Resume writing

When writing a resume it is important to remember that this is likely to be the first impression that a potential employer will have of you. We all know that first impressions are important, and this is no different for a resume. A poorly written resume, with mistakes, grammatical errors, overly long or containing clichés and vague generic statements can all be reasons that your job application does not overcome the first hurdle.

We recommend the following format

• Start with personal details, name, telephone number, email address etc. Use a personal email address but ensure it is professional.
• Career Objective – Be concise and specific. Avoid bland statements such as ‘To use my skills to help a business achieve its goals’- for an employer this is taken as a given. Briefly describe your specific skills and strengths and describe the next 2 steps in your career path that you are working towards.
• Education – List all qualifications, with most recent or highest qualification first, including institution, grades where appropriate, and additional information such as ‘first time passes’.
• Work experience – Starting with your most recent work including, job title, organisation and dates including month and year. Always include a brief description of the company including its size and core business or industry that it operates within. Give most time and space to your most recent work, giving specific examples of your responsibilities, and focus mostly on the existing skills that you have which most closely relate to the next position you are seeking. This still applies to situations where you are seeking to change your type of position – you need to demonstrate what skills you have that will enable you to make this change.
• Achievements – For each position you have held ensure that you demonstrate at least 2-3 achievements you made in this role, specifying concisely what goal you achieved and how you did it.
• Other skills/Systems etc . Employers are interested in the skills that can help you make an easy transition into their vacancy. Knowledge of a particular system or job specific training can give you the edge over another candidate so remember to include these things.
• Interests. Better organisations are increasingly interested in what you enjoy outside of work, so where possible include some non work related achievements whether these relate to sports, charity or community work or something completely different.
• Resume length. Of course candidates can have very different levels of experience, but we recommend keeping your resume to no more than 4-5 pages. More pages than this are very unlikely to be read.
• Gaps. Avoid gaps on your resume. If you took some time out to travel or renovate your house, add this in a simple line in your resume. Always add years and months to your dates. If you just write 2009-2010 it will be assumed you are trying to cover a gap, which you may not be.
• Resume style. Keep your resume looking professional. Avoid lots of colours or different font sizes and types. Of course you want your resume to stand out, but you will achieve this through quality content rather than though unusual styling.
• References. We recommend providing 2 -3 work referees names and positions. Even if you wish to withhold contact details at this stage, it is better to add referee details. Simply writing’ referees available on request’ can suggest that you have not considered who you referees will be.

All candidates have a different story to tell and your experience will not be the same. At Sapphire we are always ready to give specific advice tailored to you as an individual, so for a more specific consultation just give us a call.