What is a Resume?

Your 'Curriculum Vitae' (CV) or resume and the covering letter that accompanies it are essential tools in seeking a new position. While the CV will not win you the job, it will get you an interview. It is well worth the time you spend to make it as professional and impressive as possible.

Remember, the average amount of time spent on reading a CV has been estimated as between 30 and 60 seconds. That's not much time to sell yourself. Most prospective employers scan CV's. They do not, in the initial stages, actually read your life history word for word.

The resume is a selling tool that outlines your skills and experiences so an employer can see, at a glance, how you can contribute to the employer's workplace.

Resume writing tips

The Layout

Resume headings should be ordered in such a way to attract the reader's eye.

Name, address, home phone number, work phone number and e-mail address

Many job seekers provide e-mail addresses in the cover letter but not in the resume itself. This information is most important.

Job or Career Objective

Provide a career objective in one or two concise sentences toward the beginning of the resume.

Education

List your degrees in reverse chronological order with most recent first. E.g. MCA, BE Remember to include start and graduation dates, name and location of institution.

Skill set

Every prospective IT employer and recruiter scans the skill set, which is often deceptive. Candidates list skills such as C++ or Java in this category; when in fact they may have scant knowledge of these, much to the expertise in Visual Basic.

Work Experience

List in reverse chronological order with most recent first. Include dates, name of employer, city and state.

Project experience

Perhaps the most vital part of a software programmer's cv. List the skill set used in the project, name of the client, team size, role in the project as well as the duration of the project.

Activities

List most relevant information first. Include offices held, name of organization, years served and location.

Include a brief description of the activities and achievements

You may want to consider interesting or unusual accomplishments.