How to Write

An Effective Resume?
Job Advertisements
1)Job Specification - qualifications, knowledge, experience, abilities and skills to
successfully carrying out the duties of a particular job.
2) Job description - nature of work such as the responsibilities, duties,
functions and tasks which come with the post
3) Skills – certain learnt abilities /expertise which are relevant to the
position and to the company e.g. communication, managerial, vocational,
computer skills
4) Qualities – character and attitude of the candidate such as honesty,
punctuality, independence, adaptability, resourcefulness, self-confidence
etc.
 What Is A Resume?
• Resume is a French word meaning ‘summary’ or a ‘short history’.
• A resume, therefore is a summary of your knowledge, skills and
experience.
• It should promote, present and advertise you in the best possible
light.
• It tells who you are and what you can do for the company you
hope to land a job with
• The term ‘curriculum vitae’ (CV) is sometimes used to refer to
‘resume’
Resume Content
• In writing a resume, you have to decide for yourself what is more
important to the person who is going to read your resume.
• However, generally employers agree that the following topics should
appear in all resumes:
1 Personal information
2 Objective
3 Education
4 Experience
5 Co-curriculum Activities
6 Skills
7 Qualities
8 References
 Customising Your Resume
• Resumes are usually scanned, rather than being read thoroughly by
employers.
• Therefore, the most you have is about 10 to 20 seconds to persuade a
prospective employer to keep reading.
• A quick screening of your resume should impress and convince the
employer of your qualification and skills that would result in an
interview
• Resumes have to suit the specific job offer and be tailored to the
organization’s needs and functions
What Do Employers Look For
In A Resume?
1. Creative Problem-Solving Ability
2. Character
3. Personal Information
4. Content Skills
5. Functional Skills
What Do Employers Look For In A Resume?
1) Creative Problem-solving Ability
• The reason you get employed is to solve problems and aid the running
of an organization.
• Employers usually look for people who have the ability to come up with
creative and cost-saving solutions instead of creating problems for
them
• Therefore, a resume details on how you solved problems in any
position that you held previously, no matter how unimportant that
position was for you.
• For example, if you mention that you held the temporary position of a
sales assistant, the employer would be glad to see details in the
resume that you have solved customers’ complaints
What Do Employers Look For In A Resume?
2) Character
• Integrity and commitment in a job is most important for all
employers.
• Therefore, you need to give the impression that you are truly
interested and committed to the position you are applying
for and most importantly state how the organization will
benefit from you.
• For example; include honesty and dependability, diligent,
hard-working, considerate, a team player, respectful and
assertive
What Do Employers Look For In A Resume?
3) Personal Information
• Resumes should give an accurate picture of you.
• State your interests and hand-on experience that are needed for the job you are
applying for
4) Content Skills
• Content skills are acquired through reading, specialized training, classroom activities
and on-the job training.
• For example; presentation skills, computer programming and word processing skills
5) Functional skills
• This refers to the ability to work with people, or things such as software. These
skills are applicable to a wide variety of jobs or situations and you may have
acquired almost anywhere during your life time.
• For example; managing, operating, informing, calculating, coordinating,
building and collaborating.
Writing An Effective
Resume
 What Should I Know
Before Starting to Write A Resume?
• You need to uncover yourself and be aware of your interests, aptitudes,
abilities, strengths and weaknesses and have a general idea what you
hope to do for a living
• Know the company or organization in which you intend to land a job in.
This is a lot easier today with the advent of computers and internet. By
doing this, you could gauge some information on the company’s key
business drivers, key challenges and who are their competitors
• Find out its business strategies and see how you can position yourself as
a catalyst for the growth of the company. Discover areas where you
could contribute in the company
Interests Strengths Weaknesses
Flower arrangement, accounting, Focused on work completion Getting tried easily
Microsoft Excel Can work with others
Accounting skills Friendly Attention to details

Company Knowledge about the Company Areas of Interest

Sime-Darby Open its first oil palm in Sabah Supply office cleaning services
True Fitness The biggest fitness centre in Malaysia Callisthenic workout
 What Would Be Your First Step
in Writing A Resume?
• Decide on your job objectives
• It must be as concise as possible with minimal words
• Having too many words may obscure clarity of meaning and your aim
• If you seek to apply for more than one job, you must write different job
objectives for different job resumes
• Remember, you do not want a vague and general objective that fits all
• The objective of your resume is to show your suitability for the position
offered.
• Avoid using writing general skills such as opportunity for advancement,
challenging position, a position dealing in IT.
 What If You Do Not Have
Any Work Experience?
• The only way is by getting some experience.
• Search for some places that you could do some voluntary jobs right away
• You only need a short, concentrated period of voluntary experience (e.g. one
day a week for a month) to indicate that you have some experience to put in
your resume
• You may also want to look at some skills acquired during your
undergraduate years and see if you could document them for skills needed
for your new job.
• For example; as it is common for students to make presentations as a course
requirement, this can be documented as “ability to give effective Power
Point presentations to audience”.
 What If You Have A Lot of
Fragmented Short-Term Job History?
• If you have held several short-term jobs, you give the impression that
you are a job-hopper or have problems holding on to a job.
• You could overcome this by combining several similar jobs into one
chunk, for example:
2013 – 2016: Secretary/Receptionist
(Orange Bakery, Promenade Hotel,
A – Z Tours &TravelAgency)
2013 – 2016: Waiter/ Promoter
(Mc Donalds, Rasaria Supermarket, Nina Health Products)
 How Can You Impress
The Prospective Employers?
• If you have some job experience, fill your resume with
statements and skills that you could contribute and benefit the
company
• For example:
1. Transformed a warehouse operation by redesigning the
layout that helped the company to recover stock more
efficiently
2. Improved the filing system of the company by developing
simple functional-coding system that helped to reduce time
spent on retrieving files
 How Can You Impress
The Prospective Employers?
• If you do not have any job experience, think of skills you
acquired during your undergraduate years.
• For example:
1. Assisted lecturers to keep record of students’ co-
curricular activities and performances in Microsoft
Word format
2. Appointed as the student leader for co-curricular
activities to ensure students’ participation and
contribution to the club activities.
 What If You Have Not Completed Your
Studies, But You Are Keen To Apply For A
Job?
Employers are usually impressed at your interest to land
on a job even before finishing your studies.
In the section where you indicate qualification or
education, you can say something like:
• Diploma in Civil Engineering – June 2014
• Graduate Studies in Business Administration – April
2017
• Master’s Degree in Education – expected date of
completion (December 2019)
Do You Need to Give The Names of
Referees?
• Include the names of referees if you feel it is important and especially when
the referees are personally known or highly regarded by the hiring person.
• The referees should be people who have witnessed your capabilities in an
employment or academic environment, and have the authority to provide
a prospective employer with credible comments.
• Make sure you have sought permission from these people before listing
them as referees.
• Avoid using personal friends, family members and non-work associates
• An alternative approach is to omit details of referees on your resume, but
indicate that referees are available on request
Is The Layout of The Resume Important?
• Resume layout includes your use of the white space of
the A4 paper and graphical elements
• Your layout has to be attractive and pleasing to the eyes
• There are various resume layouts you can use such as :
1. Traditional, one-column resume layout
2. Two column resume layout
3. Left-aligned resume layout
4. Centred resume layout
5. Indented resume layout
Example 1:

Messy and
inappropriate
Example 2:

Crowded
(Centre
Aligned)
Example 3:

Looks
catchy but
messy
Example 4:

Clean and
professional
Example 5:

Neat and organised

Example 6:
Neat and
Contemporary
Layout: The Basics
 Stick to standard paper size (A4)
and use left or justified alignment.
 Use neat and professional layout
(not too fancy/creative)
 Use suitable font types and font
size (10-12pt).
 Use proper headings for each
section/part
 Stick to maximum of 3 colours (if
 Layout: Best Fonts

• Arial
• Verdana
• Calibri
• Garamond
• Georgia
• Times New Roman
Layout: The Standard Parts
Use headings to indicate:
 Contact Details (No fancy email)
 Career Objective (Precise)
 Education
 Work Experience
 Skills
 Achievements/Awards
 Activities and Interests
 References/Referees
Personal Info/Contact Details
 Full name
 Marital Status
 Date of Birth (with Age)
 Address (permanent)
 Phone Number (Mobile)
 Email (make sure you make a
professional one, especially
with your name given)
Education

• Use Timeline (list the latest first).

• Highlight your achievements or key
skills learned instead of results alone.
• If needed, highlight key courses taken
too.
Education

Sep 2011 – Sep 2015

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan.
• Obtained Bachelor of Arts in Arts Management with
Honours.
• Graduated with CGPA 2.75 but mastered advanced skills
in using Adobe Creative Suites during the 4 years with
certificates from Adobe.
• Key courses taken with valuable skills learned: Event
Management, Intellectual Property, Creative Thinking.
Portrait Photo (Headshots) matters!

Get help to shoot a nice once. Smile, clean background, minimal make
up and with professional attire and keep it recent.
#2 Use the Right Language
Language Tips:

•Use strong action

verbs when writing
your experiences or
achievements.
 Worst Words Best
(Overused) Words
Best of Achieved
breed Go- Improved
getter Trained/mentor
Think outside of the box ed Managed
Dynamic
Created
Synergy
Thought leadership
Resolved
Value add Volunteere
Results- d
driven Team Influenced
player Increased/decreased
Bottom-line Won
But it’s not just about using the verbs….
Language Tips #2
Be specific when writing your key
activities or career objectives
Example

April – June 2014

Marketing Intern – (EverCheap Sdn Bhd)
• Attended group meetings and recorded minutes.
• Worked with children in a day-care setting.
• Updated departmental files.

Not good enough!

Good Example

April – June 2014

Marketing Intern – (EverCheap Sdn Bhd)
• Recorded weekly meeting minutes and compiled
them for future organizational reference.
• Provided assistance in organising three daily
activities for preschool children.
• Reorganized 10 years worth of files, making them
easily accessible to department members.

Action words are used to describe each task done clearly.