[Oski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luvya Interests: Table Tennis, (silver medallist twice) classical music, headphones. Computer Skills: Windows, Mac OS, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Superform Languages: Mandarin, Taiwanese (Native), English (Fluent), and French (Good)

Interests: Table tennis (silver medalist [what event?] twice) classical music, audiophile.
Computer Skills: Windows, Mac OS, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Superform
Languages: Mandarin, Taiwanese, and French

Some of my changes in bold. You should do a spell check. There's no sense in putting English as one of the languages as you wouldn't want to put in doubt your ability to speak it. The rest are of course just additional language skills.

Otherwise quantify your accomplishments a bit more with dollars and numbers, similar to what you did here: "Part of team that generated $24M in tax credits for one of our clients"

What kind of job are you looking for? You would of course tailor your resume a bit to the job you want, this indicates a better match to the potential employer.

 

[The Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg You don't need an "objective" listed on your resume. The objective is to get the job you are applying for.

lol, agree completely. I've always hated the "objective" field.

 

[zotjen]

I have to disagree with the importance of a cover letter. I was taught that it should be short and sweet and basically say, "I'm responding to your ad for such and such a position, here is my resume. Please take me into consideration and I look forward to hearing from you shortly."

I was told that many people make the mistake of writing too much in the cover letter and basically just re-iterate the info that is on their resume. The resume should speak for itself and if it's good enough, should be all a potential employer will need to decide if they want to interview you.

 

[Oski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zotjen I have to disagree with the importance of a cover letter. I was taught that it should be short and sweet and basically say, "I'm responding to your ad for such and such a position, here is my resume. Please take me into consideration and I look forward to hearing from you shortly." I was told that many people make the mistake of writing too much in the cover letter and basically just re-iterate the info that is on their resume. The resume should speak for itself and if it's good enough, should be all a potential employer will need to decide if they want to interview you.

Also the people down the pike most likely will never see it. I don't remember the last time I've seen the cover letter attached to a resume I'm reviewing. However, for that matter, I usually only scan the resume right before the interview anyways. Nontheless it's still important to pay attention and be detail oriented in both. It can only improve your chances.

But a classic cover letter should be 3 paragraphs. First is a sentence or two describing why you are submitting the resume and how you come about hearing about the opportunity (if you know someone else at the company, this is a good time to drop names). Second paragraph should go over some of your experience and how this makes you a good candidate for the job (this should be a few sentences). The third paragraph is only 2 or 3 sentences that reiterates your interest in the position, your desire to discuss your qualifications further, and your appreciation for their consideration. All in all the cover letter should be short enough to be read in about 15 - 30 seconds as that's all you are going to get.

 

[jjcha]

I agree with Oski and Jpleg. I think the updates you made are in the right direction.

Cover letter is impt only in that the HR person might skim it. I agree in that it is unimpt as the hiring people don't ever see it.

Objective is useless information. Build more into what you've done in the body of your resume.

Personal - as much as I think it's dumb, it has opened up conversations in interviews. I'd have one brief sentence on mine. Seems pretty standard nowadays.

Still, what kind of job/function are you looking at? As generic and lame as I think it is, for an M.B.A., I hope you're familar with the advice in the vault guides.

Best,

-Jason

 

[aluren]

i think an objective doesn't hurt, just put a simple one-liner like "To seek a challenging postion in the IT audit field." this way it will tell the employer that you've actually considered that this job you're applying for will fit you, rather than simply mass clicking and mass applying online.

another thing for your resume, on your current job, make all verbs to be in present tense since you're still doing what you're doing. for example, instead of "Conducted file reviews to qualify clients for Enterprise Zone tax credits", you should change it to "Conduct file reviews to......."

for your VITA experience, you are a certified tax preparer. (i was doing VITA couple years ago too). so to say you were a certified tax preparer for the 2002 tax year will seem more meaningful than doing taxes for the VITA program.

i would take out computer skills since people nowadays generally know how to use word, excel, windows, etc... i mean unless you're an expert in it and are actually certified in them... otherwise i would leave it out since it waste valuable space on your resume. maybe you can add your GPA in there if its higher than 3.0. good luck finding a job!

 

[guzzler]

A CV is one of those things that is always made a big deal of, but in essence is really simple. The general guideline should be the 10 second rule: most employers initially won't look at your CV for more than 10 seconds.

Therefore, presentation is key. Segment each area into a DISTINCT box, maybe by putting a full underline beneath each section. Each prospective employer will be focusing on a different part of your CV in general, so if they can easily find the section they want, that counts in your favour. Emphasise the areas that you think are your strengths, eg, put Education as your first heading (after personal contact details obviously).

After that, you need to make sections that make YOU stand out prominent. If your potential employer has read this far, then this is all starting to count so make sure this part is well considered. Acheivements in personal and work life are important here.

References next; put references on request. This is as much for you, as if the company gets back to you, you know you're not wasting your time, and also lets you fit your CV onto one page!

Your CV should be ready to go within 5 minutes notice. A CV doesn't tell the person WHY you're applying to the job, only that your qualified to do the job, and are an interesting person. This is the job of the covering letter:

The covering letter (for "proper" jobs, not McD's burger man) should, as mentioned, be 3 paragraphs:

1) Brief bit about yourself, and what you're applying for (many people don't put this!)
2) What you have researched about the job, and thus what skills you can bring
3) Round off on a polite note by saying that the skills you have listed above make you suitable, and that you look forward to hearing from them.


Hope some of that helps, and if you'd like to see mine I can send it over within 5 minutes!

 

[jrgeoffrion]

Here is my feedback to you. I used to give classes on resume formatting and content when I graduated from my MBA. The feedback is in no particular order.

1) Do not put the dates on the left, but rather on the right. Why you ask? You have about 7 seconds to make an "impression" to the reviewer (assuming that they read your resume and not seached with a search engine). Eyes scan the left first. You don't want the reader to remember the year, but rather something about you -- your MBA for example.

2) You either have a "minor" or "specialization" in Finance but I wouldn't put down an "emphasis". "Emphasis" is not an industry term for an MBA.

3) You wrote: "Part of team that generated $24M in tax credits for one of our clients." It's nice that you are a team player, but what was YOUR role? Did you investigate, diagnose, recommend, or implement the savings? Use ACTION verbs.

4) For an MBA grad, I would not recommend putting your "Computer skills". In this day and age, it's a requirement, not a differentiator.

5) In your bullets for your jobs, try to put what you did that was different than what someone else would have done rather than a "job description"

 

[Luvya]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjcha I agree with Oski and Jpleg. I think the updates you made are in the right direction. Cover letter is impt only in that the HR person might skim it. I agree in that it is unimpt as the hiring people don't ever see it. Objective is useless information. Build more into what you've done in the body of your resume. Personal - as much as I think it's dumb, it has opened up conversations in interviews. I'd have one brief sentence on mine. Seems pretty standard nowadays. Still, what kind of job/function are you looking at? As generic and lame as I think it is, for an M.B.A., I hope you're familar with the advice in the vault guides. Best, -Jason

Since many people asked, I will let you guys in. I am looking for finance/accounting position. (Surprise! Surprise!) Job titles such as "financial analyst", "tax accountant" come to mind. I am planning to attend a job fair in a couple of days, that's why I need my resume in the best shape possible.

 

[Luvya]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aluren for your VITA experience, you are a certified tax preparer. (i was doing VITA couple years ago too). so to say you were a certified tax preparer for the 2002 tax year will seem more meaningful than doing taxes for the VITA program. i would take out computer skills since people nowadays generally know how to use word, excel, windows, etc... i mean unless you're an expert in it and are actually certified in them... otherwise i would leave it out since it waste valuable space on your resume. maybe you can add your GPA in there if its higher than 3.0. good luck finding a job!

Are you sure everyone in the VITA is a certified tax preparer? Mmm...I took it as a 2 units course, had a few weeks of training, but I don't remember anyone mentioned about certified tax preparer. I did it in California, maybe it's different from state to state?

GPA...arrhh, well, there is a reason why I didn't put it there. My undegrad GPA is below 3 while my Master's is, of course, above 3. I just think if i put GPA for my master's then I would be forced to put GPA for my B.A., which I don't really want to do. So...that's why it's not mentioned in the resume.

 

[mshan]

First off, I would present everything in reverse chronological order.

Under each listing, I would try and focus the reader's attention on either skills I developed or accomplishements I achieved at that position (remember, you are trying to tell a potential employer why they should higher you - what do you offer them?)

Other major thing is visual presentation
- center name and contact info at top
- I would probably bold and underline the header for each job and education level
- I wouldn't want to single page resume to appear sparse, but unless something is relevant to what you offer or what you have accomplished, I would think about deleting it (I would also try and reword your language skills so that the employer knows that English is your primary language, but that you are also fluent in Chinese (mandarin and taiwanese).

Hope this helps!

 

[Luvya]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mshan First off, I would present everything in reverse chronological order. Under each listing, I would try and focus the reader's attention on either skills I developed or accomplishements I achieved at that position (remember, you are trying to tell a potential employer why they should higher you - what do you offer them?) Other major thing is visual presentation - center name and contact info at top - I would probably bold and underline the header for each job and education level - I wouldn't want to single page resume to appear sparse, but unless something is relevant to what you offer or what you have accomplished, I would think about deleting it (I would also try and reword your language skills so that the employer knows that English is your primary language, but that you are also fluent in Chinese (mandarin and taiwanese). Hope this helps!

First, thanks for the suggestions.

In regard to chronology, I think it's standard practice to put the most recent job on top. I've read book suggesting to put most relevant job experience on top...but I opted not to do that...for good or bad reasons.

Yeah, I've centered my name, and indented the bullet points, it simply lost the format when I copy & paste.

I actually think my resume is becoming a bit too crowdy. I think spacing is important and I don't feel like to pat my resume too much

The accomplishment. Arrr...it's difficult to quantify these things especially in my job. I look really hard into my job, and seems like everything I do is just a segment of the entire project process. I would love to use active tone (like someone suggested) to "part of team that generated $24M in credits" but I haven't found a clever way of saying it.

 

[aluren]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luvya Are you sure everyone in the VITA is a certified tax preparer? Mmm...I took it as a 2 units course, had a few weeks of training, but I don't remember anyone mentioned about certified tax preparer. I did it in California, maybe it's different from state to state? GPA...arrhh, well, there is a reason why I didn't put it there. My undegrad GPA is below 3 while my Master's is, of course, above 3. I just think if i put GPA for my master's then I would be forced to put GPA for my B.A., which I don't really want to do. So...that's why it's not mentioned in the resume.

yeah then you should just leave your GPA out of your resume.

for VITA, i got a certicate for completing the training courses. and this is what i got from a site on VITA:

"Tax Law Training - Tax law training is dependent on the types of returns being prepared. Basic training will covers Forms 1040EZ and 1040A. Advanced training will cover 1040EZ, 1040A and Form 1040 and related schedules. The IRS will provide all of the materials needed to train volunteers. Volunteers may be trained in a classroom setting or have they may work through self-paced modules. At the end of the training, volunteers must pass a test and become certified."

 

[mshan]

Actually, that's what I meant to say: job experience should be before education.

My mistake.