Composing a Resume

• Resumé


  A concise document highlighting your education, work experiences, and other qualifications such as your skills and strengths

  
• Resumé


  • It is usually an enclosure to an application or cover letter
  • It is recommended to prepare the resumé first since the information that you include there will be the basis of your letter
• Purpose of a resumé


  Provides the recipient with a first impression
• Important components of a resumé


  • Name and contact details
  • Educational attainment
  • Work experience
  • Skills
  • Character references
• Name and contact details


  Provide at least a complete permanent address, all active numbers both mobile and telephone, and professional e-mail address
• Educational attainment


  Include the achievements received in each level, list the most recent first
• Work experience


  Reflect the professional background, only include relevant ones so provide only a few but describe the experiences, use action verbs for descriptive phrases and list the most recent experience first
• Skills


  Highlights the strengths as a professional, the skills listed should reflect what we can effectively and efficiently do
• Character references


  Lists people who can be referred to about who we are personally, academically, and professionally, people listed here will most probably be contacted anytime so make sure they are reliable and credible
• Resumé format


  • Readability and formality are the topmost concerns
  • Common fonts are Times New Roman and Arial
  • Font size should range between 12-14
  • Page margins should be 1" all sides if possible
  • Single space should be used between all elements to save space
  • Resumé should only be a maximum of two (2) pages
• Conciseness in writing a resumé
• Relevance and completeness in writing a resumé
• Error-free in writing a resumé
• Timeliness in writing a resumé
• Appearance of a resumé