Resume / CV - help needed

[Elgee]

Can anyone help with compiling a really good Resume / Curriculum Vitae ?

 

I have a basic one that I put up at Monster Jobs, but I'm trying to write one up in MS Word.  I haven't needed to do one in many many years, so I'm not sure I'm doing it right.

 

Help !  :D

[Thorum]

a couple of important things:

 

- clear delineation

- every relevant experience & schooling, most recent first

- address, name, phone, mail in full and very obvious

- positive points (why should they take you)

 

- and in the letter you add why you wanna take that job

[Alys Kinch]

there are templates all over the web and in microsoft word as well.

 

and really, just put the most relavent things. you don't want to give them a book unless you are a teacher.

[JenniferL]

Can you post what you've got so far? It's easier to critique if I can see it.

[Elgee]

Thanks, Kathana  :)

 

Here is what I have:

 

Curriculum Vitae(name & address)

(phone numbers)

(Email)

 

Personal Profile

Is something like this ever read / necessary ?

 

Work Experience

 

Date Employed Job Description Company

December 2001 Rental Administrator Select Letting

To present

Correspondence / communications with owners, tenants and vendors

Manage tenant collections, send out delinquency and reminder letters

Handle tenant complaint calls, assign & monitor maintenance requests

Review, approve and process invoices for payment

Prepare and maintain property and tenant files

Valuate properties and liaise with owners

Vetting & Placing tenants

Prepare & review rental contracts and all related documents

Handle day to day problems (ie repairs, tracing of bad debtors, etc)

All administrative & accounting work

Inspect properties during lease period & do final inspection

Receive and pay all monies involved (rent, municipal bills, repairs, etc)

 

June 1999 Travel Consultant – Part Time Peter Berlin’s Travel Centre

To June 2001

Travel Consultant for tourists and business people who wish to travel to Mauritius.

 

September 1999 Owner of Art Gallery Absolute Art

To September 2001

Customer Service (ie selling artwork, advising on framing)

Solicit Corporate work

Organise Exhibitions (for instance in Mauritius)

Obtain original art for Gallery

 

July 1987 Archivist Dutch Reformed Church Archives

To July 2000

Advise on and interpret DRC Law to 1500 parish and diocese administrators.

Verify the legality of incoming records & documents from above Administrators.

Designed and wrote a new Archive & Museum Operating Manual for above administrators.

Design, Implement & Administrate Databases for the Catalogues & Indices.

Designed Computerized Indexing System for Genealogical Records.

Designed Computerized Cataloguing System for Library.

Catalogue Library Books using above System.

Designed Computerized Cataloguing System for Photo Collection.

Identify and Catalogue Photo's using above System.

Sort and Catalogue Archival Documents, Records, Manuscripts and Books.Advise and Assist Researchers, eg Genealogical Research, Medical Research into Inherited Diseases & Defects.

Administrative & Secretarial Duties

 

 

Education

 

Date Institution Qualifications

2002 – present Tenant Profile Network Several day courses in Rental Law/Administration

 

1987 Sight & Sound Typing and Word Processing Course

(Boston House College)

 

1984 – 1986 University of Stellenbosch B.Econ and BA Languages (incomplete due to

financial reasons)

 

1983 Vredenburg High School Graduated equivalent to A levels

 

 

 

Skills

Skill Name Skill Level Last Used / Experience

Basic Web Design Beginner 4+ years ago / 1 year

Bookkeeping Intermediate Currently Used / 20 years

Care Giving to elderly Intermediate Currently Used / 10 years

Customer Service Expert Currently Used / 20 years

DB Text Expert 4+ years ago / 2 years

Exhibition Organisation Intermediate 4+ years ago / 2 years

Leadership & Motivation Expert Currently Used / 12 years

Ms Word, Ms Excel Expert Currently Used / 12 years

MultiMate Expert 4+ years ago / 12 years

Office Administration Expert Currently Used / 20 years

Rapid File Expert 4+ years ago / 10 years

Rental Administration / Agent Expert Currently Used / 8 years

Travel Consulting Intermediate 4+ years ago / 2 years

 

 

Languages

 

Language Proficiency Level

English Fluent – Full knowledge

Afrikaans Fluent – Full knowledge

French Conversational – Limited

German Conversational – Limited

Dutch Conversational – Limited

Flemish Conversational – Limited

Italian Conversational – Limited

Russian Basic - Limited

 

Hobbies

Is something like this ever read / necessary?

 

References

Available on request

 

 

edit: the spacing got a bit scrambled on here - sorry, I'll try to clean it up just now

[JenniferL]

Take out hobbies and personal profile.  Unless resume conventions are different in South Africa than in the US, those aren't needed.  You can add anything you feel is relevant to your cover letter. Also remove "references available on request" line. that's implied with your work history. If you list it there, then you are saying they can contact them to verify employment, etc.  Try to shorten your list of job skills and duties. Ideally, you should highlight three to four skills per job listed. Use action words ending with "ing" where ever possible.  If you saved the company money or increased sales, brag about it here. Remove high school from your education. It was so long ago it's no longer relevant, especially since you have a degree. List languages as one of your skills. It's not necessary to list out your level of proficiency, unless it's required for the job you're applying for.

 

The cover letter explains why they should look at the resume. The resume convinces them to call you for an interview. The interview is where you sell yourself.

 

I hope this helps.

[Elgee]

That's an enormous help, thanks  :D

 

Bear in mind that I'm applying for jobs overseas, which is why I've included some things I might not do for local applications, for instance the languages I speak.

 

The reason I mentioned my High School education is because I did NOT complete my degree - I had to stop third way through my 3rd (final) year due to financial restraints.

 

Am I right in thinking that I would concentrate more on my current job with regards to job skills and duties?

 

[Segurant]

What kind of job are you looking for?  You need to tailor your resume to profession you are wanting to join.

 

Ideally, you'll want your resume one page long, standard font size.  If you need more than one page, put the exciting stuff first.

 

Looking over your information, one detail will stick out in employer's minds, what did you do from Sept 01 to December 01?  Also the job ending in September 01 should be before the job ending in June 01.

 

Since you are looking for jobs overseas, the location of your prior employments should be added.

 

A helpful tip on your job description should be what you accomplished like Kathana mentioned.

 

On your skills, list your ratings from strongest to weakest or just list your strongest skills.  Also only list the skills that apply for your job you are seeking.

 

I hope these help.  I look at resumes once a month and have done some interviewing in the past.

 

Let me know if you redo your resume and I'll help look it over.

[Elgee]

Thanks! Will work on it once the power goes back on  ::)