Resume or Interview Help..

Society Business and Career
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Do you need help preparing your CV? or not very sure of the content? Share your queries and we will help you with tips and content.

Same goes for the job interview , feeling nervous? want some do’s and dont’s tips ? … let us know what you need to know and we will share our experiences to make yours a successful one :@:

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Re: Resume or Interview Help..

A question that was asked by someone the other day ... Is it a good idea to have your picture on your resume?

What is your opinion?

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No!

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Isn't that true for Pakistan? They don't have resumes there, they have 10 pages CVs which include everything from your grandfather's profession to your mother's uncle's place of birth before partition. Oh and the picture is this drab looking pose straight from the ID card.

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Really!? :hmmm:

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Well I was just joking, but including a lot of info in Pakistan is common. Here is an example, it includes the guy’s marital status, DOB and religion. In Pakistan all these are factors in getting a job, including your potential to stay on the job and not leave. Women are especially harassed with silly questions about marriage and children.

http://www.pu.edu.pk/faculty/cv/55018.pdf

and

http://www.hu.edu.pk/profile/zubeda_botany.pdf

Although, to be fair, these are CVs, not resumes.

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Re: Resume or Interview Help..

Although in some countries, pictures are a norm for the application package, I wouldn’t recommend having a picture on the resume. If it is a requirement for the employer, the candidate is typically asked to submit a picture with the employment information form.

Moreover, these are CVs in academia, where it is normal to provide a lot of information. Other sectors are different and even CVs don’t span more than 5 pages.

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It is not ideal to have your picture on your resume and these days employers don't have time to be going through many pages of one's CV

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I cant even begin to start what is wrong with these even as CVs.
I glanced through Ms. Zubeda’s CV and have a few observations..(there is a point to this btw)

1- why is research not capitalized and teaching capitalized in the first sentence?
2- why is competitive and projects etc capitalized in second sentence? applies throughout the document
3- interpersonal skill (should be skills) ..what does publications have to do with interpersonal skills?
4- award owned??? huh
5- no commas where needed in may senetences e.g. #4 in expertise..she bolded it, i saw it and well its bad
6- membership section, what exactly is a sectary?
7- american spellings in a british style CV
8- under language courses, there is one bullet titled 1- why have that if there is no 2 and 3?
9- under awards, the first bullet has extra space
10- why is ther enot just one section that has list of conferences ‘participated’ in..each bullet starts with ‘participated in’, make one section of conferences attended, and one where presented etc..

now the point, I have no idea of her field, or how good or bad she is, and I did not even bother to see what her qualifications and accomplishments are, or if she has explained them properly..

why? I found enough bad stuff just in cursory glance that I did not have to look more for other bad stuff..remember people take mere seconds in the shortlisting process to determine whether to look further, or rather as they scan through and they want to get it into a long list after initial screening.

be flawless in composition, structure, have other people look at it, critique it, have someone who has little clue of what you actually do read it and ask you questions on what they dont understand, avoid buzzwords but include key words.

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Yeah agreed with X2 … that particular CV is the worst ever I have seen , a CV should attract ones attention , not put them off instead :no:

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Seth Godin in his book linchpin says that resumes are used more to weed people out than to find the right people.
sadly, I agree. In an era of automated processes looking up key words, and expectations that resumes will be tailored for jobs, you have to distill your accomplishments down, and it does little to have your personality come through. There is a reason that more roles are found by networking than by resumes alone...you become more than a paper, you are a person.

do the best you can that the resume shows who you are, let your personality come through, but realize that you have to optimize your resume for jobs just like SEO/SEM techniques. that is a sad reality.

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:snooty: Absolutely NO !

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i have seen people with their pic resume. just a small professional pic on the corner of resume wont kill anyone i say.

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i do agree with you but at-least we should write 3 page Resume with complete information.

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Asslam o Alaikum,

I am Muhammad Shahid Khan. I live in London but planning to go SAUDI ARABIA. I have done my higher qualification from here.I got MBA degree from UWIC UK, Manual bookkeeping certification from london and SAP FINANCIAL training from london. So, I will be applying for a job in KSA very soon.

I am interested to do job in ACCOUNTS AND FINANCE, BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, BANKING SECTOR. Could you please guide me regarding CV preparation, Covering Letter and Interview questions. I am requesting just for the important tips, not the whole CV AND COVERING LETTER because i prepared already just looking for furnished and final touch points to insert in it.

One more thing I have 3 years accounts assistant experience in accountancy firm which is my friend's small company so there was no interview when i started that job. If i apply job from uk then what kind of pros and cons i have to consider in my mind while applying for a job in KSA because i am married and i am looking for a company who can offer me family visa as well.

Kindly suggest me regarding this subject, if you consider it suggestible.

I would be thankful to you

REGARDS

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Shahid, here is a key difference , which will help you create a super CV ...

Most people write about their day to day job .. they put so much effort in going into the administrative details ... but that is not what the employer wants to see in the CV ... what they want to know is : the KEY deliverables of the role, WHAT you achieved and HOW you achieved them...

So when you do your CV , make sure you mention those three elements ... Here is an example:

Key deliverable : Delivering sales plans and business development
What you achieved: Won sales targets of £200K in the last quarter , increased new company business by 30% while ensuring repeat clientele by 60%
How you achieved: Through effective communication and organized thinking , created an effective pipeline and network of clients that increased the monthly sales by 20%

This was an example to give you an idea .. hope this helps ..

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Tks CB. But can you be more specific? He's a number cruncher!

@meetshahid! You have a strength: SAP Financial! I hope you will get good job in KSA!

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Thanks CB. I appreciate your help. If it is possible for you then could you send me any sample CV for my departs.

Its just request, not necessary. so that i can have a look for completing my one..

Thanks Mostar95 . I just got training and practicing on my system. Gotta clear my certification yet.:(

Well thanks guys for your help specially CB. ALLAH HAFIZ

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There is this position in my company and my organization which has opened up . It is two notches higher than what I hold now I have all the qualifications but not recent more of a bit rusty , for 3 years I have been doing something entirely different , but I did all of it long time ago.
My pay is more than this open position offers but this open position is more responsible and would be boost for my career and has more benefits , like stock options , hefty bonuses etc.
Should I go for it ? Would they entertain me as a candidate ? How do I go about it ?
Should I talk to the internal recruiter to find out who is this position with and start talking to that person or should I just apply through regular channels and hope for the best ? Should I ask my boss and others who know me to put good words for me ?

P.S: If needed by any of the good folks here I can divulge more information about me and the position via PM.

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Mirch ,you are the best judge of your situation , if you believe finances can be qurbaan'ed for a while , you should go for the career enhancing opportunity but if finances are important at the moment then obviously you shouldnt run after that opportunity at the moment.

**Shahid, **unfortunately I dont have the relevant CV example , however what you can do is , go on to Linkedin.com and find people who are in your similar field of work .. see how they have written their profiles that will give you a good idea ....