Stand Out from the Crowd with a Winning Resume

Your resume is one of the most important pieces of documents you’ll own in your professional life. It’s what gets your foot in the door for an interview and hence a great job.

What is a Resume?

A resume is a summary of your career. If you are just starting out in the world of work, it is a summary of your academic qualifications, skills and internship experiences you’ve had thus far.

How long should it be?

First impressions count! Hiring managers spend only a couple seconds scanning your resume. So if your resume it too long or unclear, it’s not going to stand out. The resume should be one-page long. If you’re more experienced with an extensive portfolio, you may consider extending it to two pages.

What does it include?

A resume should only include the most essential information. The language you use is important – especially if a computer is in charge of the screening process. Include key words relevant to the specific job you are applying for.

• Name (first name and last name)
  
  
• Contact Details 
  Phone number
  Email address (make sure this is a professional one – ideally should be [email protected])
  Home address
  LinkedIn Profile or any other relevant links to your portfolio of work
  
  
• Objective
  If you are including an objective, make sure it’s relevant to the job you are applying for. 
  
  
• Work Experience 
  This is one of the most important sections in your resume. You should highlight your key accomplishments using concrete numbers and specific results you achieved. Many candidates make a big mistake by simply describing their job duties. But what hiring managers want to see is NOT a laundry list of things you did, but the skills you demonstrated and the value you brought to an organization.
  
  Example:
  Social Media Executive, Social Hub, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  September 2017 – September 2019
  - Successfully led campaigns on social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram 
  - Implemented marketing tactics that led to 35% growth in social media followers and 23% increase in website traffic 
  
  
• Education and Professional Qualifications 
  Degree, name of university, Year of graduation
  Professional qualifications (e.g. CIMA) 
  
  
• Skills 
  Hard or Technical Skills 
  E.g. Photoshop, InDesign, SEO, JavaScript, HTML, CSS
  Soft Skills 
  E.g. Public speaking, Time-management, Communication
  
  
• Languages 
  Sinhala - Native Proficient 
  Tamil - Proficient 
  English - Working proficiency 
  
  
• Achievements 
  Include leadership positions, awards and special recognition.
  
  
• Interests (optional)
  You may include some hobbies such as hiking, cricket, and yoga.
  
  

How should it be sent?

If sending electronically (i.e. via email or submission on a job site), make sure to save the document with an appropriate title such as “Resume_FirstnameLastname” and attach a PDF version of the resume; do not send word documents! If you have correctly saved your resume as a PDF, you should see a .pdf at the end of the file name.

This is just a summary of the key aspects to consider when writing your resume. It is important to tailor your resume for each job you apply for. For a customized and personalized resume, get in touch with our professional career advisors to help you craft your winning resume.

Our advisors make sure you apply for the right kinds of jobs and take the time to understand your academic and work history in order to build a resume that effectively captures your capabilities. Give us a call on 070 779 8488 or easily book a consultation online and we’ll help you find a job you love!

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