RESUME PREPARATION Resume (Curriculum Vitae - CV) is a document that is specifically used in business applications and introduces you to the employer and/or human resources department. A resume that accurately reflects you contains information about you like your education, work experience, completed internships and volunteer work experience, skills and competencies. The most important feature of a CV is that it is required to reflect you to your employer or where you apply as good as possible. If you prepare your resume carefully and according to the position you are applying for, you will also increase your chances of being invited to an interview or selected for the job. What are the key features of a good CV? Everyone can prepare a resume for themselves, but there are some points that can help you to get rid of your past: 1 : It must be neither too long nor too short. You should prepare a catchy but not an exaggerated resume. It should be easy to read and well organized. It must be prepared according to the position or institution you are applying for. If you need to add photos, make sure you use a suitable photo for the job application. Do not hesitate to be creative. Do not forget to emphasize your strengths. Provide the right information. Your resume should never contain false information. What are the parts of the CV? There is no single way to prepare a resume, but it will be useful for you to follow a general framework 2. If you are preparing a CV for the first time, you can request an empty format from your University's CDC, or you can customize the CV of one of your friend or colleague. Some institutions, for example the European Union, the World Bank, the Higher Education Institution, use their own CV format. If you have encountered such a situation, use the institution's CV format. General overview about the main and selective parts of a CV is provided below. You can benefit from these explanations while creating your own resume. A CV is basically composed of 5 main sections: Personal Information: This section contains your name, address, date of birth and contact information (telephone, e-mail, etc.). It is important that this information is 1 Muradoğlu Işım, Neslihan (2010) Yeni Mezunun İş Rehberi: işte iş, İstanbul: Yenibiriş İnsan Kaynakları Hizmetleri Danışmanlık ve Yayıncılık, p.20 2 qycguidance.org Manual: Self-guidance and Modern Media Literacy (2016)
included at the beginning of the resume and easily visible. If your education and experience are in line with the position you are applying for, the employer will communicate with you through the information contained herein. That's why you should make sure that your contact information is up-to-date. Another thing to be aware of is your e-mail address. Addresses like Kirikkalp_67@hotmail.com or nslhngbkn2511@gmail.com are not eligible for business applications. Your e-mail address should be an address that will imply your seriousness and should be easy to read and write. We recommend that you choose an e-mail address which includes your name like a.celik@gmail.com. Also, you should not include unnecessary information such as how many people you live within your home or how many children you have in this section. If the position you are applying for requires, you can add information like nationality or marital status. Educational status: In this section, you should write the programs you graduated in a reverse chronological order. For example, if you are completing a graduate degree, you must first provide the graduate information and then the information about your Bachelor s degree. You should write the full name of the university and its department, the date you have started to and graduated from your studies. If you have not graduated, you can write down your future date of graduation. Also, if you have completed programs like sub-branches, double major degrees, you should also mention them. In this section, you can add the education language of your department (for example English) or scholarships you have been granted (for example Tübitak scholarship). Work experience: In this section, all information related to work experience should be placed in reverse chronological order with addition of all necessary details. In other words, you have to start this part from your last work experience. If you are still working in a place, you can leave the workout date blank. If you attended internship programs and/or voluntary work experience that you have completed, you can specify in this section. When explaining your work experience, it is recommended that you explain each of your responsibilities and duties in detail. Also, mentioning the skills and competencies that this experience has added you will enrich your resume. Skills: It is recommended that this section should be short and clear. Generally foreign language knowledge and digital skills are included. You can add the level of foreign languages you know. You also need to add your ability to use programs such as Microsoft Office to emphasize your digital capabilities. The content of this section is shaped according to your preference. If you have the skills required by the position you are applying for and even if you have supporting documents (certificates, official documents, etc.) about these skills, you will have an advantage when you present them. For example, if you are applying for a job that requires driving and you have a driver's license, it will be helpful for you to state your driver license. Awards / Certificates: The awards you receive and the courses and trainings you have already attended can be included in this section. You should write the exact name of the program you have attended, the full name of the institution that gave the education
and the dates of the education clearly and accurately. If you have certificates and participation documents from different programs, you can specify them in this section. If you choose, you can also add the following sections to your resume: Publications: Academic publications are one of the elements that enrich your CV and separate it from other resumes. If you have published articles, books, reports, announcements, presentations, etc., you can include them in this section. References: The person you use as a reference may vary according to the position you are applying for. A reference that recognizes the position / sector you want to work in will appear better in your CV. The person to whom you use as a reference will usually be one of your former administrators. We recommend that you choose a person who knows your skills and capacity well. If you are a new graduate, you can refer to one of your teachers as a reference. If you have experience in your internship, you are free to add your supervisor to your references. A point to note here is that you should inform the people you name as your references about your application. When the employer contacts with your reference, he/she must not say "I do not know this application". Resume types First of all, you need to decide what kind of CV you will use when you are preparing a CV. The information below can help you about making this decision. (See annex 1) There are basically two types of CVs, chronological and functional. Chronological CV s focuses on your working experience. In the functional CV, your skills and competencies are emphasized. The CVs that combine these two features are called Compound CV s. Besides the principal CVs types there are other CV types which are increasingly popular today. Artist CV, Video CV and European CV are examples of these new type CV s. The chronological resume (The chronological CV) It is the most well-known and widely used type of CV. It has a format cantered on your professional experience and your work experience. The position you apply will be a great advantage if the position coincides with your previous experience. It is worth pointing out that the chronological CV is not just a document that you have listed the places you have previously worked from top to bottom. When describing your experiences, you should also mention the skills, competencies and strengths you have. Since it is the most common CV type that employers are familiar with it and prefer its usage. Bestow advantage in applications made in the same sector/specialty It emphasizes your experiences and achievements. It is the most appropriate type of CV for newly graduates, even if don t contain work experience
If you have to take a long break from your working life, a chronological CV can make this situation more obvious. Also, if you have decided to work in a different sector or specialty, it may be more useful to use other CV types. The chronological CV will not suffice in emphasizing your strengths that will make you succeed in other areas. The functional resume (The Functional CV) Although there is not a particularly preferred type of resume in business applications, it may be necessary to use functional CVs for some positions. If the job description focuses exclusively on expertise, skill, and achievements rather than education and experience, it would be more appropriate to apply for a functional resume. If you work in very different jobs, and you change jobs at frequent intervals, the functional CV will help you to emphasize that what each experience gives you. If you want to change the sector you worked in, you can clearly explain your transferable skills to other areas It is a suitable format for people who have worked in very different jobs Emphasize your skills and competences It is not enough to emphasize the progress you have made in your career and the point you have reached Sometimes it may arose the suspicion of whether some information is hiding or not If you are a new graduate, you may find it hard to fill each skill The combined resume (The combined CV) Combined CV is a format which is a combination of chronological and functional CV types. It is a longer format than other types, but it is effective in terms of representing experience and achievements at the same time. Those who have raised both in their profession and have achieved significant success in their working life will prefer to use combined CV. It is the best format to show achievements and experience It allows you to emphasize your strengths your skills and your experience at the same time Longer than other CV types and this can make it difficult to read It is not a suitable format for new graduates
Infographic resume (Infographic CV) The type of CV which is called infographic CV is prepared in graphic format. While preparing the infographic CV, colourful texts, images, pictures and even maps can be used. In this CV type, which has become popular in recent days, you can thematically link your experiences, skills and achievements. It is a recommended format especially for graduates of design and art departments. In terms of showing what you can do in your profession, the infographic CV gives you a unique opportunity. You can use any design you believe that reflects you when you prepare an infographic CV. But this freedom does not change the fact that you must consider a set of rules when preparing the CV: Pick a theme and create your own resume within this theme Make sure that your resume is telling a story about you Be careful not to give any information except what is necessary Use a colour scale that reflects you 3 It is a catchy format in an age visualization is increasingly emphasized Its creativity is high Allows easy separation of your resume from classical formats It is one of the most suitable formats for students who have graduated from design related departments Not suitable for every job It is a format that employers who are regarded traditional, do not prefer Can create informational convergence Those who are not graduated from design related departments are recommended to inspect other types Video resume (Video CV) As the name implies, video CV is a CV which job seeker prepares with video rather than a written format. It is a format suitable for occupations likes stage arts, entertainment, acting and so on. 3 https://venngage.com/blog/dos-donts-infographic-resumes/ (09.12.2016)
It is one of the most noticeable formats in digital age Both high presentation skills and technological competence are emphasized Creative and memorable Not a suitable format for every job There are those who think that this format is not persistent like the written forms It is a very complicated format Media tools used when submitting over the Internet may not allow video CV uploading European style resume (Europass) CVs, known as resume in European format or Europass, are resume types created using a specified template. It allows the clear and detailed representation all the information that can be desired by employer. Having a fairly strict form, the Europass resume was created to accommodate job search and job application in European Union countries. Allows you to expose your experience in a concise manner A format that can be used for international applications A kind of resume that new graduates can use A rigid format that does not allow flexibility except in exceptional cases.