"Vista's Little Voice": How to write a heart-warming resume
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After the Lunar New Year, many people begin to change their career paths. Speaking of work, I have been away from the 9-to-6 life for several years, so I haven’t written a more formal resume for a long time. Having said that, I still believe in the role of resumes and autobiographies, and I think everyone should regularly update their work experience and personal files.
Although I rarely write resumes anymore, because I have worked as a junior employee and a middle-to-high-level supervisor in the past, and I also have rich interview experience, I have some experience in writing resumes. In addition, in recent years, I have often taught in companies, public sectors, and universities. Not only do I teach students how to write resumes and autobiographies, but students often share their experiences in writing resumes and participating in interviews. I hope I can provide some suggestions.
Starting from December 6, 2021, I will provide resume health clinic services at the “[Resume Clinic] (https://resume-clinic.104.com.tw)” opened by 104 Labor Bank. Today, it has helped hundreds of job seekers, providing free resume and health examinations for these freshmen or office workers who want to change careers. I hope it can help you get more interview opportunities, improve your self-confidence in job hunting, and help you find your favorite job faster.
After reading the resumes of hundreds of job seekers, I suddenly discovered that many of them don’t know how to write resumes and don’t know what their job-seeking advantages are.
So, in today’s program, I want to briefly talk to you: How to write an exciting resume?
To write a good resume, you must first master a few key elements.
The first element: You have to think about how to show your strengths, strengths and positive personality traits in a limited space?
If you are not very clear about what expertise and strengths you have, I suggest you take a moment to do a self-inventory before starting to write your resume and autobiography, right? See what strengths and resources you have?
When it comes to writing resumes, I find that some job seekers write resumes as journals or diaries, but some people rack their brains but can barely write two or three lines… I think it is inappropriate to go over or under.
The second element: You must fully understand market dynamics and related trends, and try to connect with your own resources.
For example, if you want to find a programming job, in addition to being familiar with at least one or two computer programming languages, it is best to also know the latest developments in the global information industry and understand which programming languages have prospects and development potential and are most favored by the industry. In addition to grasping the latest trends, we must keep pace with the times and become the talent this era is waiting for.
The third element: You must have a marketing mindset and know how to empathize with others.
Don’t just start from your own perspective and only pay attention to the conditions or treatment you want, etc., but ignore the needs and ideas of the corporate world. It is recommended that you try to think from the interviewer’s perspective: What kind of resume does the company want to receive? What expertise and characteristics are you looking to recruit? And do you have a chance of winning the admission?
Once you have mastered these three key elements, you can start crafting your resume.
Here, I would also like to share with you several indispensable elements of a resume:
The first element: basic personal information.
Please remember to clearly write down your name, address, phone number, email and other contact information in a column. Especially for convenient contact, mobile phone number and email are essential! I have also seen some job seekers write eloquent resumes and autobiographies, but omit the most basic contact information, which is really incredible. Therefore, it is recommended that you check your resume several times before sending it out!
The second element: Which company are you applying for?
Please specify the company name, unit and professional title you want to apply for. When I help people with their resume check-ups, I often find that many people do not clearly write down the positions they want to apply for, which will also cause trouble to the company’s human resources colleagues. Especially if some companies may open a lot of vacancies at once, or if you submit your resume through elders, relatives, friends or seniors, you should clearly write down the position you hope to apply for in your resume.
The third element: academic qualifications.
It is recommended that you write in reverse chronological order, starting from the highest academic level. Of course, remember to write down the years of enrollment and graduation. If you dropped out of school, you should write it clearly on your resume and don’t try to get away with it.
A job seeker once asked me through “Resume Clinic” whether dropping out of college is a flaw? I feel that although academic qualifications don’t mean everything, they are indeed very important reference information. If given the opportunity, I would certainly encourage everyone to find time to complete their studies in the future. But at the moment you should at least be honest and try to showcase your strengths and weaknesses in order to get an interview.
The fourth element: work experience and other experiences.
You can follow the reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent job, and remember to write down the job title and work content in a columnar manner. If you have a lot of work experience or have worked for many companies, you can also classify the job types so that the interviewer can quickly understand your expertise and work experience.
In addition to work experience, if you have some other experience, you can also add it. To put it simply, as long as it is information that you think will be helpful to your job search or will help impress the interviewer, you can list it for reference.
However, I would also like to remind some young friends here not to spend too much time talking about their experiences in university clubs, or think that wonderful club experiences will be of great help in job hunting. This is because there is still a big difference between university club activities and the real-world business world, so unless you really make some achievements, club activities should be used as a supplementary reference.
The fifth element: honors, awards and skills.
Any honors, certifications or awards that can prove your abilities will be helpful in your job search. Therefore, as long as it is an honor issued or recognized by a credible unit, you can list it. So skills certifications or certificates you have passed, or TOEIC, TOEFL or Japanese N1, N2 related to foreign language ability, etc., and even winning experiences in some business competitions can also help you add points!
But please note that if your grades are not satisfactory, you may have to hide your clumsiness. I once saw a fresh graduate from a foreign language department of a university writing on his resume that his TOEIC score was 720.
Because according to the TOEIC Taiwan official website and 104 Job Bank [Compilation] (https://bit.ly/3BjzNUk), if job seekers want to enter popular industries such as technology, finance or biotechnology, the basic TOEIC score threshold is 700 points. A TOEIC score of more than 700 points may not be too bad, but considering that this student is from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, people can’t help but worry about his English proficiency.
In addition to the above five elements, what else should you pay attention to when writing a resume? Finally, I have three more suggestions to share with you:
Tip number one: Use data to showcase your strengths.
Based on the hundreds of resumes I have read recently, I found that many people just describe what they have done, but fail to impress the interviewer. This is really a pity.
Therefore, I would like to suggest that you don’t just describe what work you have done in the past, but use more data or specific performance to prove your abilities! For example: writing more than 20 reports with a click rate of over 100,000 times during his tenure, or helping the company complete a certain project, bringing in an order worth 20 million yuan, etc.
The second suggestion: use more verbs to package yourself.
In addition, when writing your resume, don’t just use nouns to describe it. You can also use more [appropriate verbs] (https://bit.ly/3uWmyYq). I learned this from [Kai-fu Lee], chairman of Sinovation Ventures. Kai-Fu Lee mentioned that if you want to engage in financial work, you may wish to use more verbs such as “predict” and “analyze”; if you want to be interested in market development, you may consider using verbs such as “promote” and “accelerate”; if you want to engage in technical work, you may use more verbs such as “development” and “invent”. Use these verbs well, and you might get the attention of the personnel in the HR department who read hundreds of resumes every day.
Tip No. 3: Be specific about your personality traits.
Many job seekers have asked me a question: What should I do if my academic experience is lackluster?
In addition to finding time for self-study, I would also suggest that in addition to talking more about your academic and work experience on your resume, you might as well talk more about your own personality traits, explain the correlation between your personality traits and the position you are applying for, and why the company should provide interview opportunities?
Of course, don’t just write that you are hard-working, serious, responsible and careful, try to cite actual cases or use data to prove it… It would be better if you could ask some teachers or social sages to endorse you.
Never write untrue words or make promises that exceed your own responsibilities, or have too good or unrealistic imaginations about your job. For example, if you write that you hope that the company will subsidize you to study for a master’s degree on the job, or to rotate to different departments, or even provide you with opportunities to go abroad, etc., this will also make your colleagues feel troubled and even feel a little dumbfounded.
I know it is very convenient to send resumes online, but I really hope that everyone can carefully face every position they want to apply for, and then write the resume carefully, and there must be no typos. And please remember to use data and actual cases to illustrate your strengths, advantages and expertise, and show your personality traits and highlights between the lines.
Finally, I wish you find your dream job! If you have any questions related to job hunting or resume writing, please feel free to leave a message to discuss with me.
If you like “Vista’s Little Voice”, please subscribe to my YouTube channel, or go to Apple Podcast Give me a five-star review and share this show with friends who are interested.
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Further reading
- Workplace Revolution: Build an Impeccable Resume with ChatGPT
- Use AI copywriting to market yourself: Online resume health checkup
- “Vista’s Little Voice”: Have you started writing your “Achievements List”
