CV Writing

First contact you have with your

future employer.
Marketing tool
Hundreds of CVs

Analyze the Requirement

Before your start applying you should have 3 questions
answered:
What is the employer looking for?
What skills/ competencies/experience were identified
in the job description?
What is the nature of the company
If you dont know the answers,
They could be good questions to ask during the interview.
It will show your interest in that particular position, your
research capabilities and high level of motivation to join.

Prepare the Information to

Complete Your CV
In the first column, list out the knowledge, skills
and/or abilities required for the advertised job
position.
In the second column, provide examples of
experiences that illustrate each skill.
Additionally, describe the position, the time
spent in the position, the organizational
structure,
or
any
relevant
information
demonstrating that you have the right skills for
the advertised position.

Activity Sheet
Knowledge or Skills Required

Example of Experiences

Leadership/ Team Leader

Description of your experience

We had to organize a marketing
road show campaign. Being the
most senior in the team, I planned
the implementation strategy and
timeline for the project and guided
my team during the preparation
and implementation phase. I made
sure everyone completed their
tasks as and when required.
Where were you working at
the time? At an advertisement
agency.
CV Info
Managed a three-member
team in an advertising agency to
design and implement marketing
campaigns.

Activity Sheet
Knowledge or Skills Required

Example of Experiences

Leadership/ Team Leader

Supervised day to day operation

and implementation of a 800,000
PKR contract.
Provided weekly activity progress
report and financial statement to
senior management (Note: This
demonstrates your project
management skills and
reporting/communication skills.)
Description of your experience

Where were you working at

the time?

CV Info

Showcase your Skills and

Knowledge
You will be able to showcase your
skills and knowledge by presenting to
the employer an overview of the
different job functions you have
assumed so far.
In your CV, illustrate each experience
in a sentence.
Start with an action verb.

Showcase your Skills and

Knowledge
Sentence structure:
I (action verb) (did what?)
In this given context, because of this
given problem.
And in the end (result)

Showcase your Skills and

Knowledge
Position: Marketing Manager:
What did I do?:
Repositioned and re-branded a product
Defined a new sales and marketing strategy.
In what context: Sales decrease
Result: Immediate and significant sales increase.
Job Function: Branding
Repositioned, re-branded a product that suffered significant sales
decrease in the last fiscal year. The new marketing and sales
strategy resulted in a sales increase of 40% in the first 6 months
and contributed towards 12% of the companys overall profit.

Showcase your Skills and

Knowledge
Describe each of your experiences and look at what
you have done and achieved.
Illustrate how much of it you have already
experienced
Describe your university project, an internship, a
community project, volunteer work etc.
Remember, employers want to understand if you
have the experience and the qualities to hold the
position successfully.
They want to know what function youve had so far
and predict how well you can handle the job
functions associated to the position they need to fill.

Showcase your Skills and

Knowledge

Showcase your Skills and

Knowledge

Showcase your Skills and

Knowledge

Showcase your Skills and

Knowledge

Showcase your Skills and

Knowledge

The secret to improve your resume in

one stroke

Quantify Your Statement

Quantify Your Statement

What do we mean by
quantifying?
Using facts and figures to define your achievements.
But why quantify?
Numbers add meaning to your statements
They are clear, concise, and eliminate
subjectiveinterpretation.
People respond to numbers
They can relate to it
It makes your CV more accessible and
understandable.

Quantifying
Example 1:
Statement A:Supported Global Business
development and direct sales, and contributed
substantially to the total direct sales generated in the
current quarter.
Statement B:Supported Global Business
development and direct sales of over PKR 10 Million,
and personally contributed 45% of the total direct
sales generated in the current quarter.

Quantifying
Example 2:
Statement A:Developed a new
debugging tool that significantly reduced
the time taken for bug-fixing.
Statement B:Developed a new
debugging tool that decreased the average
bug-fixing time by 65% and hence
increased employeeproductivity by 30%

Quantifying
Example 3:
Statement A:Won the Key
Contributor Award for the year 2013
Statement B:Was selected from
among 520 employees for the Key
Contributor Award for the year 2013

Quantifying
Example 4:
Statement 1:
Created an incentive program to reduce
absenteeism.
Statement 2:
Created and implemented an incentive
program reducing absenteeism by 20% in less
than 3 months.

Quantifying
Here are a few terms that can be quantified

Money saved or earned.

Time efficiency, productivity
Amounts Sales, customers, projects, products
Situations intense competition, working under
pressures, difficult work conditions.

Quantifying
If you do not know the numbers, make an educated estimate.
Calculate, analyze, and arrive at reasonable numbers.
Avoid inflating the figures it will get you nowhere.
You should be able to justify your estimate, so make sure that
the numbers you arrive at are fairly accurate.

Quantifying
Warning
Avoid quantifying all your statements
It will look artificial, as if you are trying
too hard.
Quantifying the most important
achievements is usually enough.

Quantifying
Administrative assistant in your last position. Lets examine these
three CV quotes and notice the difference it makes to quantify
accomplishments.
1. "Responsible for filing."
Typical. No accomplishments mentioned, let alone quantified.
2. "Devised and implemented a more efficient filing system."
Better (now we're talking value).
3. "Devised and implemented a more efficient filing system,
decreasing filing time by over 65%."
Best (accomplishment is quantified with a number - in this case, a
percentage)

Quantifying
If you slept your way through your last job and can't
think of a single thing you did to make a difference,
you can still use numbers to give your resume some
extra
Were you responsible for locking up at night?
How much equipment was there where you worked?
Try this on for size:
"Responsible for the security of over $25,000 worth of
video production equipment."
People respond emotionally to numbers, so use them.

Quantifying
Be creative when thinking about quantifying.
Think about:
Time ("Turned a two-hour procedure into a
20-minute task"),
Money ("... with sales topping PKR 35,000
per month"),
People ("Managed staff of 45 ..."),

Don't make a potential employer dig

for gold; hand it to them!

Example
January 2003 to March 2005 Accountant - Rocket and Roux, Accountants,
Bangkok
This firm employs 35 accountants and is affiliated with the Oriental Group of
Companies in Bangkok. Five of Bangkoks top 20 companies are clients and the
annual turnover is in excess of $200,000.

Then, break down your job responsibilities. You do not have to list all the things
you have done. List only the relevant responsibilities.
Example:
Responsibilities handled by the accountant
Managed accounts for several medium-sized clients and added 30 new clients.
Managed a team of six for 18 months. All projects completed within timeframe
and budget.
Mentored 2 graduate recruits during their fast-track professional development
program, who both completed the program with excellent ratings.