How To Compose A Good Resume If you are used to applying for jobs or even very short term contracts like translation jobs, you will undoubtedly be aware of having to write a resume, which is also called a curriculum vitae (CV). Many people have a difficult time with writing their CV and this is not surprising because there are numerous different methods of writing one. In this piece, we will take a look at composing a CV All we workers have a history. We all went to school and we all have had jobs, the disparity being how long we went to school, how long we have been working and what we have been working at. The art of composing a winning CV is how best to present that history so that you put yourself in the best possible light without misrepresenting yourself. The first thing to do, even before you start searching for a job, is to set down everything you have done of any importance in the best date order that you are able to remember. This is obviously easier for some than for others but it is important to get the time line as accurate as possible, because future mistakes may be seen by prospective employers as lies and that is the last thing that you want. Now you can begin searching for work, although you have not written your CV yet. But you are ready to. The point is, you cannot compose a good CV unless you know who is going to be reading it. Your CV is the story of your working and educational life and you cannot write a good one until you know what your target audience is. You would not write a steamy novel for kids and you would not write a fairytale for adults. Attempt to look at it from the employer's point of view. If you are 45 years old, most employers would think it irrelevant that you went grape picking in France in the autumn when you were 17. However, it may not be irrelevant if you were demonstrating a longterm knowledge of the French language so that you could get work as a translator. Likewise, it is better for a young person to put that fact in than an older person, because it depicts a willingness to work on behalf of the younger person. They say that there are about 28 people chasing every job in the UK now and I bet it is far more if the job is a decent one, so you can imagine the boss sitting there, the phone going every ten minutes, people putting questions, routine jobs needing to be done AND he or she is short staffed (hence the vacancy) AND there is a stack of job application forms (CV's) to read through. You would like yours to stand out for the correct reasons. You want the boss to be able to scan down the page and think that was clear and easy. Luckily, the days are gone when handwriting was an an issue, although for some jobs an extremely well hand-written CV would still be very impressive, but I have not seen exquisite handwriting for years, so stick with the word-processor. A very short covering letter should introduce your CV, just to make it clear what you are applying for. I would attach that to the CV with a paper clip, so that it can be easily discarded. Then the CV:
Name Address Tel No Email Relevant Qualifications: Previous Job Experience: Leave white space to make the page easily readable, perhaps one blank line between data in a section and two between sections. Use a clear font of readable size (10-12). I like 12 because I can read it without my glasses.. Start qualifications with the highest most relevant and experience from the last position and work down. Endeavour to keep everything on one page, but do not cheat to do it by squashing lines up and reducing the font. Endeavour not to make the boss curse you before you have even met each other! Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on quite a number of subjects, but is at present concerned with Professional Translation Services. If you want to know more go to our website at Real Translator Jobs Advice.