Text: employment. Resume

Resume is a summary of education, work experience, and qualification. There are two terms which exist in parallel: C.V. (G.B.) or curriculum vitae, which comes from Latin and means autobiography, and resume (Am.) which is borrowed from French and means a summary. There is no much difference between them except that is a resume is usually shorter (one page long) and written by those applicants who have little work experience.

The resume is very important in job searching. It is a calling card which is purposed to attract the interest of the prospective employer.

The resume should describe an applicant’s personality and demonstrate his energy, ambition, and ability to work in teams. It should give the employer a sense that this candidate would be a good investment for the company.

An effective resume must make a good first impression. Of course, appearance is important but content is even more crucial. The information in a resume needs to be well-organized, easy to read, and result-oriented. It usually includes personal information, professional and volunteer experience, special skills, education, accomplishments and references.

An effective resume should address the employer’s needs. Its aim is to show the prospective employers how an applicicant’s skills, accomplishments and abilities match their needs and organization goals. The best way to achieve this is to include only the work experience that is relevant to the job you are applying for.

Every day employers sort through piles of resumes and typically devote 30 seconds or less to each one. Employers won’t read any more than two pages, anyway. If you can fit your resume into one page, that’s fine! Employers are looking for, among other qualities, strong organizational and communication skills.

There are two main formats of a resume: chronological and functional. The most popular among the beginners is a chronological resume. In the chronological resume a list if education and work experience is presented in a reverse chronological order. This is followed by a statement explaining job responsibilities.

In the functional resume experience and skills are given under the join title, without dates or places of an employment. In the functional resume, emphasis is places on what you’ve achieved and not where and when you achieve it. It is practically useful if you have made many changes from one field to another or previous jobs are unrelated to the current position.

Your resume also serves as a self-assessment tool, an opportunity to complete a self-inventory and see where you’ve been and where you’d like to go. The matter of fact is that even an excellent resume will not get you a job all on its town. But it does show that you take your career seriously and help you to market your skills and experience. A good resume helps you to risqué a prospective employer’s interest and prevents you from achieving circular status.

I. Answer the question:

1. What kind of paper is a resume/C.V.?

2. Is any difference between a resume and a C.V.?

3. What is the origin of the two words?

4. What is their Russian analogue?

5. What is the main purpose of a resume?

6. What are the three main features of an efficient resume?

7. Why should an efficient resume be short?

8. What are the characteristics of a chronological format?

9. What are the characteristics of a functional format?

TIPS

In today’s job market, networking is essential. It means using people you know to learn about opportunities. When you are a part of network, you receive information from some people and pass information along to others. Everyone you know in the working word – you former co-workers, your friends and family – should be a part of your network. Networking is especially helpful when you are looking for different job. The more contacts you have in different companies, the more doors can be opened to you. You can find out about job opening before they are advertised. You can get the names of the right people to call. Circulating your resume among your network increases your chances to gain employment.

Model: Chronological Resume

Name: Address: Tel./fax/e-mail: Date of birth: Marital status: (single, married)   Job objective: (optional)

Summary of qualifications/ skills: (optional)