General resume for a job. Cover letter for resume

A good resume is essential when looking for a job, especially when there are many candidates applying for the same position. What should be written in it?

There is no perfect resume sample, and different situations may require you to highlight different aspects of your resume, be it education or work experience. If you are writing a resume for a specific position, it should be written specifically for that position.

Read five or six similar advertisements and compare the requirements specified in them. Do some research to understand what employers are looking for.

If you are just looking for a job and sending your resume to employment agencies, then it should be as detailed and detailed as possible.

Anyway, there are several general rules and principles of how a resume should be written and what information should be included.

First of all, it should be short - no more than two A4 pages, preferably numbered.

It should clearly and objectively describe your achievements and strengths and create a positive impression of you.

So, let's look at what a resume includes:

Header

It should be noted that in Britain a resume is called curriculum vitae (CV), translated from Latin - “course of life.” In the US and Canada, the CV is used more often in academic circles and is a truly detailed and comprehensive description professional life candidate (I remember the “Autobiography”, which was required to be filled out in the personnel department in Soviet years). For a regular resume, the term résumé is used.

Personal details

Be sure to include your name, address and contact information - telephone, email.

Whether to indicate gender, age, marital status and nationality is up to you. The employer must evaluate your skills and abilities without this information.

Objective

Indicate which vacancy you are applying for with the code (if available), for example: Software Tester (ST15/4).

Brief information (Profile / Summary)

Describe your strengths - skills, personal qualities, achievements, work experience (briefly). Here you can indicate your career goals (in the USA, much attention is paid to this point).

The certificate should take no more than a few lines and immediately attract attention. For example, if a position requires permanent job with people, you can indicate that you can work in a team and have good communication skills. Be concise - you can give examples in further sections.

Employment history / Work experience

If you have extensive work experience, start with this section. If you don’t have enough experience yet, write about your education first.

It is recommended to start with your most recent job and work your way through reverse order. Indicate the name of the organization, period of work, position and your main responsibilities. Describe in more detail the work that is relevant to the current vacancy, provide examples of the use of your skills, and mention your achievements. Use bulleted lists for ease of reading.

Try to highlight the relevance of your skills and experience to the specified vacancy. Also mention any temporary or volunteer work if relevant.

Avoid unexplained gaps in your employment history. If you for a long time were traveling, looking for work, or caring for a relative, please indicate this.

Education

Likewise, start from the last one and work backwards. Indicate the schools, colleges, and universities you attended and the dates you received your diplomas and/or degrees. Mention seminars, trainings, and refresher courses if they are relevant to the job. Use a bulleted list or table for formatting.

Here you can also describe your hobbies, interests and achievements related to work, but this is not required.

How to talk about your education

Interests and achievements

For example, if you belong to a club or society, it can show that you enjoy meeting new people. You should not write that you like to cook or read books - these are too general hobbies that are not of interest to the employer. Indicate only what is specific and important.

Additional information

You can include this section in your resume if you need to add something else - for example, to explain a large gap in employment due to travel or family reasons. You can also include other skills that may be useful, for example, the ability to drive a car or speak foreign languages.

Identify people who can give you a recommendation. It is advisable that at least one of them is related to your previous place of work. If you have not worked anywhere before, indicate the teacher or person under whose guidance you completed your internship.

If you don’t want to immediately share the contact information of other people, you can limit yourself to the phrase: References: available upon request(“Recommendations available upon request”).

Formatting a resume

Resume design plays a huge role. It should be simple, strict and create an impression of you as a professional from the very first second. Use a standard, easy-to-read font and clear section breakdowns. The design style should be the same everywhere.

A resume is one of the main components needed to find a job. It is important to compose it correctly, because based on the text presented, the employer will create a first impression about the potential employee and make a conclusion whether it is worth scheduling an interview or not.

How to write a resume correctly?

Many people are irresponsible when writing a resume, and this big mistake. There are several tips on how to write a resume correctly so that it gets noticed:

1. It is important to provide only information that is relevant to the selected vacancy.
2. Think of a resume as a marketing tool because employers are buyers and the product needs to be presented well.
3. Provide clear information without unnecessary details.
4. Use action words in the text, for example, prepared, checked, presented, and so on.
5. Even if the applicant knows many different terms, there is no need to try to insert them into every sentence, since the text should be easy to read.
6. If possible, show your written resume to a competent person for review.

Personal qualities for a resume

HR managers assure that an unfilled personal clause is a serious mistake, since it is often decisive in making a decision. It is important for the employer to see how the applicant independently evaluates himself. There are several recommendations on how to write a resume correctly, that is, a paragraph on personal qualities:

1. You don't need to specify more than five characteristics.
2. Avoid using cliched and meaningless phrases because the main objective– interest.
3. If a person does not know what to write, then two universal options can be used: excellent learning ability and willingness to work beyond the norm.
4. The main thing is to meet all the declared qualities.

Business qualities for resume

When writing a resume, you must remember that this is a kind of proposal of yourself, as an investment in the future for the development of the company. A proper resume must certainly contain a list professional qualities the applicant, since it makes it clear the effectiveness of his work and value to the company. Given the intense competition, good education and work experience is not a guarantee for hiring. There are tips on how to write a resume and describe business qualities:

1. You should not write all known qualities, as this raises doubts about the veracity of the information presented.
2. 4-6 positions are enough, and they will certainly need to be demonstrated at the interview.
3. If you want your resume to be noticed, then give up the template words and present the information from yourself.

Knowledge and skills in a resume

Many employers Special attention pay attention to the knowledge of the applicant, since it allows you to understand whether you need to continue working with him or not. To interest an employer, you need to know what to write about yourself in your resume.

1. The text should not be boring and drawn out. Present information clearly, concisely, and give a clear answer.
2. Indicate the knowledge and skills that you actually possess for your resume, since sooner or later you will have to demonstrate them.
3. Do not use abstruse phrases and terms; information should be presented in simple language.

Weaknesses in a resume

Not everyone can talk about their shortcomings, but for your own presentation, you will have to do this. According to information provided by HR managers, a huge number of people make mistakes when describing their weaknesses. To write a job resume correctly, consider the following recommendations:

1. You don’t need to write a huge list of your cons, 2-3 items will be enough.
2. To create a good resume, write about shortcomings that can be corrected by working on yourself.
3. Many bosses look at the point “ weak sides"to understand the adequacy, sincerity and self-criticism of the applicant.

Strengths in your resume

In this column, employers want to see not business qualities, but positive traits that distinguish the applicant from others. To increase your chances of being selected and getting an interview, it is important to know how to write a resume, taking into account some nuances:

1. Be sincere and do not attribute non-existent abilities to yourself, since deception can be a reason for refusal.
2. Choose 2-3 and write a sentence about each. For example, sociable (I was engaged in journalism and interviewed different people, worked on conducting surveys).
3. It’s better to describe a couple of qualities in an original and detailed way than to offer a banal list.
4. Describe strengths for your resume, focusing on the requirements of the job.

Key skills on a resume

Recruiters claim that if the applicant writes the usual list of banal qualities at this point, then the risk that the paper will end up in the trash bin increases significantly. To understand how to write a proper resume, you need to know the exact definition of a skill, since it means a type of activity that has been brought to automaticity.

1. As you complete this section, think about how you can be useful in your chosen position and why I am suitable for this job.
2. Writing a resume involves indicating professional (functional and managerial), personal qualities and habits.
3. Present information specifically and concisely. For example, extensive experience in trade (10 years of experience and 5 of them - head of department)

Personal achievements on your resume

In this section, the applicant must indicate his own advantages in comparison with other applicants. Achievements on a resume show that a person is ready to achieve results and develop the company.

1. When describing, use the following formula: “problem + action = result.”
2. Indicate professional and personal information, but it must at least somehow contribute to your work.
3. Avoid general phrases and write in business language, and write specifically without unnecessary information.
4. Describe events as facts.

Objective in resume

Here the applicant expresses his requirements, so he should indicate the position or several that are of interest. If several vacancies are described, they should be similar in functionality. Here you can indicate your desired salary.

1. Creating a resume involves presenting information clearly and concisely, so this section should not take more than 2-3 lines.
2. Do not write vague phrases, for example, “I want to get a job with high salary and a good prospect."

Additional information on your resume

This section gives you a chance to characterize yourself as a professional and interest the employer. If it is not filled out, this may mean that the person has nothing more to tell about himself. When figuring out how to write a resume correctly, it is worth noting that there are no strict rules for formatting this section. Here the applicant writes what is not included in other sections, but is, in his opinion, important. Please note that additional information should not overload your resume. Here is a sample list of what to write about yourself in your resume:

• Family status;
• knowledge of languages;
• computer skills;
• driver license;
• participation in seminars, conferences, etc.;
• additional education;
• desired work schedule.

Hobbies for resume

Given the intense competition in the labor market, HR managers are increasingly paying attention to information about how the applicant spends his or her free time, because it can say a lot about his personality. Ideally, if personal interests correspond to the chosen position, for example, a designer loves photography and drawing. You can write about the following hobbies on your resume:

1. Sports that demonstrate endurance, perseverance, perseverance and activity. As for extreme sports, they indicate a person’s willingness to take justifiable risks.
2. Creative occupations indicate that the applicant is creative and talented.
3. Love of travel shows that a person can plan his actions, is versatile and active.

Listen to someone who has reviewed over 100,000 resumes throughout his career and really knows how to make a resume more compelling. Here, by the way, is my LinkedIn profile, see for yourself: mpritula.

But let's agree right away: no deception on your resume. Only honest information. How to make your resume really cool without cheating - about this in my life hacks.

Why almost perfect? Here are 10 tips I would give on this resume:

• Take a photo on a plain background (white or gray).
• Remove one phone. Why does a recruiter need to think about where to call?
• Change your email to a personal one, not a company one.
• Remove marital status.
• Combine competencies and key experience. Reduce sentences to 7-10 words and format them as a list.
• Remove recommendations.
• Correct the misspelling of the word “company” in your last place of employment.
• Reduce responsibilities to 10 lines.
• Make the link short (bit.ly, goo.gl).
• Reduce the total length of your resume to two pages.

Making your resume more expensive

Now let's talk about what makes a resume more expensive. I advise people on how to improve their resume. Representatives of a variety of positions send me their resumes: from ordinary salespeople to company directors. Everyone makes the same mistakes. There wasn't a single resume for which I couldn't write 10 tips on how to improve it. Below I have collected the most frequent advice that I gave on the resumes sent.

10. Combine many jobs into one

It is considered normal if a person works for a company for 2–3 years. If he changes jobs more often, he may be called a job hopper. Recruiters don’t like such people, since about 70% of customers refuse to consider such candidates. And this is quite natural.

After a year of work, a person only begins to benefit the company.

Of course, everyone has the right to make mistakes, and a good resume may contain a couple of places where the candidate worked for 1–1.5 years. But if the entire resume looks like this, then its value is very low.

However, it often happens that a person has changed several job positions in one company or moved from company to company within a holding structure. Or was he studying project work, during which I changed several employers.

In such cases (and wherever possible), I recommend registering this as one place of work, with one name and common dates of work. And inside this block, you can unobtrusively show a change of positions, but in such a way that visually, upon a quick inspection of the resume, there is no feeling of a frequent change of jobs.

11. Keep your resume to the ideal length

I believe that the ideal length of a resume is strictly two pages. One is too little, it is only permissible for students, and three is too much.

If everything is clear with one page - such a resume looks like a resume for a novice specialist - then with three, four, and so on pages, everything is not so obvious. And the answer is simple: the recruiter will look at only two pages 80% of the time. And it will only read what you indicated on these two pages. Therefore, no matter what you write on the third and subsequent pages, it will remain unnoticed. And if you write valuable information about yourself there, the recruiter will not know about it.

12. Share your achievements

If you remember only one sentence from my article, let it be about achievements. This immediately adds 50% value to your resume. The recruiter is simply not able to interview everyone who sent a resume. Therefore, the one who indicated his achievements and was able to thereby interest the recruiter will always win.

Achievements are your measurable ones, which are expressed in numbers, deadlines or significant qualitative changes in the company. They must be specific, measurable, impressive and relevant to the position.

Example of achievements:

• In three months, I increased TV sales by 30% (store director).
• Introduced a new product to the market in four months, which helped earn $800 thousand in six months (marketing director).
• Negotiated with suppliers and increased the deferment on payments by 30 days, saving the company on loans - $100 thousand monthly (purchaser).
• Reduced staff turnover from 25 to 18% through employee engagement (HR).

13. Tell us about your personal qualities

Nowadays, more and more attention is paid to the personal qualities of an employee when selecting candidates. If you analyze what exactly you will be assessed at the interview, then most likely it will be like this:

• 40% - professional knowledge;
• 40% - personal qualities;
• 20% - motivation (the desire to do this particular job in this particular company).

What are personal qualities? These are personal qualities of a person that contribute to the effective performance of their duties.

This includes: energy, openness, ability to work in a team, initiative, proactivity, and so on. Moreover, these are no longer empty words; at interviews, more and more often you will hear the following question: “Tell me about a situation in which you had to take responsibility and how you dealt with it.” This is called competency-based assessment.

Therefore, your personal qualities, especially if they correspond to those required by the vacancy, are extremely important. And if previously it was enough to simply list them, now this is no longer enough. Now we need to confirm their presence, so I recommend writing them like this (of course, you give your own examples, a mandatory rule: they all must be real and from the past):

• Initiative: developed and implemented a strategy for the department to overcome the crisis when the head left.
• Energy: My sales volume for 2014 was 30% above the department average.
• Stress resistance: successfully negotiated with a client who refused seven managers, and concluded an agreement with him.
• Leadership: conducted five management trainings and developed 10 managers from line employees.

Here it is important to write not many qualities, but qualities with examples. That is, examples here are more important than quantity.

14. Throw functional responsibilities from the job description into the trash!

Functional responsibilities that are indicated on a resume are usually the most banal and tedious thing. In 30% of cases they are copied from their own job description, in 50% of cases - from other people’s resumes or job descriptions, and only 20% really write them well on their own.

I always recommend writing down responsibilities, not areas of responsibility, and describing them in the form of actions that you performed. This is similar to achievements, but numbers are not required here, responsibilities may not be so impressive, and, naturally, these are not one-time actions.

Before writing them, I recommend reading a few job openings to get an idea of ​​what is worth writing about. Next, write down the responsibilities in order of their importance: the most significant ones come first (strategy development, introducing new products to the market), and the least significant ones come last (preparation of reports).

15. Sell your job title and company

Job titles and a list of companies are, in fact, exactly what a recruiter looks for in a resume in the first place. It’s like a buyer sliding his eyes along a store shelf in search of brands familiar to him (Nescafe, Procter & Gamble, Gallina Blanca, Mars, Snickers, Tide). It is on these lines that the recruiter forms the initial cost of the resume in his head and only then begins to look for details.

• We write only the generally accepted name. If you work for Nails and Nuts LLC, which is an official dealer of Coca-Cola, then simply write Coca-Cola. Believe me, no one is interested in the legal name of the company.
• We write the number of employees in brackets, for example: IBM (3,000 employees).
• Under the name of the company, we write briefly in 7-10 words what it does. For example: one of the top 5 in the field of consumer lending.
• If the company is little-known, but works with well-known brands, be sure to indicate this. For example: “Autosupersuperleasing” (leasing partner of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Honda). The name of well-known brands next to an unknown company will significantly enhance the perception of the company.

16. Remove template phrases from the “Goal” section

Immediately after your contact information in your resume there is a section called “Goal”. Usually in this section they write template phrases like “Maximize your potential...”. Here you need to list a list of positions that interest you.

17. Always check your spelling

Typically, about 5% of all resumes I review contain errors:

• basic grammatical errors (there was no spell check);
• spelling errors foreign words(only Russian spelling check is configured);
• errors in punctuation: a space before a comma, a comma between words without spaces;
• in lists at the end of the sentence they are different signs punctuation (ideally there should be none; a period is placed after the last item in the list).

18. Save your resume in DOCX format and nothing else.

• Not PDF - many recruiters make their edits or notes (salary expectations, their impressions of the candidate, information that was obtained during the interview) in the resume before sending it to the customer; they will not be able to add them to PDF.
• Not ODT - may not open correctly on some computers.
• No DOC is a sign that the resume is from the past (pre-Office 2007).
• Not RTF - usually weighs more than alternatives.

19. Use a resume file name that is convenient for the recruiter

The title of the resume file must contain at least your last name and preferably your position. This will make it more convenient for the recruiter to search for a resume on his disk, forward it, and so on. A little concern for the recruiter will definitely be noted. Again, this makes the resume a little more expensive in the eyes of the recruiter.

20. Show your value in your cover letter.

Exist different opinions about cover letters. I always say this: a good cover letter can add value to a resume 20% of the time if it's written correctly. But it is not always necessary.

If you decide to write it, then here is a simple structure:

And if shown with an example, it could look like this:

Mistakes in your resume

Along with the secrets to increasing the value of a resume, there are things that make a resume significantly cheaper. Let's talk about some of them.

Nowadays, many job search sites allow you to download a resume created there. At the same time, they always add their logo and various fields for entering information into such a resume, which is not at all necessary for the resume. For example, gender. These resumes look like they're really cheap, so I don't recommend ever doing that.

21. Remove confusing abbreviations

When you work in a company for a long time, some of the abbreviations adopted in it already seem so familiar that you write them on your resume. But they are unfamiliar to the recruiter, so very important information is lost. Try to avoid abbreviations wherever possible.

22. Paraphrase cliched phrases

Very often you want to give in to temptation and stuff into your resume template phrases that can easily be found in any resume or job description. Avoid them as they are a waste of space to the recruiter.

Paraphrase, for example:

• Result orientation = I always think about the result in my work.
• Customer focus = the client always comes first for me = I put the client’s interests above my personal ones.
• Communication skills = I can easily negotiate with any clients/colleagues = I can easily carry on conversations with clients.

23. Create a normal box

What distinguishes a professional from a child? A professional calls his mailbox by first and last name, and a child uses children’s words, nicknames from games and forums, and his date of birth.

Well, it is absolutely unacceptable to indicate your work mailbox. The recruiter in this case will interpret this nuance as follows: “I’m being fired from my job, and therefore I don’t have to be afraid and send my resume from my work email.”

24. Delete marital status, it is only of interest to visitors of dating sites

There is only one case when indicating marital status can play a positive role: if a young girl is looking for a job and wants to show that she will not go on maternity leave immediately after employment. In this case, you can indicate the presence of children.

Options " civil marriage“,” “divorced” immediately reduces the cost of a resume, as additional questions arise.

The option “I have children” is written by very narrow-minded people, since everyone normal people « ». :)

25. Explain the work experience gap.

You can’t just show a gap in work. You need to write why exactly it arose. The option “I’ll explain at the interview” is not suitable, since the recruiter, seeing the gap, will think the worst that could happen.

If there was a maternity leave between two jobs, we write that. By the way, if the maternity leave was without leaving for another job, there is no point in writing it at all. I don’t even recommend highlighting this in any particular way during an interview.

26. Remove the end date from the last place

This is the only resume trick that can be forgiven. It is believed that a person draws up a resume before dismissal and after dismissal simply does not update this date. In any case, the specified dismissal date will work against you.

27. Don’t write reasons for dismissals

There is no reason why reasons for dismissal need to be specified. No matter what you write there, the recruiter will always have suspicions about your desire to explain the reason for your dismissal. Or maybe you're lying?

28. Don't explain details of your resume.

It is not allowed to write explanations, comments, footnotes, etc. in your resume. Only dates, facts, achievements.

The worst thing that can happen is the “Recommendations” section and the phrase “I will provide it upon request.” What is the point of such a section? A list of recommenders is unnecessary. Nobody will call them before the interview with you. And after the interview, you will be able to provide this list if there is a request.

30. Remove tables and large indents

Tables in resumes were adopted in the early 2000s. Then the entire civilized world abandoned them. Don't act like a dinosaur.

Also, don't take up most of the summary with very large spaces on the left side of the document.

31. Leave the first jobs for your grandmother

For simplicity, I'll just describe how it would be OK:

• Last place of work: 7–10 lines of responsibilities and 5–7 lines of achievements.
• Previous place of work: 5-7 lines of responsibilities and 3-5 lines of achievements.
• Place of work before last: 3–5 lines of responsibilities and 3 lines of achievements.
• Other places of work: 3 lines + 3 lines of achievements, if they fall within the range of the last 10 years of work.
• Everything that was before 10 years ago: only the names of companies and positions.
• If in your career there were places of work that were not relevant to your current position, feel free to delete them. For example, now you are a marketing director, but you started 15 years ago as an engineer at a factory or a salesperson at the market.

32. Remove vocational school

If you studied at a vocational school, college, technical school, and then graduated from a university, show only the university.

33. Don’t show your resume to HR specialists you know if you’re not sure of their professionalism.

We have many HR specialists who consider themselves gurus and give advice left and right. Find out how many vacancies they filled themselves, how many people are interviewed on average per day. What books have you read about recruiting? How many of them were foreign?

If you receive answers like this:

• more than 500 vacancies;
• 5–10 per day;
• more than five books (at least!);
• Lou Adler, Bill Radin, Tony Byrne;

...then feel free to trust the advice!

I'm doing a little research, so in the comments to this post, write which of all the tips described was the most valuable to you. This will help me understand your needs and write another cool article on how to sell yourself more during an interview.

P.S. Friends, thank you all for your comments. My colleague and I wrote a book where we shared even more advice. It is available at the link.

The article was visually designed by the genius of presentations

Probably each of you needs to write a resume every few years. This article may just come in handy at such a moment. It’s about how to write a competent resume that will attract the manager’s attention and create an impression of you as a successful person. Naturally, they will want to communicate with you personally.

Sometimes an interview goes like this.

I always suggest that you treat your resume very responsibly, because... a good resume will have to match at the interview. If you write about something confidently and declare about your serious successes, at the interview you will have to speak about it confidently and selfishly (and not mumble, like, it happened by chance and I had nothing to do with it). If you write that you are crazy about accounting, then prepare an emotionally enthusiastic speech about tax deductions and VAT. The phrases in your resume should match what you said at the meeting with your manager.

Logic and style of writing a resume

It is said that the first sentence Kurt Vonnegut wrote on a whiteboard in a creative writing workshop at a university in Iowa was, “Remember that you are writing for strangers.” You should definitely keep this in mind when writing your resume.

The resume must be compiled for a specific vacancy

For example, if you have programming experience and experience in sales and customer consulting, then when applying for a job in the customer service department, you should focus on your sales experience, and keep silent about programming (or mention it very briefly in the additional information section).

In the process of providing services for creating a “selling” resume, I very carefully study the vacancies, responsibilities and requirements in them. Job evaluation is an attempt to see the candidate through the eyes of the employer. This vision allows you to “tailor” your resume to the employer and make it easy to read and understand. For several years now, this method has been helping to find a job faster.

The resume should be beautifully designed

Remember that your resume is read in no more than 1-2 minutes and during this time the manager must find in it all the important points for himself. Help him with this, prepare your resume.

1. Try to place your resume on one A4 page. Maximum of two
2. Present your resume in a consistent, easy-to-read style. To do this, use Word and its tools (headings, subheadings, tables, lists, separators, highlighting...)

The resume should be written in clear and simple language

Leaders are people too. They read a lot of contracts and documents, and sometimes the formal language makes them sick. Don’t hammer “nails” into their heads, write in simple phrases.

The resume should be constructive

To the point and “without water”.

Resume structure

There are several main parts to a resume.

Name and contact information

It is enough to indicate only your phone number and email.

Skills

Decide for yourself what qualities to include in your resume, but rely on the requirements of the vacancy. And, preferably, include only the basic skills, and not all that you have.

If, for example, a designer is required to have knowledge of Photoshop and experience in designing and drawing furniture, then in the skills it is better to indicate these two skills, as well as 2-3 additional skills that may be useful for this position. If you have a lot of experience and you indicate 15-20 skills in the description, then the employer may be embarrassed (for any reason - he will ask for a lot of money, what if he gets bored after 2 months, etc.) If you have a lot of skills, you can easily indicate them in the paragraph “ Additional Information"(and even in this case, don’t overdo it).

experience

Work experience is indicated in the opposite direction chronological order. Last place of work is from above.

I will give a fragment, an example of a well-written resume. Structured and simple. This arrangement of elements seems to me as clear and convenient as possible.

Education

The more time has passed since graduation, the less significant a place education should occupy in your resume. For students, I recommend putting education first (after your name and contacts). In this case, you can indicate the topic of the diploma and some significant scientific works that were completed during the period of study.

Additional Information

As a rule, knowledge of foreign languages, car ownership, hobbies and unique and strong personal qualities or skills are indicated here.

For example, if you want to get a job that requires creativity (let’s say a designer), then in the “Additional information” section you can easily indicate landscape design skills, experience in embossing, working with papier-mâché, good command of plasticine, etc. This will be a big plus for the designer.

As for personal qualities, I advise you to indicate only those that are very highly developed in you. For example, if you have not been late for a single meeting in the last 2 years, you can indicate punctuality; if you clean and maintain order every day, indicate neatness. And so on.

Something else?

Sometimes a resume includes an “Objective” section. I do not recommend including such a section. I write the purpose in the header of the letter and in the cover letter that I send to the employer. The reason I leave a resume without a goal is that with a goal it becomes more limited. The company may have more than just one vacancy and you may be suitable for several, and the manager may want to invite you to try yourself, for example, not in programming, but in consulting clients on IT issues. But what happens if he sees your goal written in large letters? What if this confuses him and stops him? Don't kill your extra chances! Give yourself more freedom.

Give yourself more freedom

Formulations and phrases

Specifics

Leaders love specifics and facts. So show them that on your resume.

Brevity

Sister of talent.

Positive

It is undesirable to use negative language. Such formulations distort the meaning. It is always better to say “striving for victory” rather than “running away from a fiasco.”

What not to include on your resume

• Salary requirements
• Gender, height, weight, etc.
• Residence address (unless, of course, you live in another city)
• Persons who can recommend you. If necessary, the employer will ask you about it.
• Reasons why you left your previous jobs
• All your places of work. It is enough to indicate the last 3-4 places of work (the last 5 years of your work experience). The employer can find out about the rest during a conversation

First, let's remember the golden rules of writing a resume.

Formatting a resume. No more than page A 4. The text is divided into short paragraphs, font - Times New Roman or Arial, font size - 12-14 points. To place emphasis in your resume, it is better to use bold font (not italics, not underlining).

The most optimal resume structure consists of 6 blocks.

1. Personal information of the applicant. Full Name. Contact information (address, phone, email). City of residence. Maybe age.

2. Wishes for future work. The name of the position you are applying for (the same as stated by the employer). You can have your desired salary. If you are interested in several vacancies, you need to write a resume for each of them.

3. Work experience. Describe in your resume only the experience that corresponds to the position. List your places of work in reverse chronological order (last place at the beginning of the list). Indicate the period of work, the name of the company, the scope of its activities, your position and responsibilities, achievements, if any.

4. Education. First of all, name the education that allows you to apply for the position. Information about additional education(courses, trainings) are relevant only if it is related to the vacancy.

5. Professional skills. Skills and knowledge that will be useful in the position. The “Skills” block summarizes what you have learned during your work or at university. Degree of computer and language proficiency.

6. Additional information. Here they mention the possibility of moving to another city. If appropriate, they write about a driver’s license, car, international passport, marital status and hobbies.

How to tell about your professional knowledge and skills.

Professional skills are the knowledge and skills that a candidate needs to work in a particular position. A summary without this point is like a novel without a climax. And many HR people read the “climax” first of all. In addition, on websites (for example, on Rabote.ru), skills are the first thing employers see in search results. Therefore, if you present professional skills correctly, the path to new job may become shorter.

The “Professional skills” block in a resume is a short list of abilities (I can do this and that) that a person has mastered at previous places work or at university. “At the same time, it is important that the knowledge and skills indicated in the resume clearly correspond to the vacancy in question,” says Oksana Suslikova, leading manager of the recruitment agency Connect Personnel.

For example, an applicant is applying for the role of head of the sales department. “Then it is important to indicate in the resume the professional skills of the manager. Experience in department management, operational strategic planning, development of pricing policy, analysis of the competitive environment, selection and training of personnel, motivational programs,” comments Elena Kochukova, deputy general director recruitment agency "Alegro". “And when a candidate describes the skills of a sales manager in his resume—knowledge of sales techniques, ability to negotiate—HR is unlikely to consider him for a management position.”

If you have mastered some skills, but you haven’t had any practice in the workplace, it doesn’t matter. Write that in your resume - and list your theoretical knowledge. This will speak about your inquisitiveness, determination, and willingness to learn. Employers will appreciate it.

The ineradicable “stress resistance”, “communication skills”, “performance” refer to personal qualities and are inappropriate in the “Professional skills” block. In addition, all these “awns” have long become banalities due to constant repetition.

To describe skills, words and phrases are sometimes used: “knowledge, experience of this”, “ability to do this”, “general idea of ​​this”, “possess/familiar with this and that”.

We write a resume according to the rules

Summary

FULL NAME.:
Date of Birth:
Address:
Telephone:
Email mail:

Wishes for future work:

Job title:
Salary:

Experience:

Last place of work:
Years of work:
Your position:

Penultimate place of work:
Years of work:
Your position:
Job responsibilities and, if any, achievements:

Indicate other places of work, if any:

Education:

Years of study:
Educational institution:
Speciality:

Training:
if promoted, indicate the qualification obtained, educational institution, year of receipt:

Professional skills:

Introduce yourself

They often forget to indicate their middle name or home address, or do not indicate which phone number is work and which is home, and what time is best to call.
The text quite often gives the wrong email address, from which an email with a resume is sent. If a candidate claims to be computer proficient, this is a mistake. You must send your resume only from the address that appears in the text of your resume.

Target

Please indicate the exact title of the position you would like to receive. Its wording must exactly match how it is stated.

Some write, instead of a position, “I would like to get an interesting job that would correspond to my education and work experience and could benefit your company for its further successful development.” This kind of formulation causes confusion among the employer and does not find support. It is clear that the person himself has little idea of ​​what exactly he could do and, as it were, invites the employer to solve a crossword puzzle - carefully study the resume and find the correct answer, putting it in the “position” column.

Do not list multiple positions at once. This will reduce your chances. A company requires a specialist for a specific position.

Education

In the “Education” section, indicate: where, when and what educational institution you graduated from, as well as what your grades were (if, of course, they are your “plus”). If you studied at a university or are currently engaged in science, indicate your scientific specialization, academic degree, academic title.

It is necessary to list all kinds of awards from various competitions, olympiads, conferences, including school ones, the presence of honors diplomas, etc. Write in detail, indicate the faculty, specialization, and topic of the diploma. Indicate the numbers of the relevant diplomas, certificates and licenses. Don't forget also about advanced training courses and internships, even if they were one-day ones.

You should not write which school you graduated from and with what grades: you may get the impression that you have nothing else to boast about.

experience

This is the most important and longest section of the resume, which should exceed all other sections combined in volume. Only “bare” facts should be presented in detail, avoiding flattering self-assessments such as “extensive work experience”, “ability to work in a team”, “good organizational skills”, etc. The resume is drawn up so that the manager himself draws the conclusions you need. Let the facts speak for you.

If your work was of a project nature (programmer, designer), then list all your projects that lasted more than one month. If the work is homogeneous or is not of a project nature (manager, salesperson), then highlight some features and types of work in your work (for example, working with a certain large customer or supplier).

For each project (features) it is necessary to briefly and accurately indicate:

· time period accurate to a month (approximately possible);

· place of work; · name of the project (type of work, features);

· a brief description of the project (type of work, features) on 1-2 lines;

· the tools used (for example, computer programs, specific technologies that may be of interest to the employer);

· your role in the work being performed.

Let's say, if you are a programmer, then in the last paragraph you need to indicate what exactly you did, besides programming, for example, production, development of a database structure, documentation, testing, implementation, maintenance, etc.

If you are a teller at a bank, then you need to indicate which clients you worked with (especially if there were large clients) and how many clients there were; what accounts (ruble, foreign currency, household deposits); what program like “bank operating day” did you use, etc.

If you are a Web designer, do not forget to provide links to the work you have completed.

It is in your best interest to make the list as long as possible. The more experience you have, the better your chances of getting a job. Do not neglect mentioning coursework, diplomas, scientific works, all kinds of extras, etc. All of this - large projects or small ones - one way or another constitutes your real experience, which must certainly be reflected in your track record.

Works (projects) and employers must be listed in reverse chronological order, i.e. the last work should be recorded first, the penultimate work second, etc.

When the experience section is omitted, it is impossible to draw conclusions about the candidate's qualities, and the resume will inevitably fall short in comparison with others.

Do I need to indicate the desired salary level?

It depends on the circumstances. Generally speaking, any conversation about salary before the end of the interview usually puts the employer in a difficult position. After all, he does not yet know your capabilities, has not assessed how much you are “worth” in his scale of values ​​and capabilities, and therefore cannot answer in advance whether he is ready to give you the required salary.

Therefore, if you decide to indicate specific numbers at all, then indicate only the desired minimum level to which you agree, and be sure to mention that it is minimal. It's better to write the truth. If you indicate too high a minimum salary, then no one will risk contacting you. If you are offered the requested minimum, then you can always say that the indicated figure is minimal, and the upcoming work is complex, responsible, and it costs much more.

Do I need to provide additional information about myself?

If the specifics of your future work require this, be sure to indicate:

1. Proficiency in a foreign language. You should not overestimate your level of knowledge of a foreign language: you will have to work; a preliminary check of your level of knowledge by an employer or recruitment agency is possible. The following gradation is usually accepted: First level, good knowledge, fluency.

2. Working with a computer. If you are not a programmer or an advanced user, we would recommend consulting with knowledgeable people, what are the correct names of the packages you are working with. You must indicate your knowledge of accounting programs, as well as special programs, for example, graphic editors. It is also necessary to note knowledge of the Internet and the ability to use e-mail, which are not quite the same thing, as some people think.

3. Knowledge of office equipment. Assumes the ability to work with office mini-PBX, copier, and fax. Telex is indicated additionally.

4. Driver's license, availability of a car.

Do you need personal details?

You should present the facts of your industrial biography in as much detail as possible and at least your personal one. This will show that your life is more focused on work than leisure. You should not go into detail about your autobiography, details related to your childhood or the history of your marriages. You should not indicate whether you have a driving license if you have to work in an office.

If your own car, summer house, three children, fishing, etc. are so important to you that you decide to indicate this in your production resume, then the employer will think that you are not a business person. After all, he will have to let you go work time for vehicle inspection or repair, to fit into the schedule of your competitions or tours.

At the end of your resume, it is enough to list 2-3 of your hobbies. It is better to indicate active hobbies (for example, sports, tourism, dancing) than everyday hobbies (dacha, fishing, hunting).

Tailor your resume to the employer's requirements

It is important that the resume takes into account future work and position. So, if, for example, you are applying for a position as a testing or documentation specialist software, you should not focus on the fact that you are a programmer high class, even if you are. After all, your qualifications may be considered too high for this job (overqualified) and refused, understanding that you will not be able to perform the work efficiently, leading to disqualification. And what kind of manager (especially if he is also a former programmer) would want to have a specialist under his command? highly qualified, than he himself?.

If you absolutely need this work, you should transform your resume so that your main activity is testing or documentation, and other activities (programming, implementation, maintenance) are auxiliary.

The same should be done if you are applying to change the type of work performed. It should be shown that all your life you seem to have been doing nothing but working in your new specialization.

There is not and cannot be a single resume for all occasions that could be sent to all companies without changes. Each time, you should first think about what qualities will be valued in a new job, and modify your resume in accordance with them.

15 rules for formatting a resume

1. The resume must have a clear structure and simple language. The employer should take a minimum of time to review the resume and make a decision on it. Your key abilities, achievements, and experience should be evident in the text.

2. The resume must be properly formatted. When reading it, attention should not be distracted. It is necessary to combine neat spaces, even margins and not neglect paragraphs. It is better to print your resume on laser printer- this way your text will look more presentable.

3. The resume should be brief. The optimal volume is 1 page. Dive into detail about your experience over the past 5-7 years. Be sure to express the meaning correctly and avoid unnecessary details.

4. The resume should be thoughtful. Its content must be fully consistent with the area of ​​work for which you are applying. If you can hold different positions, send multiple resumes.

5. The resume must be evidence-based. State the results of your most recent work using numbers and percentages; show the real result of your activities.

6. The resume must be accurate. Beware common places and unnecessary definitions.

7. The resume should be neat. When pointing out your positive experience, do not talk or brag.

8. The resume should be visually attractive. Use quality paper, preferably white or cream. The font should be highly readable, typically in the 12 to 14 point range.

9. Your resume should be simple. Do not get carried away with graphic drawings, elaborate frames, vignettes and other nonsense. Under no circumstances should you complicate the text with abbreviations, which, by the way, may be unknown to the employer. Write the names of schools, institutes and cities in full.

10. The resume should be energetic. Use action verbs to characterize your experience: “arranged”, “organized”, “set up”, etc.

11. The resume must be correct. Use short phrases and don't get carried away with long phrases. When using specific technical terms where necessary, take care that they are understandable to non-specialists.

12. The resume must be impeccable. Don't trust a computer editor. Be sure to re-read it out loud after writing to make sure there are no errors or ambiguities.

13. The resume should be readable. Remember that an illegible resume most often remains unread.

14. The resume must be formal. Do not overload it with personal data, namely: information about relatives, your weight, height, health. Do not attach your photograph to your resume under any circumstances (except when the employer requires it).

15. The resume must be complete. Employers are well aware that if they ask for references, you will provide them. Therefore, do not write at the end of your resume: “Recommendations are attached.”

Four taboos required for delivering a resume

1. Never send an email if the vacancy announcement contains a simple address mailbox. Your employer's displeasure is guaranteed.

2. Never send a resume unless you are sure it will arrive on time before the end of the job competition.

3. Try to refrain from putting all sorts of recommendations, characteristics and other auxiliary material into the envelope. This greatly distracts the recipient's attention from the core of the message - the summary. And if letters of recommendation are written carelessly or are completely irrelevant, prepare for the worst.

4. Don't try to send your resume to the same employer several times, every few days. This technique is guaranteed to ensure your defeat.

Rules for writing a cover letter for a resume

A cover letter is intended to support a resume, and therefore there is no place for too heavy phrases. Simplicity (external, of course) is the ideal. At the same time, you need to carefully check that there are no discrepancies between the contents of your resume and cover letter; such mistakes make a depressing impression on the employer, even if he realizes that you made them unintentionally. A cover letter should contain as few puzzles as possible for the recipient. Abbreviations and symbols.

If you make a minor mistake when writing the exact coordinates (name, abbreviation) of the department (person) to which the resume is addressed, it will most likely be lost. Personnel officers and company management are extremely sensitive to such things. If you write in the text of your summary “Mr., Madam, comrades” or, for example, “To the one who does this”, do not expect an answer. Of course, it is also unacceptable to allow familiarity such as “Dear future employers.” Addressing an employer or official by name is tantamount to failure (this rule is true for both a simple and an electronic resume). Contrary to popular belief, even Western companies do not practice such requests. The job applicant is still an outsider, a stranger; he shouldn't address his boss like that.

In the same way, the apparent simplicity of forms of electronic communication can play a cruel joke on those who reduce the style of writing. Here, as a rule, they do without a cover letter as a separate document, but still insert something like: “Hello, here is my resume. I hope to see you soon." This is blatant irresponsibility, because you have absolutely no idea who will evaluate your resume and how. Any appeal to an official must be done in extremely strict tones, devoid of even the faintest hint of being frivolous.

Writing a resume for publication in a newspaper

1. Start your resume with the position you are applying for.

2. The next thing you should include on your resume is your education. If it is specialized, you should definitely mention it. If your education has nothing to do with your profession, it is better to simply limit yourself to the abbreviation of higher education or secondary education. specialist.

3. Work experience. If you have one, you should definitely indicate your work experience in this position. But if it is small (less than a year), it is better to limit yourself to the phrase “have work experience.”

4. One of the most important points- what you can do, your skills in this work. Try to remember everything that you have ever done, maybe even a long time ago or not very much, but what you have an idea about and what might be of interest to the employer. Write “balances, taxes, wholesale, retail, services, warehouse, currency operations and etc." If this is important for work, indicate the computer programs that you know, albeit imperfectly, and certainly know the language. Language proficiency, even if only limited basic level, can give you advantages.

How to properly format an electronic resume?

A widespread mistake is preparing a resume in the form of a single faceless multi-page table-questionnaire, consisting of certain assessments of the candidate that he gave himself.

The main disadvantage of this solution is that a sample application form is usually taken on the Internet from the website of a specific organization, which has its own characteristics and specific requirements for the candidate.

When replacing a resume with a table, it is impossible to assess the professional and human potential of the candidate. Only free form and the presence of a track record make it possible to evaluate individuality and practical skills and separate them from formalized self-esteem.

If the employer has requirements for resume formatting, strictly follow them. If the site only has a table, then attach a regular resume to it, which will significantly increase your chances of being hired.

Electronic resume submission form

A worthy candidate sends a resume by email with a short cover note and an RTF or DOC file attachment with the name as their last name.

The fact is that after reading, the manager usually places the file with the resume on his computer, usually under the candidate’s name. Therefore, you should not send a file named RESUME.RTF or RESUME.DOC - after all, such a file will definitely have to be renamed.

This file is only for you, perhaps it is the only resume, but for the manager it is one of dozens or hundreds. Only a very few candidates will think of saving managers time and naming the resume file with their own last name, which indicates consideration human factor and wins over the manager in advance.

You should not send your resume to Microsoft Excel: Not everyone uses it. In addition, as already mentioned, a table, including an electronic one, is not best form submission of resumes. I had to receive a resume in the form of a table, twice the width of the screen, which made it almost unreadable. What was the candidate thinking about, what was he counting on?

At the same time, the absence of any formatting can make it difficult to perceive the resume text, so formats Microsoft Word somewhat preferable to, for example, the plain text format (txt or plain-text), which rarely a candidate manages to format in such a way that it is easy to understand and looks good. This is easier to achieve with Word.

Do I need to archive my resume?

Firstly, optimal size resume file - 100-150K. Therefore, do not make a resume file larger than 200-250Kbytes. Shouldn't be included on your resume big pictures or bulky design elements: these increase the file size.

Second, it should not be archived, forcing the manager to waste valuable time unpacking it. Don't make your employer wait or make extra efforts! Moreover, the manager may not unpack your file at all if he uses a different archiver than you.

How to choose a font?

It's good when your resume is easy to read. A clutter of various design elements and a variety of fonts have a bad effect on perception. Write in Arial font with a point size of at least 10, which is easy to read and is usually installed on any computer. There is no need to use fonts that are too small, because managers are often not very knowledgeable people. better vision. Do not use other, less common fonts, as they may not be on the manager’s computer.

About literacy

Of course, many positions do not require 100% literacy. Experience shows that the presence of grammatical and speech errors is weakly related to the business and strong-willed qualities of the candidate - practical skills, efficiency, determination, organizational spirit, and the ability to achieve results.

But the presence of errors often indicates the candidate’s level of training as a specialist - his erudition, theoretical training, logical and algorithmic abilities, and the ability to clearly and coherently express his thoughts.

In any case, grammatical and speech errors have never contributed before good perception text and did not improve the quality of the resume. Ask fellow philologists to read your resume before you decide to send it out.

At your school

If your educational institution is a participant in our Information Support Program for Educational Institutions in Russia, you can work with information and reference systems directly in the educational building (the “Code” or “Techexpert” label is installed on computers in specialized departments, in a computer lab or library).