If you’ve read my related post on How to quickly get an I.T placement with a winning Resume, you’ll agree that a Resume is a tool to sell yourself and represent you in the most attractive manner to convince your recruiter.
Out of the 3 Resume formats namely: reverse-chronological, functional and combination format, the reverse-chronological format is the best format to go for as a student. Why?
Download the chronological Resume-and-cover-letter-format-and-sample here
Why Reverse-Chronological Format?
This is the more traditional format and is what you are most likely to come across. This format is flexible and can be used for applicants with any level of experience.
This resume style gets its name from the way the Professional Experience section lists a candidate’s past jobs in a reverse-chronological order.
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The Order of a Reverse-Chronological Resume
The following order should be followed when writing an internship Resume for your industrial training (SIWES) programme.
1. Contact Information
When it comes to writing a resume, this section is as straightforward as it gets. Here are the essentials: Name, address, E-mail, and phone number. If you want to go beyond, then try adding your LinkedIn profile.
2. Resume Introduction
A chronological format allows you to choose between three resume introductions: Career Objective, Professional Profile, and Qualifications Summary.
Each introduction comes with it’s own advantages and disadvantages based on the type of job seeker you are.
For instance, a Qualifications Summary is great for an applicant with a wealth of skills and abilities, which means it’s helpful to experienced candidates, but not ideal for undergraduates or recent college graduates. Instead, go for career objective.
3. Professional Experience
The professional experience section is the meat and potatoes of a reverse-chronological format. The goal here is not to provide a list of tasks you performed at your past jobs, but rather to showcase your achievements and how you excelled in previous roles.
Here’s where you use numbers to illustrate your accomplishments and provide the employer with a better understanding of your abilities.
Another way to make this section more impactful is to start each bullet point with an action verb. Action verbs target your bullet points, thereby making it clear to the HR manager exactly how you achieved your goal.
4. Education Section (listed as #3 for students)
Unless you are a student or a recent graduate, your education section does not have to be too detailed. Providing the name and location of your university, type of degree, when you graduated, and your GPA (if 3.0 or above) is usually enough.
However, if you are still in school or have just graduated, your education section will be a bit different.
For example, educational experience is listed before professional experience in a student resume. You can include:
- GPA (if above 3.0)
- Relevant Coursework (Courses that are pertinent to the specific position you are applying for)
- Honors/Academic Achievements
- Clubs/Organizations (Extracurricular activities and Athletics)
However, because you may not have work experience, you may further expound upon your academic career by creating a section called “Major Achievements”.
In this section, you may detail your responsibilities as a student government representative or class rep in bullet points.
5. Additional Skills (optional)
Including an additional skills section to your resume allows you to add any extra skills that you did not have an opportunity to add elsewhere.
Now of course, make sure the skills you add are somehow applicable to the position you are applying for.
Download the chronological Resume-and-cover-letter-format-and-sample here
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