A resume is a short document that describes you and your professional skills.
When drawing up such an important document, be sure to write only the truth. Don't put yourself on a pedestal. It should be competent, clear and concise. Take care of appearance, stick to the formal style.
The volume of text is 1-2 sheets, no more. Print in an easy to read font, highlight important points and be sure to attach a photo. As for the photo, it should look something like a passport. Select suitable photo, with a suitable uniform, full length is not necessary (unless it is mandatory for the employer), the background of the photo is preferably neutral. Without unnecessary pathos, you get a job, always remember this.
What information should be included in your resume?
The resume must be structured and exist rough plan compilation. Below is an example, try to stick to it.
- Personal data;
- Education;
- Experience;
- Labor skills;
- Achievements;
- PC proficiency;
- Personal qualities;
- Additional information/
Let's look at each point in detail.
1. Personal data - what should be in this section?
- Full name - write full last name, first name, patronymic.
- Date of birth - indicate the date, month and year of birth in full (write in numbers).
- Residence address - it is better to indicate the city and area of residence, for personal purposes. confidentiality since you place it on the Internet portal.
- Phone number - write your mobile number to quickly contact you.
- Email - if you send out your resume yourself, a response will be sent to you by email.
- Marital status - married/married, single/unmarried, if there are children and what year of birth (optional, but desirable).
Example:
Ivanova Ivanna Ivanovna
Purpose of the resume: applicant for the position of HR inspector
photo Date of birth: November 19, 1977
Residence address: Rostov-on-Don, st. Lenina, 5, apt. 37.
Phone number: +7834764368
Email: [email protected]
Marital status: Married, two children, born in 2005 and 2008.
2. Education- In this paragraph, indicate what education you have. If there are several, please list them in order. The date of admission, date of graduation, name of the educational institution, faculty, specialty and qualification obtained are required.
Example:
2007–2009 Donetsk National Technical University
Faculty: retraining
Specialty: economist
Qualification: specialist
1995–2000 Donetsk National University
Faculty:
Specialty: psychologist
Qualification: specialist
3–4 Work experience, work skills - the work record should be briefly summarized.
- Date of admission and date of dismissal from your position (the article under which your employment contract was terminated);
- Name of the enterprise, company;
- Position held;
- Transfers, appointments, promotions (very important, you can track career growth).
After you have indicated the position, briefly describe the job responsibilities.
Many people recommend not writing job responsibilities if you are applying for a position. But it’s better to write, in each company the operating principle is the same, but different job responsibilities. The employer must initially see what you did. For better perception combine your work experience and work skills into one paragraph in your resume.
Example:
01.04.2005–01.08.2012
(7 years, 4 months) Phoenix LLC
Reason for dismissal: Article 38 of the Labor Code of Ukraine - personal desire.
Head of HR Department:
Conducting personnel records (hiring, dismissal, transfer, vacation, drawing up staffing);
Maintaining T2 cards.
5. Achievements - this section is very important. If the previous part of the resume is template, you should try harder here. Reflect all the achievements that you achieved in your previous job. The employer wants to see the results of your work. Describe specific data and preferably support it with numbers.
Just remember that the information contains trade secrets of your previous place of work. If you share such information, please do not provide exact details. And more specifics. Do not write: provision, promotion, implementation - this suggests that you were just about to do this and you were fired.
And if you write: provided, promoted, implemented and at the same time confirm in percentage, then they will be more interested in your personality. Your results are obvious. Therefore, you can be described as a productive and goal-oriented person.
It is better to give an example of achievements from your last place of work or previous one, but do not write ten years ago.
It is important to write down the achievements you have achieved in your profession. Do not write the success of the chief accountant if you worked as an economist. There are times when you want to change your occupation, then you need to bring your victories as close as possible to your new career growth goals.
There are professions where there are no outstanding services to the enterprise. The employee performs monotonous, monotonous work every day, then establish yourself as a reliable and responsible performer.
If you have just graduated educational institution, and naturally, you have no achievements, then do not apply for a high-paying job. Many young professionals think that they “can do everything” after graduating from university.
Don't grab the stars from the sky, your achievement is the desire to learn and improve your level of knowledge.
- Increased product sales volumes by 15%;
- Increased marginal profit by 15%;
- Attracted potential clients and achieved a positive attitude towards our company. Has established itself as a reliable partner. Sales area: Trained and shared experience with successful sales techniques;
- Developed an effective sales plan, due to which sales increased by 24%.
Administrative position:
- Worked her way up from secretary to regional director;
- Developed comprehensive plan branch development;
- She organized the branch from scratch and brought it to a decent level of profit.
Technical specialties:
- Ensured information security;
- Organized the work of the department;
- Developed regulatory documents on information technology.
6. Computer skills. Do not write in this section - experienced user. Today, almost everyone has PC skills. Again you have to be specific. Describe what programs, office applications, systems you work with. It is imperative that you are an experienced Internet user; now they very often work through email, work on social networks, and so on.
Example:
Experienced user: MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, Access, Outlook), internet skills ( Internet Explorer,Opera, Mozilla Firefox) And by email(Outlook Express), graphic editors (Photoshop, CorelDRAW), professional programs: CRM, BSCS, SAP, 1C:Enterprise 7 and 8. Knowledge of Windows and Linux operating systems.
7. Personal qualities. Whatever you write here, all the qualities are good. Particularly valued are: responsibility, punctuality, non-conflict, communication skills, diligence, accuracy. Any set of such qualities characterizes you on the positive side.
But no matter what you write when you come for an interview, the HR manager will determine your qualities at first glance. And sometimes they will make a discovery for you. Therefore, when compiling personal qualities, take into account the opinions of others and each profession has its own qualities.
Example:
Assistant manager: Accuracy, attentiveness, pleasant appearance, sociability, competent speech. Operator: Competent speech, resistance to stress, punctuality, responsibility.
Sales consultant: Friendliness, sociability, desire to earn money, high stress resistance.
8. Additional information. Here you can write information that will focus on professional activity. Do not list personal qualities or professional skills, all of this is stated above. You can mention language skills, driver's license.
As for hobbies, at the moment- this is a very controversial issue. Some people think that hobbies don't affect professional qualities. Let's look at this issue.
If you are a very young specialist, then the “Hobby” column will save your resume. Do not write in general phrases, show your individuality. Therefore, write hobbies that are related to professional education.
To make your resume stand out from others, write hobbies that highlight character, drive, and perseverance. Bottom line, you should write a hobby, but with extreme caution.
Example:
Additional information:
Possession foreign languages: English, Russian, Ukrainian fluently, Spanish, German with dictionary. Driver's license: Category B, driving experience 10 years.
Hobbies: bead embroidery, chess, sports.
Let's look at the hobby example above:
- Bead embroidery is a very painstaking and scrupulous work, which means that the work will be approached seriously and carefully;
- Chess - strategic thinking;
- Sport - sporty healthy employee.
A resume is an art. Therefore, we hope that our writing instructions will help you achieve a successful job search.
Why is describing achievements and performance important?
- The labor market today is not in favor of the job seeker: there are few good vacancies, but there are many times more competent candidates. It is the results of work and achievements that help you stand out from the crowd.
- In most companies, employees solve the same problems. Consequently, the description of responsibilities in the resume of different candidates is almost the same. It is the different work results that give a resume its individuality.
- The level of competence of a particular candidate can be determined at the stage of reviewing a resume only by the description of his work. And achievements here are the best proof.
How to properly reflect achievements:
- remember KPIs (they are individual for each position) or assigned tasks;
- described in active verbs: introduced, developed, initiated;
- we make a logical connection between our actions and results: implemented - it allowed;
- We use numbers, preferably in comparison: it was - it is now.
Let's look at examples for positions with frequently encountered KPIs.
Examples of achievements for positions where it is difficult to digitize work results.
| № | job title | Key KPIs | Examples of achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Financial Director | Accounting setup | Organized accounting, tax, operational and management accounting from scratch. |
| Setting up a budgeting system | Introduced a budgeting system by business area, which made it possible to increase accounting transparency. | ||
| Optimization of the financial flow management system | She introduced a payment calendar based on 1C UPP and carried out a number of measures to strengthen payment discipline, which made it possible to obtain financial resources to generate additional income. | ||
| 2 | Purchasing Director | Optimization of procurement activities | Organized procurement activities without involving additional cash, this was achieved through successful negotiations with suppliers to increase deferment and improve other conditions. |
| Automation of business processes | Initiated and led a project to automate the order generation system, which allowed to reduce labor costs for information processing. | ||
| 3 | Chief Engineer enterprises | Modernization projects | Implemented a number of projects to modernize and reconstruct the enterprise: modernization of the access control system and installation of a fire extinguishing system, alarm system and video surveillance. |
| Development of regulatory documents | Developed and implemented everything regulatory documents on occupational health and safety, fire safety, environmental safety, security traffic, which made it possible to reduce the legal and financial risks of the enterprise. | ||
| 4 | Lawyer | Development of document forms | Developed forms of contracts: contract, supply, purchase and sale, etc., which made it possible to minimize labor costs for preparing documents. |
| Experience in judicial practice | Case No.... - collection of debt under a supply agreement in the amount of 500 thousand rubles. (In this paragraph, it is advisable to describe several diverse cases, but no more than three for each place of work.) | ||
| 5 | Secretary-assistant | Projects or additional responsibilities | Initiated the company's participation in charitable events and sponsorship support. Implemented the manager's project for office floral design. |
| Document flow optimization | Initiated the creation of a document management database based on Excel, which made it possible to systematize work with documents. | ||
| 6 | Sales Analyst | Development of reporting forms | Developed a reporting system for tracking orders and sales of goods, which made it possible to systematize work with documents. |
| Development of analysis tools | Developed mathematical models for sales planning based on the performance of sales personnel. |
“Give an example of your achievements” is one of the questions asked in a competency interview. This type of interview is a reliable and widely used method in personnel selection, which makes it possible to test the candidate’s professional competencies to successfully perform the job.
For those who have no experience with this type of interview, the main thing is to understand the basic concept:
During the behavioral interview, you should provide specific examples of successful application of skills and abilities from past work experience.
This type of interview is based on the fact that, based on the employee’s past behavior in a given situation, his future behavior in a given situation can be predicted. new job. And all the candidate needs to do is is to give convincing examples, that clearly demonstrate the required competencies specified in the job description.
The most commonly tested competencies are:
- communication skills
- teamwork
- initiative
- leadership
- problem solving skills
- analytical thinking
- stress resistance
- time management
- negotiation skills
- planning
- result-oriented
- process oriented
For example, if the job profile requirements indicate that the candidate must be able to analyze, then the interviewer will definitely ask you to give an example of when you used this skill in your work and what results you achieved.
Competency questions begin with:
- Tell me about a time when you...
- Give me an example...
- What steps have you taken...
Here are examples of the most popular questions:
- Give an example of your achievements.
- Describe a time when you had to overcome a major obstacle to achieve a result.
- Tell me about a time when you had to juggle several important projects.
Most often, candidates do not pay due attention to competency issues. And in vain. After all, if you manage to pass and then fail the first behavioral question, you will still leave the interview empty-handed. Even if you have extensive years of work experience, without prepared examples you will not be able to make a favorable impression and confirm your competencies. It is quite difficult to answer such a question, because in your daily activities you cannot highlight or remember immediately without preparation something really worthwhile that you should tell a potential employer about.
Unfortunately, more often than not, it is candidates who are less competent, but with good training, who bypass more experienced employees. And to prevent this from happening to you, it’s time to remember everything and create a good story from your past work experience.
I recommend having at least three examples in stock of the competencies specified in the vacancy in order to advantageously emphasize your skills during the interview. strengths. The easiest way to effectively answer any behavioral interview question is to be prepared. three shining examples of your main achievements. Remember the most interesting projects, difficult tasks, problematic situations. If you have little experience, you can use examples during your studies or internship.
As always, we'll use the STAR method as a basis for storytelling, which will help you focus on key details and make your story structured, concise, and memorable.
3. R — Results
Formulate the results of your actions: what happened, what was done, what you learned. Finally, it is very important that your good story according to the STAR method, there was always a happy ending, like in a fairy tale. The last part of your answer should describe the positive results of your actions. Specific results are always particularly impressive, for example: an increase in sales by 32%, a halving of the budget, etc. But you can also refer to a positive outcome through emotional evaluation, especially from the boss or clients. It will be the best way convince the interviewer that the story you tell is real. For example: m My client was very pleased, my manager appreciated my contribution to the final result and highly appreciated my work, etc.
Sample answer:
When I presented the new and improved reporting to my manager, he was so impressed that he couldn't believe I did it all myself in such a short period of time! I also received high praise from senior management and was included in our company's Talent Bank program.
6 tips: How to answer the question: Give an example of your achievements"
1) Take enough time to remember a vivid example from your past work or study experience. Select an example that truly demonstrates several competencies and personal qualities.
2) Listen carefully to the questions and if you do not understand, do not rush to answer, but ask them to explain to you. This is better than answering the question in a completely different direction and giving irrelevant examples.
3) Be prepared for clarifying questions, as the interviewer will want to get more information from you and check if your answers are genuine. Here are examples of such questions:
- Tell me why you did it this way
- Explain how you achieved this result
- Do you think it could have been done differently?
4) Be specific. Don't try to answer in general terms that don't say anything about you. For example: " I consider myself a very responsible and organized employee, as I always achieve high results and complete assigned tasks on time.” Thus you do not answer the question posed. You can believe whatever you want, but you are required to give a real example from your past experience to prove your point.
By posting his resume on a recruiting portal, the applicant expects that he will soon start receiving calls from employers. But it happens that this does not happen, and there are no invitations to interviews or there are very few of them. Obviously, the problem lies in the content of the resume - the candidate failed to interest the recruiters.
This situation can be changed by your professional achievements. How can you do this so that the recruiter wants to invite you to a personal meeting? Read the tips.
The main thing is specificity
For example, consider the resume of the head of the sales department, discussed on our portal. We read a description of the candidate’s achievements at his last place of work - in the Russian representative office of an international concern for the production of PVC profiles.
"Main achievements:
- ensuring sustainable growth of turnover in the region;
- maintaining all key clients during the crisis;
- increasing the efficiency of the regional sales department;
- implementation of the current balanced scorecard system.”
The author is perplexed: why don’t recruiters invite him to interviews? He has serious experience in sales - almost 15 years, he has higher education and even an MBA degree. But the fact is that, when drawing up a resume, the applicant made a very common mistake - he made it too typical. A resume with a list of responsibilities and achievements typical for a given position does not stand out among dozens or hundreds of similar CVs. How can a recruiter discern behind the many words that this is a truly valuable specialist?
To attract the attention of hiring managers, you need to be as convincing as possible about your professional achievements. In this case, the main thing is specificity: name specific numbers, give real examples of your initiatives. There is no need for general phrases like: “sustainable sales growth”; “increasing the efficiency of the department.” It is much more useful to provide concrete evidence of how effectively you worked. Three or four points (but convincing ones) will be enough to make your resume work.
For example, the head of the sales department can indicate in the “Achievements” section how much he managed to increase the level of sales over a certain period of work in the company, how many clients he attracted, which tenders for the supply of goods or services were won. PR manager - how many mentions of the company in the media occurred with his participation, how this figure increased over the entire period of work, how many press conferences were organized, for example, during last year what was their effectiveness? The head of the IT department should mention, for example, the successful implementation from scratch of a new production automation system, which speeded up the work of the design department by 30%. For a journalist - about victory in a creative competition, about the great activity of readers when discussing his articles, etc.
Here is an example of a successful description of professional achievements in a resume for the position of sales director:
“- building a sales service for the company’s services from scratch;
- annual sales growth in 2012 - 350%, in 2011 - 270%;
- attracting more than 100 clients, including 40 companies with a staff of over 150 people;
- victory in 15 tenders.”
Let trade secrets remain secrets
Of course, accurate numbers of your success can convince the recruiter that you are truly an effective employee. However, does an applicant always have the right to indicate specific financial indicators in his resume? An employer is unlikely to be happy to see a former employee divulging the company's trade secrets, and such an employee is unlikely to receive good recommendations.
However, it is possible to convincingly describe achievements without naming exact numbers, but still remaining specific. Use phrases like: “by 30%”, “by 2 times” to show the degree of your effectiveness. It is advisable to indicate the period during which impressive results were achieved - six months, a year or more.
If you have nothing to brag about yet
Availability of information about the applicant’s work results and professional achievements increases his value in the eyes of the recruiter. But what to write in the “Achievements” section for those who, due to the specifics of their work, cannot boast of “increased efficiency”, “increased citations” and “victories in competitions”? That is, those whose job involves performing the same duties every day, such as office managers, dispatchers, or payroll accountants?
In such cases, experts advise focusing specifically on your reliability and ability to ensure uninterrupted and high-quality permanent job. Try to convincingly prove that the absence of emergency situations in your work is already a significant achievement.
Of course, the “Achievements” section of a resume can tell a recruiter a lot about a candidate. After all, behind the numbers that convincingly speak of professional victories, one can see the analytical mind of the applicant, and his ability to prove his point of view, and determination. And this, in turn, can make the path to your dream job shorter and easier.
Should achievements that are not related to professional activities be indicated?
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Expert opinion
Natalia Molchanova
Recruitment Manager
Victories don't come easy! But how to beat your rivals and get a position for which hundreds of worthy competitors are ready to fight? Here we need a serious argument - why exactly you. Don't give up, even if the competence of your opponents exceeds your personal achievements.
The main weapon in this battle is the . Design it in such a way as to make the employer have a strong desire to meet with you. Especially important aspect– correctly indicate professional achievements in your resume, emphasizing your strengths and.
What achievements to write about
Let's start with the fact that you need to be able to separate your personal qualities from your professional ones. Do not mix them under any circumstances. Understanding this issue is quite simple. List yours that you think are in demand in your desired field of activity. If in another area they are completely unnecessary, the skills are professional; otherwise, they are personal.
Often does not focus on personal achievements. Focus only on those that are adequate to the position and can contribute to the work.
Bring to the attention of the employer your professional achievements: significant results and knowledge related to work, emphasizing:
- Implemented projects
- improvement of financial performance,
- achieved goals,
- results that exceed your past victories or the achievements of your colleagues.
How to deliciously present professional achievements
When writing a resume, literally everything matters. Even seemingly small things can affect the course of events.
The most common mistakes
You will be passed over and will never get a position if your resume is:
- Vague. Avoid common phrases: provision, promotion, implementation. It seems that you wanted to do this, but did not have time due to dismissal. It raises doubts whether you even understand what we are talking about.
- verbose. The following statements will not give results: “helped to avoid mistakes”, “led the team”, “conducted training”, “quickly completed tasks”.
- Negative. Avoid negative information: “analyzed complaints about:”, “monitored the decline in the percentage of sales”, “moved from position:”.
- Contain passive forms. The formulations “responsible for implementation”, “found application” are rephrased as “implemented”, “effectively used”. The expression “held an administrative position” should be replaced with the word “managed”. Instead of “worked there for five years,” we should write “received a promotion,” and the term “did extra work” should be rewritten as “always completed work on time.”
How to write everything correctly?
Use business language.
Involves business communication. It is based on numbers and calculations. Whatever the topic is raised: corporate values, clients, working conditions for staff, financial issues always come to the fore.
Presenting your achievements in business language is the key to success and an indicator of communication. Resume is effective method manifestations of their abilities in the language of numbers.
Add specifics.
Result orientation and achieving the set goal are the main components that influence the outcome of the selection of the best candidate for the position! However, not all successes will be credited to the candidate. The action on the employer will only have the result that:
- Be of importance to the applicant and the recruiter.
- Be measured in quantitative terms.
- Have a time frame.
To summarize, your achievements should be:
Examples of writing responsibilities and achievements at work
Your resume accomplishments could be described as follows:
- Transition of the capital investment service to a new settlement system. Implemented a new accounting program and trained 30 employees to use it in 2 months.
- Increase in supplies of raw materials in 2016 - by 40%, in 2015 - by 20%;
- During the period from June 2016 to February 2017, he developed 56 new projects, which the company successfully implemented.
- In the first half of 2016, he organized the work of a furniture production workshop, which led to the implementation of 80% of the plan, instead of the planned 20%.
- Saved the company $15,000 by developing an innovation proposal for improving equipment.
Expert opinion
Natalia Molchanova
Recruitment Manager
In case of a ban on disclosure commercial information on the part of your ex-company, it will be enough to indicate the figure as a percentage or limit yourself to the expression “several times.”
Rules for describing major achievements
Wear the style
When talking about previous work, it is appropriate to use past tense verbs: erected, designed. You should talk about the present place of work using the present tense of the verbs: I’m building, I’m designing. Give the phrases a complete form.
When submitting your resume for a leadership position, present your key skills in the language of the leader. For example: Influenced, Activated, Directed, Proved, Instructed, Initiated, Justified.
Balance of results
Balance is the key efficient work. This indicator is characterized by the rational use of resources and the development of team capabilities.
Example:
- Set a limit on bill payments;
- eliminated unnecessary costs for water consumption;
- improved the mechanism for distributing costs for equipment repairs.
Tie personal achievements to your place of work
Describe in the column your responsibilities and achievements in your resume that you have acquired recently. Outdated information has long lost its relevance. And if you have changed a dozen employers in your life, then You should only indicate information about achievements from the last 2-3 positions.
Provide relevant information
Sometimes, the achievements specified by the applicant do not correspond to the level of the position. For example, a candidate aspires to be the head of a department, but mentions the achievements of the foreman. Or vice versa. The applicant wants to get a position as a programmer, but describes his achievements in a resume at a senior management level in the business area where he once worked.
So, remember: if you are applying for a job in the management team, indicate your successes at the manager level; if you want to work as a line specialist, meet these assessment criteria. Forget what you did before and create a resume according to the requirements of the future job.
If there are no achievements
Do you think that you have no work achievements? You just need to think. Of course, not everyone can have special merits and feats, but if you want, you can fill a small list. Success is different for everyone. And how many people, so many opinions.
The position of a cleaner, for example, does not require achievements. The same can be said for the professions of a loader, handyman, cashier, fast food restaurant worker, driver, etc.
Expert opinion
Natalia Molchanova
Recruitment Manager
You don’t have to indicate your achievements if your position is on the list of unskilled labor - they are simply unnecessary there.
Or maybe you just underestimate yourself? Then use the criterion: you brought the work you started to its logical conclusion, and everyone felt better. Apply this method.
Which section should I post it in?
Standard scripts used on work portals do not have a special “achievements” column.
For example, on the largest recruiting site HeadHunter, in the “work experience” section, you need to enter your key skills in the “responsibilities, functions, achievements” field in your resume. Sample - see below.
Use of verbs in a graph
According to statistics - correct use verbs in the section will bring the necessary result. Each type of activity has its own set of words:
Administration and management
Public Relations and Creativity
Financial management
Social assistance and nursing
Office service
Research and analysis
Sales and Marketing
