Resume CRASH COURSE for BEGINNERS - Simple, clear, direct!

Quick Summary

The fundamental purpose of a resume is to convince employers you’re worth interviewing.

Recruiters take on average 6 seconds to skim a resume and determine whether a candidate is shortlisted for the first interview.

Recruiting funnel:

• 17% of applicants who submitted their Resume make it to the screening stage

• 32% are invited for an interview

• 31% receive a job offer

• 69% accept the job offer

• At the end of the day, only 1.2% of all applicants are hired

Quick Summary

What recruiters look for in a Resume

1. If it’s well organized and formatted

2. How appropriate the candidate’s experiences are for the role

3. Evidence of business impact

Quick Summary

Resume = Résumé = “summary” or “abstract”

• 1-page summary

• United States

CV = Curriculum Vitae = “course of life”

• No length limit; details the whole course of one’s career

• Primarily used for Academic purposes

• United Kingdom and Europe

Quick Summary

How far back should a resume go?

• Recent graduates: include university and work experience

• Young professionals: include only work experience

• Mid-level professionals: include work experience split into related and unrelated to the role

Quick Summary

The Chronological Resume:

1. Contact Information

• Your first and last names (middle names are optional)

• Nationality

• Phone number

• Email address

• Mailing address

2. Education

• Never include elementary and middle schools

• Include high school only (1) if you are still in high school, (2) if you only have a high school diploma, or (3) if you are in the first few years of college

• For each degree you have from the bachelor’s degree onwards, specify (1) the type of degree, (2) the name of the course, and (3) the educational institution

• Add the starting and ending month and year and the location

3. Work Experience

• Your most recent work experiences should be at the top and your older experience down below

• State the name and the industry of the company you have worked for. Below that, add the title or name of your role.

• Add the starting and ending month and year and the location for each work experience.

• Add in two to three bullet points that describe your responsibilities and accomplishments in the position. In the first bullet point, write a high-level overview of your responsibilities. Then, in the second and third bullet points, write down quantifiable examples of the results of your work.

4. Other important accomplishments and activities

• Honors and awards, grants, language skills, programming skills, or volunteering

• They should have (1) been conducted for a substantial period, (2) generated significant results, (3) be unique or challenging to achieve, and (4) applicable for the job

Quick Summary

What not to include in a Resume

1. Graphical Elements

2. Personal Information

3. Salary History

Quick Summary

Elements that may or may not be included in a Resume:

1. Objective

• Should only be included by two types of job applicants: (1) candidates who are relocating to a new city or (2) candidates who are planning to do a career transition

• The Objective has two parts. The first one is a summary of your primary areas of expertise, and the second one summarizes your career goals.

2. Picture

• Frame the picture from the waist up

• Find a neutral background

• Dress professionally

• Keep facial expressions neutral but friendly

• Avoid any strong editing

• Add your picture to your resume either on the top right or on the top left

Quick Summary

ATS = Applicant Tracking Systems

• A software application that automatically filters applications based on criteria chosen by recruiters, such as keywords, skills, former employers, years of experience, and schools attended

• Used by over 90% of large companies

Links to text analyzers

• JobScan (https://www.jobscan.co/)

• Countwordsfree (https://countwordsfree.com/)

• Wordcounter (https://wordcounter.net/)

TODOs

1. Match your resume’s keywords to the Job Description’s keywords for each role that you’re applying for

• Step 1: List the top required skills for the role

• Step 2: Identify the keywords and action verbs used to describe the role

• Step 3: Include the Job Description’s keywords in your Resume

Quick Summary

Getting the right tone for your Resume

• Don’t write your resume in the third person

• Use the first person but leave out the pronoun “I”

• Start with an action verb in the passive tone of voice

• Use concise sentences

• Don’t use general phrases of self-promotion

Quick Summary

The five most common Resume mistakes

1. Spelling Mistakes

2. Lies and half-truths

3. Being too modest

4. Being too arrogant

5. Not submitting your Resume in the pdf format

Quick Summary

Tips for picking the right format and layout for your Resume

• Use simple layouts with clear sections and heading titles

• Adjust the page margins

• Use uniform sections

• Use a regular font, such as Arial or Calibri

• Use sizes 10-12 for the body and 12-16 for headings

• Use subtle colors, such as black, gray, and blue

• Fill in at least one full page

Quick Summary

Strategies for creating an entry-level Resume:

• Focus on soft skills

• Call attention to your capacity to learn

• Highlight your educational background

Final Tips

1. Don’t transform a simple activity into something unnecessarily fancy

2. Don’t leave lots of white space in your resume

3. Add a cover letter