How do I prepare a good resume?

What is a resume?

It is a document in which you provide a brief summary of your professional life, such as work experience, education and professional skills. A resume is often requested during the application process so that the person responsible for recruiting in the company can compare different candidates at a glance. It is therefore very important that you grab the attention of that person with your resume, stimulate his interest and encourage him to invite you for a first interview.

 

What do you add to your resume?

1. Relevant

Make sure you only provide an overview of the information that is relevant to the position you are applying for. If you used to clean the stables at a petting zoo as a holiday job, you don't have to mention this when you apply for a job as a computer scientist in a large company. Do keep one overarching master version of your resume on your computer, so that you only have to cut and paste the relevant information for each new application.

2. Profile

Try to summarise in 1 or 2 sentences who you are, what your ambitions are and what added value you can offer for the company you are applying for. This is the only place on your resume where you can reveal a little more about your personality. Clichés such as "a real team player" or "a hard worker" are therefore better left out in this section. Your short profile is guaranteed to be read by the recruiter, while the rest of a resume is often screened only diagonally. While this doesn't mean you shouldn't prepare the rest of your resume with care, let that be clear.

3. Chronological

Make sure your resume is written chronologically. Reverse chronologically, to be precise. This means that you put your most recent work experience and / or education at the top. A word of explanation about the job or training is recommended, but make sure you stick to the heart of the matter. If you've coordinated dozens of projects, you don't need to list them all separately.

4. Additional info

Use your resume to include other skills, soft skills or interests. Maybe you can listen very well and you would like to use that quality as a help-desk employee? Or maybe, as a leader in the youth movement, you were responsible for the poster design of your annual party and you would like to develop those skills further within the communication function you are applying for? Relevance is also crucial here. The recruiter does not need to know that you like to spend your free time at the local carder club or in front of a lingerie photographer.

Have you collected all the information? Then you are ready to cast your resume in a professional layout. Surf to www.cvcreator.com, enter your details and export your resume in an instant.

Ready to take on that new job? Check out our vacancies here or contact an office near you. Good luck!