attracts
attention to certain parts of it that you want to bring to light,
or mentions aspects that for some reason could not be listed in
your résumé.
RÉSUMÉ vs. CURRICULUM
VITAE
A curriculum vitae (loosely translated from Latin as "course of
life"), or CV for short, provides an overview of a person's life
and qualifications. It differs from a resume in that it is
appropriate for academic or medical careers and is far more
comprehensive. A CV elaborates on education to a greater degree
than a resume. A resume is tailor-made according to the post
applied for. It is job-oriented and goal specific. One of the key
characteristics of a proper resume is conciseness. In the United
States and Canada, a CV is expected to include a comprehensive
listing of professional history including every term of
employment, academic credential, publication, contribution or
significant achievement. In certain professions, it may even
include samples of the person's work and may run to many pages.
FORMAT
To make it look neat, you can use one of the Microsoft Word
pre-made formats, unless you are a computer-savvy and feel
confident that you can produce an even better-structured and
easier-to-read format. You will be able to introduce your own
headers in that format; below you can find a word of advice for
those headers most-often met in a résumé.
HEADING / PERSONAL DETAILS
Here you should include your birth date, contact address, e-mail,
telephone (both landline and cellphone) numbers and nationality
(citizenship). In case you have both a permanent and study
address, include both, with the dates when you can be contacted
at each of them. If you want to save space, personal details can
be written with smaller fonts than the rest of your
résumé. They do not have to jump in the reader's
attention - you will never convince somebody to hire you or to
give you a scholarship because you have a nice e-mail alias! If
your résumé manages to awaken the interest of the
reader, the latter will look after contact details - it is
important that they be there, but not that they are the first
thing somebody reads in your résumé. You should
write your name with a bigger font than the rest of the text so
that the reader knows easily whose résumé is he or
she reading. If you need to save space, you can delete the
résumé line on the top of your
résumé. After all, if you have done a good job
writing it, it should be obvious that that piece of paper is a
résumé, no need to spell it out loud.
OBJECTIVE
This is a concise statement of what you actually want to do. It's
not bad if it matches the thing (a job, scholarship, teaching or
research assistantship, internship, ect.) you are applying for.
Don't restrict it too much "to get this scholarship", but rather
"to develop a career in..." the thing that you're going to study
if you get the scholarship. If you are applying for a job, you
can be even more specific - "to obtain a position in... , where I
can use my skills in...". You can use a few lines to describe
that specifically, but keep in mind that you should show what you
can do for the company more than what the company can do for you.
Writing a good objective can be tough; take some time to think
about what exactly are you going to write there.
EDUCATION
If you are a student or a person who has just graduated, you
should start your résumé with your education. Very
probably, at this age it is your most important asset. Use the
reverse chronological order, since it is more important what
bachelor's or master's degree you have rather than that, very
probably, you finished high school in Chișinău or any
other Moldovan population center. In any case, no matter for
which order you decide - chronological or reverse - you should
keep it the same throughout the rest of your
résumé. Try to give an exact account of your
accomplishments in school: grades (do not forget to write the
scale if it may differ from the one the reader of your
résumé is used to, e.g. 9.35 of 10), standing in
class (in percentage terms), title of your thesis or
dissertation, expected graduation date if you think this is an
important aspect. There is no need to write all of the above, but
only those details that put you in the best light. Are you not in
the best 20% of your class? You had better not mention your
ranking then; maybe you still have good grades, or your school is
a renowned one. In any case, do not make your results better than
in reality - you cannot know how this information may be checked
and the whole application will lose credibility. Cheating is a
very serious offense in Northern America and Western Europe.
RELEVANT COURSE WORK
Some résumé writers include a RELEVANT COURSE WORK
section to list those undergraduate or graduate courses that they
took and that gave them important knowledge and skills. Even
though this section is optional, it is best to include it for
those students who obtain their practical skills through hands-on
experiences, such as laboratories or scene shops.
AWARDS / HONORS
You should introduce this header right after the education
section, in order to outline all the scholarly or otherwise
distinctions you have received. Another solution is to include
these awards in the education section, but this might make the
lecture difficult - the reader wants to get from that section an
impression about the schools you have studied in and the overall
results, not about every distinction you have been awarded.
Still, these are important! Therefore, here is the place to
mention them - scholarships, honors, studies abroad, diplomas,
certificates, prizes in contests, and any other kind of
distinction. Here, same as everywhere in your
résumé, write a detailed account of what happened:
do not just mention the year and "Prize in Environmental
Science", but rather give the exact date (month, year), place
(city, country), name and organizer of the competition. For a
scholarship or studies abroad, write the time frame, name of the
university, department, the subject of classes there (e.g.,
economics or business administration), name of the award-giving
institution (e.g., IREX or ACCELS, if different from that of the
host university.
EXPERIENCE
Here you should include your previous and current positions
(jobs) as well as internships. Don't feel ashamed with what you
did, don't try to diminish your accomplishments! Nobody really
expects you to have started a million-dollar business if you're
still a student - even better if you did, though! Accountability
is an important criterion for what you write in this section. The
account should show what you improved, where, by how much, what
your responsibilities were. The idea is that when you apply for a
job, you have to show your potential for growth. That is, that
you proved some kind of progress from one job to another and that
especially at the last one you were so good that you could
obviously do something that involves more responsibility - like
the job you are applying for now. The overall result should
portray you as a leader, a person with initiative and creativity
- don't forget you have to convince the reader of your
résumé that you are the best pick for that job.
Two popular formats include a chronological and functional
résumé. Chronological is the most common format for
students entering entry-level jobs. List jobs beginning with most
recent first. Functional can be helpful if you have little
relevant work experience or gaps in employment. Cluster your
experience under headings that highlight your skills and talents
(Leadership, Research, Information Technology, Communication
Skills).
Include your job title, the name of the company/organization,
city, state, and dates of employment (month/year - unless you are
using a functional résumé). Under each position
list your responsibilities starting with an action word (created,
implemented, assisted, completed) and include the results of your
actions. A bulleted list is generally preferred over paragraph
form. Employers usually prefer not to read through entire
paragraphs to find important information. Highlight increases in
responsibility or promotions. When possible quantify your
accomplishments, for example, "increased sales by $9,000" or
"supervised 130 children ages three and four". If you have direct
experience and unrelated work experience, you may divide your
experience into those two separate sections.
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
If you're writing a professional, and not an academic
résumé, this is the place to mention conferences or
any other activities outside the school that for some reason did
not fit in the résumé so far. A good section here
can help a lot toward that goal of portraying you as a leader, a
person with initiative, not just a nerd with good grades. Include
university and community activities, organizations to which you
belong, and activities closely tied to the needs of the employer
or career field you are entering. Be sure to list the dates of
your participation. Carefully consider which religious or
political activities to include. Potential bias could be an
issue.
LANGUAGES
List here all the languages you speak (including your native
language), with a one-word description of your knowledge of that
language. You can use the following scale: conversational,
intermediate, advanced, fluent, and native. List any certificates
and/or results, such as TOEFL scores, including dates.
TECHNICAL / COMPUTER SKILLS
Write everything you know, including Internet browsers and text
editing skills. There is no absolute need to know C++ unless you
want to be a programmer. Here you can list all related
certificates and specialty studies.
HOBBIES / PERSONAL INTERESTS
You can list your hobbies and interests if space is left on the
page. They look fine in a résumé, showing you are
not a no-life workaholic, but a normal person. There is no need
to have a 20,000 pieces stamp collection; you can mention reading
or mountain tracking as well.
MILITARY SERVICE
Identify the branch of service, locations, rank, and dates.
Describe assignments, achievements and relevant skills. Avoid
using technical terms.
REFERENCES
You can also add a REFERENCES section, where you can list those
people who are ready to recommend you. Ask each individual's
permission before listing him/her as a reference. You may provide
three to five names with title, organization, address, phone
number, and e-mail address. If this section misses, the
recruiters will assume that your references are available upon
request.
POWERWORDS
You can add power to your résumé by using the
following powerwords:
accelerated accomplished achieved addressed administered advised
allocated answered appeared applied appointed appraised approved
arranged assessed assigned assisted assumed assured audited
awarded
bought briefed broadened brought budgeted built
cataloged caused changed chaired clarified classified closed
collected combined commented communicated compared compiled
completed computed conceived concluded conducted conceptualized
considered consolidated constructed consulted continued
contracted controlled converted coordinated corrected counseled
counted created critiqued cut
dealt decided defined delegated delivered demonstrated described
designed determined developed devised diagnosed directed
discussed distributed documented doubled drafted
earned edited effected eliminated endorsed enlarged enlisted
ensured entered established estimated evaluated examined executed
expanded expedited experienced experimented explained explored
expressed extended
filed filled financed focused forecast formulated found
founded
gathered generated graded granted guided
halved handled helped
identified implemented improved incorporated increased indexed
initiated influenced innovated inspected installed instituted
instructed insured interpreted interviewed introduced invented
invested investigated involved issued
joined
kept
launched learned leased lectured led licensed listed logged
made maintained managed matched measured mediated met modified
monitored motivated moved
named navigated negotiated
observed opened operated ordered organized oversaw
participated perceived performed persuaded planned prepared
presented processed procured programmed prohibited projected
promoted proposed provided published purchased pursued
qualified questioned
raised ranked rated realized received recommended reconciled
recorded recruited redesigned reduced regulated rehabilitated
related reorganized repaired replaced replied reported
represented researched resolved responded restored revamped
reviewed revise
saved scheduled selected served serviced set set up shaped shared
showed simplified sold solved sorted sought sparked specified
spoke staffed started streamlined strengthened stressed stretched
structured studied submitted substituted succeeded suggested
summarized superseded supervised surveyed systematized
tackled targeted taught terminated tested took toured traced
tracked traded trained transferred transcribed transformed
translated transported traveled treated trimmed tripled turned
tutored
umpired uncovered understood understudied unified unraveled
updated upgraded used utilized
verbalized verified visited
waged weighed widened won worked wrote
More powerword suggestions:
ability capable capability capacity competence competent complete
completely consistent contributions demonstrated developing
educated efficient effective effectiveness enlarging equipped
excellent exceptional expanding experienced global increasing
knowledgeable major mature maturity nationwide outstanding
performance positive potential productive proficient profitable
proven qualified record repeatedly resourceful responsible
results significant significantly sound specialist substantial
substantially successful stable thorough thoroughly versatile
vigorous well-educated well-rounded worldwide
USEFUL INTERNET RESOURCES
RESUME WORKSHOP by the Online Writing Lab at
Purdue University, IN, USA
RESUME / CURRICULUM VITAE by the Student Success Center,
Manchester University, IN, USA
WRITING AN EFFECTIVE RESUME by Alison Doyle, The Balance, NY, USA
HOW TO WRITE A RESUME by Career Development, Capital
University, OH, USA
RESUME SAMPLES by Monster Worldwide, Inc.,
MA, USA
RESUMES by the Center for Global Communication+Design at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA
RESUME AND LETTER WRITING by the
Career Center at UC Berkeley, CA,
USA
WRITING AN EFFECTIVE RESUME by the
Career Services Center at UC San Diego, CA,
USA
WRITING AN EFFECTIVE RESUME by
Cawley Career Education Center at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.,
USA
RESUME AND CV GUIDE by Career and Professional Development, Virginia Tech, VA, USA