5 pointers for English CVs

You might be perfect for the job, but if your resume isn't, you could lose out. A top-notch English resume will set you apart from the competition. Just follow these tips for writing a winning resume and get the job!

Review your history.

First, make a list of your previous jobs and educational qualifications. Then, write down everything you can remember including the company information, certificates, degrees, your job titles and duties, and specific accomplishments.

State your objective.

An objective is a goal, and many employers want to know your employment goal when you apply to work for them. It helps them determine if you're a good match. Include a heading at the beginning of your resume called "Objective" and then write a short statement. Example: "To work in a dynamic marketing department."

Duties or accomplishments?

A duty is an assigned task. An accomplishment is an achievement - a positive result of your efforts. Employers like to know what your tasks were in past jobs, but they're more interested in what you achieved. So when describing past jobs, brag a little! Cite specific accomplishments. Example: One of your duties was doing staff scheduling, and you solved a big scheduling problem. Write, "Solved scheduling conflict."

Adjust your grammar.

Since you have lots to say, but little space, resume writing standards allow for abbreviated sentence construction. Leave out sentence subjects (e.g. I, my manager), possessive pronouns (my/mine, his/hers), and sometimes even articles (the, a). If you're listing more than one accomplishment in a sentence you can replace "and" with a semicolon. Example: "I led an important project and my manager gave me an award" would become "Led key project; awarded by manager."

Use action verbs.

Action verbs show a specific action, e.g. solved, managed, initiated, accomplished. Examples of passive verbs are am, was, have and had. In a resume, action verbs make you sound like a motivated, energetic person - just the type someone would want to hire! Example: "Managed a team of 20 employees" sounds more powerful than "Was in charge of 20 employees."