How to Write a Resume in English for Jobs
The job market is getting more and more competitive every day. HR departments receive large number of resumes for each position they advertise, which does not leave them enough time to go through each resume in detail. In practice, most resumes are browsed through within a few seconds and rejected or accepted for further evaluation. Therefore, writing an effective resume is absolutely important to move through this process and receive an invitation for the interview.
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Resume Layout
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Decide on the format of your resume. Most word processors provide resume templates and you can choose any one of those. However, remember that a very fancy resume with colors, boxes and different fonts is not a good idea simply because you do not want to distract your potential employer's attention from the substance of your resume.
Summary
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Put a summary of your experience and education on the first page of your resume. This summary will greatly help the HR department to make a quick assessment of your suitability for the job. This summary should be written at the union points of job requirements and your skill set. Read through the job description and note down all the key words you can find in the requirements and eligibility sections. Now, see how you can relate your experience and education to those key words. For example, if the job requires experience in using some x software and you have extensive experience in that, write a line in the summary section to elaborate on that, such as "Expert in using software x". Do not include details of how and where you have used this software in the summary section. You can include those details in the section on professional experience. Go through all the key words you found in the job description and mention your corresponding experiences and/or trainings in the summary section. Do not overcrowd this section with too many details. This section is meant to give your potential employer a general idea of your qualifications and experience without going through the details in your resume.
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Objective
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Write down in one sentence what kind of professional position you want to see yourself in and exactly what you are looking for in the job. For example, if you want to work in electrical technologies, a good objective would be "work in a challenging and fast past environment as an electrical technologist". Also note that your objective should be in line with the position for which you are applying.
Professional Experience
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Write down details of your professional career. Each workplace you worked at should be highlighted with a heading that states the time frame, job title and company name. Underneath this heading, write an itemized list of your responsibilities at the workplace. Be as specific as possible and also mention the projects you worked on. In this section, try to include all the keywords you found while writing the summary section.
Education and Training
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Mention all your education and training with the most recent one on top. Clearly state the start and end dates, title of the degree/diploma/certificate and school name. If you are applying for an entry-level position, you may want to include your grades as well.
Skills
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Write down all your skills in an itemized list. Do not include any details of how you acquired these skills in this section. For example, a line such as "experienced in using all standard word processing software, such as MS Word, Open Office and LaTex" should be sufficient to give your potential employer an idea of your level of comfort in using a computer for word processing.
References
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Write an itemized list of all persons who are willing to act as your professional and/or personal referees. You must get prior permission from them before including their names and contact information in this section. In general, three to five referees are considered sufficient.
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References
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