SKILLS TO SUCCEED ACADEMY ACTIVITY PACK. Getting a Job 6. Create Your Resume. Interactive, online employability training program.

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Skills to Succeed Academy, www.s2sacademy.ph.

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SKILLS TO SUCCEED ACADEMY

Interactive, online employability training program.

ACTIVITY PACK

Getting a Job 6 Create Your

Resume

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SKILLS TO SUCCEED ACADEMY

CREATE YOUR RESUME

This Activity Pack contains four activities to help you apply what you have learned in the

‘Create Your Resume’ module.

In Activity 1 you will find a list of helpful words to consider when creating your resume.

In Activity 2 you will think about ways to turn your responsibilities into achievements.

In Activity 3 you will discover links to resume builder tools that will help you ‘Create Your Resume’.

WHEN CREATING YOUR RESUME, IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT:

1. Resumes are judged both on their presentation and their content.

2. Resumes are living documents, and should be updated regularly.

3. It’s important to use positive language on your resume.

4. To get the right balance, you may need to turn some of your responsibilities into achievements.

5. It’s important to have a general resume which lists all your skills and achievements.

6. Tailor your resume when applying for different jobs.

It is also important to note that:

• There’s a scenario in this module that is not applicable to the Philippine context.

Please see below: Scenario Applicability to local context In slide 10 of the online module, Claire seeks her advisor's help in reviewing her resume.

• Services offered by professional career advisors are rarely available locally. Instead use the online, self-help resources for job seeking needs like JobStreet, jobsDB, Philjobnet.

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ACTIVITY 1: USEFUL WORDS

Listed below, is a list of words to consider when creating your resume. Although this is a great place to look, remember, there are many words that are not here and waiting to be discovered. After you have read through the list, consider using some in your resume.

RESUME BUZZWORDS

Resume buzzwords can be used to describe skills and attributes. They are typically industry specific and can often be found by looking online. Below is a list of common buzzwords.

o Ability o Ambitious o Awareness o Competent o Competitive o Driven o Dynamic o Enthusiastic o Fast Learner o Flexible

o Good communicator o Initiative

o Innovative o Instrumental

o Organized o Leadership o Practical o Proficient o Problem solver o Punctual o Reliable o Resourceful o Responsible o Target driven o Teamwork o Thorough o Understanding o Vision

It is important to remember there are many variations of the words listed above, and their variants can also be buzzwords.

Example: Instead of using ‘organized’ you could use ‘organizational’. So ‘very organized candidate’ = ‘candidate with very good organizational skills’.

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POSITIVE, DESCRIPTIVE WORDS

The purpose of your resume is to show off your skills, experiences and qualifications. If you can depict these things using positive/ descriptive words, that is even better! The words below can help you do just that as they will positively emphasize your actions and experiences.

o Actively o Consistently o Effectively o Efficiently o Key

o Proactively o Quickly o Significantly o Substantially o Successfully

Any variation of the words above can be used as positive, descriptive words.

Example: Instead of using ‘significantly’ you could use ‘significant’. So ‘significantly increased sales’ = ‘made a significant increase in sales’.

PRACTICE USING USEFUL WORDS

Now you have a chance to practice using the words from the lists above. Improve the statements below by swapping the words in bold with resume buzzwords or positive words. Some suggested answers are given upside down below the exercise.

1. Spoke to customers about our services __________________________

2. Good worker with creative ideas __________________________

3. Made a plan for stacking the shelves __________________________

Improve the statements below by filling the gaps with suitable, positive descriptive words:

1. ____________ salesperson with ______________ experience.

2. Budgeted ______________ to keep the company’s accounts in order.

An swers:

1.

Su cce ssfu l S ales pe rso n w ith su bst an tia l e xpe rie nce .

2 . B ud ge te d e ffici en to ke tly ep th e c om pa ny’s a ccou nts in o rd er.

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USEFUL VERBS

Consider the verbs below, if you are looking to add variety to the sentence structures and statements of your resume. Using them can make your resume statements more impactful!

o Achieved o Allocated o Analyzed o Assembled o Assigned o Assisted o Attained o Attended o Budgeted o Coached o Collaborated o Collected o Combined o Committed o Communicated o Completed o Composed o Conducted o Controlled o Created o Decreased o Defined o Delegated o Delivered o Designed o Developed o Devised

o Directed o Distributed o Edited o Eliminated o Enabled o Encouraged o Ensured o Established o Evaluated o Expanded o Experienced o Expert o Facilitated o Formed o Generated o Improved o Informed o Initiated o Innovated o Instigated o Introduced o Led

o Motivated o Organized o Persuaded o Planned o Prepared

o Presented o Processed o Produced o Promoted o Proposed o Proved o Provided o Qualified o Recognized o Recommended o Recruited o Repaired o Reported o Represented o Researched o Reviewed o Revised o Secured o Selected o Strengthened o Supervised o Supported o Taught o Trained o Transformed o Utilized

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ACTIVITY 2: TURNING RESPONSIBILITIES INTO ACHIEVEMENTS

It is a good idea to include achievements in addition to responsibilities in your resume.

Adding achievements, illustrates how you did rather than only stating what you did. You do, however, need to get the balance of responsibilities and achievements right. One or two achievements per experience is good to aim for.

From the list of statements below, choose which ones you think are achievements and which ones you think are responsibilities and tick the boxes in the table with your answers.

The ability to turn responsibilities into achievements will be very helpful when writing your resume. Use what you learned in the module ‘Create Your Resume,’ to help you turn the responsibilities, in the list above, into achievements.

ACTIVITY 3: CREATE A RESUME

Although resumes may have different formats, they all have the same purpose: to show off your skills, experience and achievements. Below is an activity to help you create your resume. It will help you think about what should be in each section of your resume.

STATEMENT ACHIEVEMENT RESPONSIBILITY

1. Tasked with arranging the shop shelves

2. Exceeded sales target by selling 100 toasters in 4 months

3. Had to organize events every week 4. Organized 12 large events in my

first month, including 2 successful charity fundraisers, raising $2000

5. Had to make a new event for my

team every month 6. Wrote a special menu on a board

outside the restaurant early every morning, resulting in increase in sales of our ‘specials’ by 10%

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You can note your ideas down in each box and put them in a more professional format by using one of the resume builder links at the end of this Activity Pack.

Remember, you don’t have to have all these sections in your final resume.

Look at the websites below to get some tips on creating your resume.

o Resume Builder: Resume Templates o Jobstreet

STATEMENT ACHIEVEMENT RESPONSIBILITY

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WHAT IS A RESUME BUILDER?

o Resume builders are very useful when creating a resume. They give you space to list all the information you want to include in your resume, and at the click of a button, it will format it into a professional resume layout.

o They provide guidelines to help you think about what to put in each section and give you different resume templates to choose from.

You can also use other websites for resume templates. Below are a few examples of these websites. Many will also have guidelines for what to put in each section of your resume.

USEFUL RESUME TEMPLATE WEBSITES

o My Perfect Resume - Perfect Resume Builder o Resume Builder- Resume Builder

Once you have created a resume, take it to a career advisor or a professional in your network who can review it and give you feedback. Remember this is a ‘continuous process’ so you need to update it regularly.

REMEMBER

These Activity Packs are yours to keep. Make sure you review them regularly and keep them updated.

You can also discuss them with advisors, friends, family and anyone else you trust to provide valuable feedback.

For any questions or concerns on the context, please email us at [email protected]

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