(This post is written by our blogger Nazia Hussein, this is a response to the requests we often recieve on how to write resumes or the curriculum vitae for job market in Bangladesh.)

In today’s highly competitive job market of Bangladesh, employers tend to be choosy. With this pressure on, it becomes most important for job seekers to make a professional impact at the basic level through his/her Curriculum Vitae (CV) or the Resume. Surprisingly, most of us still require quite a bit of an effort and more importantly, proper guidance to come up with an effective CV. This article will present a guideline for both inexperienced and experienced job seekers in Bangladesh to create an effective and professional CV for their employers. Understand What your CV is for:

It is said that an employer spends only 30 seconds to briefly scan each CV. Keep in mind your CV is not your life history, rather it is your sales brochure for that particular post only. Generally a CV should not be more than three pages long, and for inexperienced or newly graduates it should best be kept within one or two pages.

It is always advisable to number each page with your name and contacts. Double check for spelling mistakes and `typos’ and do not include a photo unless you are asked to.

Formatting and Writing the CV:

Your resume must be printed and formatted in a standard straight forward way.

* Use internationally recognized fonts such as Times New Roman or Arial.
* Rather than using colors or underlining, use bold or Italic to highlight things.
* Skills, experiences and activities must be presented in bullet points, as they are easy to read and comprehend.
* Try to avoid using `I’, `he’ or `She’ in your CV.
* Avoid irrelevancies, exaggerations and gaps in career or education.
* Include an objective in your CV, it helps the employer to understand what you can bring to the organization. Objectives are more effective than career summaries for most positions.
* Put most recent first.
* Be accurate and truthful

Structure:

Following is a list of information which your resume must contain to get noticed to secure the all important interview.

Title:

This is where you put your name and personal data in bold or large fonts. Make sure all contact information are noticeable. You can put this up on top of each page of your resume too.

Profile/Objective:

While a profile must state your key experiences which would be beneficial for the post, your objective presents exactly what you are offering. While objectives are preferred by most employers, for more experienced personals sometimes profiles can work well too.

Nonetheless, your CV may contain one of these two and it should not exceed two to three sentences.

Education:

Show your education in reverse order, as in most recent first. Mention your school, college, university with locations.

Career Summery:

Try ordering them in columns- (1) Job, designation organization, and date and (2) Responsibilities and achievements. Put in reverse order.

(* for more experienced candidates the career summery should come before education) Additional Information:

A lot of times newly graduates with little or no work experience like to put personal information in their CV, like interests, hobbies etc. But it can prove to be irrelevant and unprofessional, so it is best to avoid such information. Other personal information such as date of birth, gender, religion etc. can also prove to be superfluous in today’s modern, commercial job market and thus should be avoided, unless asked for.

And Finally, always send out your resume with a cover letter, individually tailored to the particular position you are applying for. This should highlight three or four main areas where your background and
achievements fit most closely with the requirements of the role and should be designed to make the reader feel that your resume is the one document to which they should give full attention.

Writing a good resume takes time and many drafts. It is always advisable to have different versions ready for different kind of positions, especially at the beginning of your career. It is also wise to analyze the organization and the position you are applying for and to use key words related to the position in your objective to ensure attention.

Lastly remember that an appreciated CV is one with a sense of a person behind it, one that shows the person have put real effort into writing it, clearly stating what he/she have achieved and how they can contribute in the position they are applying for. Misdirected gimmicks will never take you far.

Additional Link:

Finding the Right Job (USA context)