Career

Fresh graduates often face the daunting challenge of writing their first resume. Always remember a resume is a summary of your education qualifications and work experience. Companies usually want to see your resume when you apply for a job. A covering letter is the letter that accompanies your resume when you send it to a company. Both of the documents are vitally important in the job application process.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE IMPORTANT

Your resume and covering letter are usually the first impression that an employer has of you and because an employer may have hundreds of job applications to consider, you have about 15 seconds to make sure that first impression is a good one. You'd never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Why do you need a good resume? Remember , your resume is your visiting card, your ambassador, your shop window. It represents you and it has a specific: to get you an interview! To do this, it must:

• attact
• inform
• persuade
• sell

THE COVER LETTER

Before even looking at your resume, an employer usually reads your cover letter. If it is badly-written, or untidy, or difficult to read, your resume will probably go into the nearest bin. If it is well-written, attractive, easy to read and persuasive, the employer will turn to your RESUME.

It's that simple!

Your cover letter is a sales letter. The reader of your letter may be busy and unwilling to waste time on unnecessary details. You should therefore design your letter to be easy to read. It should be short, concise and relevant. It should not be too formal or complicated. It should clearly outline the position you are applying for, say where you learned about the position, why you want the position and intrigue the reader about why you would be a benefit to the company and last but not the least request for an intervier!

The layout of a modern business letter in English is very simple. Your address is at the top, on the right or in the middle.

Take note not to wrete your name there. Agood way of putting the date is using bith numbers and text as it doesn't sound too official and therefore impolite. A second reason is writing dates using numbers only may lead to confusion due to the American and British system. The rest of the letter can be in 'block' format, with each line starting on the left. Try to keep the whole letter on one single page, with plenty of white space.

THE CONTENT

Your resume is the summary of your professional life. You must not give false information to create a good image nor must you give excess onformation for your employer has very little tome to scan through your resume. Thus present information which are relevant and would interest your employer. Exactly what you include depends partly on your type of work. There are usually 5 general headings of information to include:

• personal details- name, address, email and telephone number (and sometimes nationality, age/date of birth and marital status)
• objective- a headline that summarizes the job opportunity you are seeking
• work experience- your previous employment in reverse chronological order- with most detail for your present or most recent job
• education-details of secondary and university education- including the establishments and qualifications
• personal interests- demonstrating that you are a balanced, responsible member of society with an iteresting life outside work

Sending a good picture with your resume helps, for it always creates a positive impression. Highlight if you have any specialized skills, example computer programming; that be of interest to your employer. Doput up sxtracurricular activities and any volunrary work that you have participated in for it shows your dynamism, multi-tasking talent to work as a team. If you are a linguist do highlight your language specializations, for it always gives you an edge over your peers. Last but not the least, put up two references or simply write 'Available on request'.

THE RESUME

Your resume's job is very simple: to get you a interview. To do tish, your resume must be:

• clear
• well-organized
• easy to read
• concise
• relevant to the job offered.

SUGGESTIONS

• Don't write CV or resume at the top.
• Don't write Mr, Mrs or Miss in front of your name.
• Don't give minor or unimportant school qualifications.
• Don't give lots of irrelevant or unimportant hobbies.
• Don't write names in capital letters or use lots of different typefaces and sizes.
• Don't use coloured paper.
• Don't make your CV/resume more then 2 pages.
• Do be positive.
• Do emphasize the benefit you will bring to an employer.
• Do use active verbs.
• Do keep to the point. Be relevant.
• Do create an organised layout.
• Do be neat and use good quality paper.
• Do use a word- processor.
• Do use wide margins and plenty of white space.
• Do use a good quality photo.
• Do check your work for spelling errors and for grammatical errors.
• Do ask a friend to look at your CV and letter.
• Do sign your leller with a blue or black fountain pen.