How to write a resume

A resume - sometimes called a 'Curriculum Vitae' or 'CV' - is a summary of your skills, education and work experience. A good resume demonstrates how your skills and abilities match up with the requirements of a job.

How long should a resume be?

Resumes give you the opportunity to sell yourself to a potential employer. A resume is not an exhaustive list - if it's too long it probably won't get read at all. The best resumes are usually no longer than one or two pages.

Do I need to change my resume every time?

You should change your resume with every job application so that it lists the skills and experiences you have that are most relevant to the job you're applying for. A tailored resume will be much more successful than a generic one, even though it means more preparation.

Sample Job Interview Questions

Typical Interview Questions and Answers

• Why do you want to work for this company? Why are you interested in this job?
  The interviewer is trying to determine what you know and like about the company, whether you will be willing to make a commitment to the job, and if your skills match the job requirements. Your research will be a big help in formulating your answer to this question. Say as many positive things about the company as possible, show your interest in whatever products/services they sell and explain why the position fits with your career goals.
  

Basic Interview Questions

Basic Interview Questions:

• Tell me about yourself.
• What are your strengths?
• What are your weaknesses?
• Why do you want this job?
• Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?
• What's your ideal company?
• What attracted you to this company?
• Why should we hire you?
• What did you like least about your last job?
• When were you most satisfied in your job?
• What can you do for us that other candidates can't? 
• What were the responsibilities of your last position?  
• Why are you leaving your present job?
• What do you know about this industry?  
• What do you know about our company? 
• Are you willing to relocate?  
• Do you have any questions for me?

Do You Believe in Your CV?

Our recent post on how to write a CV that works has proved very popular. For some people though, the challenge is often to produce a CV that reflects the real person, something that they can ‘bring to life’ in the interview.
For this post we asked life and career coach Michelle Bayley for her guide to producing a CV that you can really believe in…
“Most people seem to feel a bit squeamish about their CV. Before you’ve even put finger to keyboard to

write it the whole concept of it existing to “sell” you can induce that “eeeeew” feeling.
Then there’s that other uncomfortable thought that if you’re going to compete with people who don’t have a problem with over egging their skills and experience (think Apprentice candidates) then maybe you might need to stretch the truth a bit too.
Before you know it, you can get so caught up in trying to mould yourself to what you think the employer is looking for that that you’re writing a work of semi-fiction and have lost sight of what you genuinely have to offer. So it’s little wonder that you might not exactly believe the finished product.

7 Tips for Managing Your Boss

Your boss is important to you. He or she will have a major impact on you and your career, as well as your happiness at work. If the relationship is poor then this will make a huge difference to your life overall.
We asked leading career consultant, and ex HR Director, Simon North for his advice on how to make sure that this key relationship works well for both you and your boss…
“We need to recognize that managing our bosses well in the present will make a difference to our future, because they will always be a part of our past. Recognize that you have responsibilities for your relationship with them as much as they do for theirs with you.
Here are my 7 tips for getting the best relationship with your boss:

1. Review Your History. It’s useful to know the history you have with your boss. Why did they hire you? Where do they believe you add most value to them and the team they lead? Are you similar? Are you different? From their perspective, what is it you’re capable of that makes the relationship work well? Seek to understand and be curious about them and their world. Work at it.

5 Questions to Ask Your Interviewer

One of the key parts on any interview is when the interviewer asks the interviewee if they have any questions. Many jobseekers are never sure how much detail to go into at this stage and it’s not always easy to strike a balance – ask too many questions and it can seem presumptive but ask too few and it can give the impression that you’re not interested in the role.
Yet the key to doing well at interview isn’t always just giving good answers…sometimes it’s about asking good questions too!
You won’t always get the opportunity to ask as many questions as you answer so it’s just as well to have some prepared. You may well be looking for some clarity around the company’s business or structure, and any logistical issues you see around the role, but to give yourself the best chance to success you’ll need to get answers to these questions:

CV Basics Your Questions Answered

Q: Does a CV always need to be only one page?

A: CV length should not exceed two sides of A4 paper. How much of those two sides you fill depends on how much you have done. Undergraduates and school leavers may be hard pushed to fill two sides of A4 simply because they may not have very much experience, if this is the case one side of A4 will suffice. Conversely candidates who have established a career history will have to be selective as to what they include so that it all fits on, in this case make sensible use of margin and paragraph sizes.

Q: Should the education section always be near the top?

A: If you still are in or have recently completed formal education your academic achievements will form a major part of your qualifications, and it is recommended to place these near the top of your CV. Also some industries, notably communications, value related experience above degree work and therefore, place your academic qualifications further down the page.

How to Write a Professional CV that Wins Interviews

You’ve found the ideal job vacancy. Now you need the ‘how to’ guide to write your professional CV. Most people are aware of the standard professional CV build: employment history, qualifications, contact details – but which key ingredients impress employers and win a place on their interview shortlist?
“Before you start to write your professional CV, write down your ten greatest achievements,” says Peter Appleby, Managing Director of Appleby Associates. “This should help you get in the right mindset, which is a marketing mindset. Your achievements demonstrate your proven abilities and what you have to offer. You’re a product being sold to a company, and the goal of your professional CV is to communicate what you can do for them. By considering your achievements first, you won’t fall into the trap of describing your skills without offering evidence to substantiate them.”

Typical interview questions and best responses

View part 1
In the last article we looked at the basic job interview questions and responses. In this article we look a little deeper at more specific questions such as talking about experience, personality and work style and the often difficult questions about salary.

Quantifying Your Experience and Accomplishments

21. Have you helped increase sales? Profits? How?

• Imply that you have done so on many occasions, then concentrate on describing one in detail.
• Quote facts and figures.

Typical interview questions and best responses

Attending an interview for a job you really want can be a nerve wrecking experience especially if you are unprepared. Luckily, Jobsite have created a list of typical interview questions and best responses so you need worry no longer!

The Basics

1. Tell me about yourself

• Keep your answer to one or two minutes; don’t ramble.
• Do not go back to childhood experiences, just give a brief outline of where you are from and where you want to be going.
• Use your CV introduction as a starting base.
• Say only positive statements

10 Top Tips: how to write a covering letter

Career coach Denise Taylor explains how to write covering letters in 10 easy stages.

1. Presentation – address the letter to a specific person. If the advert doesn’t say, ring the company and ask who to send the letter to. Don’t forget to put the job title at the top of the letter and reference number where applicable. Avoid long paragraphs, type the letter neatly, always spell-check and never exceed one page
2. Grammar – avoid the phrase ‘I am writing’ in your opening paragraph, as this is obvious. Also, avoid starting each sentence with ‘I’ or ‘my’. You need to focus on the company rather than yourself
3. Personalise – the reader must know immediately that you have not sent this letter to another employer. Tailor your letters and decide how casual or formal you should make your language.

Quality CVs and Cover Letters Get Results

You have found a number of jobs being advertised that interest you, perhaps for the same kind of role or something similar to one you’ve already applied for. So you may be tempted to save a bit of time by using a template or the same cover letter and CV to apply for each position. Think again!
Albert Einstein was right about relativity. In other words you might initially save time by not re-writing them in order to target each role, but you could also end up spending more time applying for many more jobs than you would otherwise have to. Just put a little more effort into communicating that you are the right candidate.
Alison Doyle quotes a recruiter in her article for About.com, when she writes: “What really stands out to me, as an employer, is a letter from an informed candidate that tells me specifically why my company is of interest.” Another apparently was so pleased that he’d received a targeted CV that he wanted to immediately hire the lady who sent the application to him. Therefore write a CV and cover letter that communicates why your skills, knowledge and experience would be invaluable to the employer’s company. By doing so you will make the task of hiring you that much more simple.
That’s not to say that generalised CVs and cover letters can’t attract employers, but you will gain more opportunities to be invited to an interview if you do the following:

Why are Cover Letters Important?

Put simply – cover letters can set you apart from other candidates.
A number of candidates put a lot of time into polishing their CV, forgetting that cover letters are a great chance for you to sell yourself in more detail for that specific job. In your letter you can draw attention to your most saleable attributes whilst explaining why you are applying for the role.

Writing the Perfect CV Cover Letter

You can get swamped by the amount of information and advice that’s available in books and websites about how to create the perfect CV, but there’s comparatively little to help you when it comes to writing that all-winning CV cover letter. It’s a must have if you wish to boost you application, helping you to secure a job interview and the next step in your career. So here are some tips:

Always write a CV cover letter

Everything has become a little less formal with email now the main medium for making job applications, but employers still want to receive cover letters from candidates. Leaving one out could spoil your chance of gaining the job you really want, so you should only ever not include one if you are explicitly told to do so.

How to write a covering letter

With an in-tray full of applications an employer will spend approximately 20 seconds casting an eye over each one. You have to be sure that in those 20 seconds your cover letter has sufficient impact to make the reader want to know more about you. A covering letter builds upon the information you provided in your CV, it is a focussed sales pitch stating clearly in simple language just why this company should employ you. All of its contents should reaffirm to the reader that you are the right person for that job.